The New Loose: A Conversation With Woods
by Lauren BeckPage 5 of 6
The L: Do you have any thoughts on the Market Hotel closing down?JT: We played there a few times. I don't know, eventually there will just be a new space. I like Todd P, and I like that there was a space that was that big. It was sort of amazing to be at a show for, like, $8 and you could bring your own beer, and there would be 500 people there.
But let's talk about the Brooklyn scene again. What is the Brooklyn scene? I'm always curious to hear.
The L: Well, actually, in our year-end issue, I wrote how Songs of Shame kind of typified "the Brooklyn sound"of 2009—it was progressive enough, traditional enough, creepy-sounding enough. It's everything that a lot of people want to hear right now I think.
JT: A lot of that record Jeremy just made by himself in his bedroom though, and I feel like it could have been made anywhere. Some of it was recorded upstate in the woods, too.
The L: You're right, it could have. But the timing of it all, that all of a sudden there was this lo-fi revival and all these bands started popping up with a similar aesthetic just made it more pronounced and more than just a coincidence. Writers tend to talk about it a lot, I'll give you that. And so many music writers live in Brooklyn these days, and we tend to write about what we know, what's happening in front of us, so there's that side too.
On that note, Songs of Shame came out almost exactly a year ago. Looking back, did you have a moment where you realized things were starting to change for you guys, in terms of press and people talking about you?
JT I don't know if I really had a moment of it, but I just kind of noticed that we were busier or something. Woods has always kind of been moving along and gradually building momentum, so there was never a point of "Holy shit!" And we've been doing it for so long too, that it never seemed overwhelming. Our relationship as a band is pretty intense back at home, but in relationship to touring and doing interviews and that kind of thing, it's pretty casual. We just want to keep things at a fun pace and not get bogged down. Music is ridiculous, you know? It's my favorite thing, but there are so many elements of it that are ridiculous. I just try to stay a fan.
