Once a Year We Liberate A Batch of Songs: An Interview with Jarvis Taveniere of Woods

Did that lead to more productivity or was it more chaotic?

Um it’s a little bit of both. Just because it is a house too--so you're like trying to record, but you've maybe got someone who’s, you know, not cleaning the dishes or something. Other than that it worked out pretty well for us. It kind of got claustrophobic, we had to get on with things, but we still keep it as our space of operation. It's where we practice and we still record a lot here.

You recorded like what--five albums there in the span of five years? How did that work?

Something like that. We just worked a lot, you know. We lived together, and even though we don’t live together now, we still get together pretty often to practice. We write music and record music kind of constantly. It just kind of happens that once a year there’s a batch of songs that need to be liberated.

How does Jeremy's move upstate to Warwick, NY affect the band. Do you guys go up there and write more? The most recent album was just recorded there, right?

Yeah we did that one up there. It was just cool because it still--we still had the same sort of relationship, but your at his house and it's a little more peaceful up there. Less hectic. We can concentrate more.

And there's more woods there, so that should lend itself. Right?

True. Yeah, I mean when we're in Brooklyn it's cool but it's always--people are running around a lot and I think the record sounds like that--the last one, on a little bit of At Echo Lake. But now we're just getting together to spend time you know. Wake up in the morning and we'd just start recording. For several days or a week--it's all we did. Just wake up, record for 12 hours, then go to sleep.

So, do guys get to get out of the city much? Do you get to spend time in the woods?

Not a ton of a lot. I mean Jeremy obviously living upstate, he does. He likes to camp, you know--he likes things like that. I'm kinda just in Brooklyn all the time.

How did you guys come up with the name "Woods," or decide on that as your band name?

Jeremy came up with the name. He did the first two records, mostly by himself. I don't know, he's from the woods. He moved back there. He was only in Brooklyn for about five or six years. It's what he knows. I dunno, like I grew up in the suburbs and Kevin grew up in Kansas City. I think we all love hiding out in the woods.

When you tour cross country, are there any specific cities or places that you try to go? To camp or really enjoy while you're on the road?

When we're on the road things are kinda hectic. It's hard to deviate. What we've done for the past three summers is we've booked a show--and it's been at Big Sur--in California on the coast there. There's a lot of campgrounds and it's just beautiful there. So it's something we always do. We'll play a show there and it's always low key and we'll take the next day off and just walk around on the beach, run around the woods.

That's where you're having the Woodsist Festival this year, right?

This year and the previous year. Same place.

Okay, but that started in Brooklyn. Right?

They we did do one in Brooklyn. [Woodsist] with Capture Tracks. I think that was just kinda just like, putting the feelers out there. But then, you know, it's just another show in Brooklyn after a while. It's great having all our friends see us, but it's even better to have all your friends together in a place like Big Sur, which you normally wouldn't go to. You know.

When you're getting ready for tour what are three essentials that you pack?

Books, I download as much music and audio-books as you can, and the equipment you need but you sometimes forget and have to re-buy on tour--that's essential.

Any specific books that you're bringing on this tour?

I'd have to go grab some. I just started reading Under The Banner of Heaven. It's about Mormans in Salt Lake City, but it's really about fundamentalist Morman. I just started it, I can't talk about it too much.

Do you guys have a cassette deck in your van? You're band is kind of a champion for the cassette.

Our van's kinda old and everything's pretty much broken. We used to--we had a big box of cassettes and we had to retire it because the tape deck broke. I'm not gonna fix it.

Somebody else can fix it. Can't you just bring a boombox?

Yeah, I know we could bring a boombox but then--well, we've done that before and you know, someone has it in the back and you have to be like, "I wanna hear it. Turn it up!" and if it's in the front, no one in the back can hear it.

Do you have any touring rituals that you do before your shows to get you centered or anything like that?

Alone time. Go explore the city. Walk away and don't tell anybody. Turn your phone off and leave the rest of your band.

Does that ever backfire?

No, you know--it always seems like a big deal when it happens, but it's always fine.

You release on cassette, LP and CD--what's your preferred medium?

I've got to say vinyl. But I really like the cassette though. I feel like whenever we make a cassette, we really sound groovy.

Do people buy a lot of cassettes? I mean, I don't even have a cassette player anymore.

No, they don't. Well, enough people do. We don't go crazy, it's just a thing for cassette-heads out there, and for us. I remember seeing posters for records in the 80s--like punk bands or whatever and they'd be like: "LP and Cassette."

You're bringing it back.

Yeah and I like that, I like the way that looks--LP, slash, Cassette, slash, CD.

Yeah, I feel like CDs are becoming an afterthought now.

It's like buying a piece of garbage. It's like--the music doesn't sound that great on it. It's definitely usable though, and you know--you put it on your computer and then you put it on a shelf and you feel too bad to throw it away because you actually paid for it.... I can't even remember the last CD I bought. We have the internet, people.

I see also that you are working on a collaboration for a soundtrack for Habitat Skateboards. How did that come up?

They contacted Jeremy about doing the design for a skateboard a while ago, and they just went back and forth, and we didn't think it was going to happen for a while, and then it just all came together and right now he's designing a skate shoe for them.

Does Jeremy also do all the artwork?

Yeah he does all the artwork. A terrific job too. It's always such a nice surprise, too. We finished the record, and I'm like, "I can't wait to see what Jeremy is going to cook up." And I'm always pleasantly surprised.

How do you feel about being in a “"psych-folk" band? Is that how you would define your sound”

[Laughs] I guess I feel confused--I think that even if my aunt would ask me what kind of music I played, I wouldn't say "psych-folk." So, it's cool enough that I can't say it--to like, my aunt. It means it's not that bad of a description. What should I say, "rock?" I mean, it's not like, labeling the sound. I don't really care. it's kind of weird, like, "I'm in a psych folk band?" Wasn't I a teenager with a guitar in my hand, jumping around my room, lip-syncing to the Sex Pistols? Wasn't that just yesterday? Of course I was! And now I'm in a psych folk band. I don't know what happened--I'm pleasantly surprised by whatever has led me here.