Who are we chatting to? I go under the name Woodes for my music, I’m a multi-instrumentalist, producer/performer/creative director for the project. I play live with my band, which is made up of percussion/drums and guitar/synth. I play keys, sing and trigger samples.
What do you reckon people will say you sound like? I’m trying to make something cinematic with my next release. I found my passion for production and composition through adoring film soundtracks and television show soundtrack compilations. I think for the first release I was just exploring the tool kit I was fond of, but now I’m trying to bring the cinematic elements into the set. Through playing live a lot, I realized that singing on top of chill beats can get pretty monotonous, so I wanted to bring in the percussion for some tracks to really build the live show at certain points.
I studied orchestral percussion in high school and did a lot of musicals and orchestras. I want to bring in those sounds and instruments as much as possible. Run For It was really inspired by that, having the bowed bass line and the large drums.
What do you love about making music? On a personal level, it’s a way of explaining how I feel or processing things. Often I’ll listen back to a song and things will be so bare or raw about what’s going on, sometimes in real life I’m not so good at words. But music pulls them out of me and allows for those thoughts to be thought out.
Another big part for me is the community and the purpose of making music. It feels like solving puzzles and I can watch myself growing as a human listening back to each one. Through music I’ve met people that I can really connect with and grow from. I find a lot of purpose in that.
What do you hate about the music industry? In any industry there is inequality and bigotry, racism, sexism. I’m trying to inspire women to take control of their music – through production, creative direction, writing – generally being in charge of their sound and their image. In my opinion, it’s refreshing and empowering having that control. For me it was all about having the right mentors. Once in the industry, it’s definitely a downer having meetings with sleazy dudes or being treated a certain way due to your gender. I think that can deter women from entering the industry. You build up an extremely thick skin. A lot comes from trusting your gut and standing your ground.
Also, I’m not a big drinker and I like staying at home with mates over going on big nights out. When I started gigging a big learning curve (which potentially should have been obvious) was that I’d be around alcohol and be out late a lot. As a sober female ‘working’ this can be a pretty eye-opening experience to do repetitively. This also goes for women wanting to go to live shows alone, which I also do. I want music venues to be safe. I want to feel safe in music venues. I wish alcohol and music weren’t so hand in hand sometimes. I completely acknowledge that all things are good in moderation and there’s a time and place, just personally I’m not big on it.
I want people to come to my shows and feel safe, and leave inspired. To know they’re part of a community. I get quite a few messages on social media asking for advice or letting me know that they’re pursuing something creative because of something I said or sang. That means so much to me, as I can pin point times where I’ve stood in an audience listening to one of my favourite artists, feeling the same.
If you could travel back in time and show one of your musical heroes your stuff, who would it? I would have loved to meet Leonard Cohen or David Bowie. Just to say thank you.
What can a punter expect from your live show? Lots of percussion this round. Everything’s been growing in the little world I’m creating. I’m playing the whole next release alongside my EP and a couple of older tracks and some special collabs.
What’ve you got to sell CD-wise? I have my first EP for sale as well as handcrafted copper-leaf necklaces made by my friend Jaccob Mckay. We’ve just added winter Woodes beanies, which is the first official Woodes merch.
Who’s the gig with? Seavera and Ash Hendriks. Ash is coming on the full tour – she’s also a multi-instrumentalist, performer and producer which is what drew me to her music. I went to uni at VCA with one half of Seavera. I love their music, huge fan. They’re all lovely people to share the night with.
