Interview With Canadian Folk-Rock Band 'The Wooden Sky'

Story by Bryce Wergin 

| Published Dec 1, 2009

The DailyER: The bio available for The Wooden Sky on The MuseBox Web site boasts that your last album "sweeps through rock and roll subgenres with the deftness of the Allman Brothers, the songwriting focus of Wilco, and the experimental sonic cacophony of the Flaming Lips." In these interviews we often hear artists undermine their own publicity. How do you feel about this description?


The Wooden Sky's Gavin Gardiner: It is always hard to define a sound in words, in fact I find it a pretty frustrating thing the Wooden Sky aside. As an audio engineer on the side I have spent many an hour trying to chase down the sound of words like 'warm' and 'fuzzy'. I think it's a rare occurrence when you can work with people that attach the sound that you're hearing in your head to the word you are using to describe it and when you find those people you need to hold them close. In lots of interviews you hear words like chemistry and connection between bandmates, and I think a lot of what that speaks to is really understanding one another.

As for the associations that our bio makes, gave our friend who wrote it the record and a few of the bands that if he was to compare would use. After listening to the record he added the Allman Brothers and not having been a huge fan I was curious and started listening to some of their records and found it a fairly apt comparison.

ER: In relation to the above, how would you label The Wooden Sky sound?

GG: Rock and Roll.

ER: How does touring in Canada differ from touring in the US?

GG: I wanted to say that the main difference would be that the drives would be substantially shorter between cities but on our last tour of the states I'm afraid that was not the case. The main difference for is in the people that we know. That's not really a comment on the differences between Americans and Canadians, it's just that we have toured Canada enough to make some really great friends in most if not all of the cities that we play and touring is like a great excuse to hang out with them and catch up. We were in Quebec City two nights ago and were treated to a great dinner at a friends place before the show (and a rowdy party afterwards!). Being that this was our first tour of the states we hadn't made those connections, however I think we really did meet a lot of great people that I will be excited to get back out on the road and visit.

ER: What are your favorite venues to play, both in Canada and the US? Why?

GG: I think the Blacksheep Inn in Wakefield Quebec is probably my favourite. It sits on a small lake about 45 minutes outside of Ottawa and most of the people who come to the shows actually do make the trek out from the city because they know it's always a special place. It's also a place of refuge on tour as one of my best friends parents have a beautiful farm a 10 minutes drive from the venue and she and her family always treat us so well and it is so refreshing to wake up outside of the city and see the horses in the field being horses.

ER: We're assuming a good portion of our readership has never heard The Wooden Sky due to your mostly Canadian buzz. Why should they continue reading this interview?

GG: Because the next couple questions are some of the best they'll read!

ER: Where do you see The Wooden Sky in five years? Are you mostly concerned with your Canadian audience or do plan on breaking into the American scene?

GG: We love playing in Canada but playing in the states is also really exciting and the reality is that there are just more people in America which means it just makes sense to be touring there. The last tour was our first chance to really get down to the states and test the water, we have a lot of work to do there as far as touring goes but with so many interesting and unique cities we plan to take every opportunity to get back there. Obviously a lot of the music and culture that we grew up on (and continue to discover) came from America so it's also exciting to travel to and see the places and things that inspired the work that inspires so much of ours.

ER: What inspired the "Bedrooms and Backstreets" tour? What was the highlight of the tour?

GG: The 'Bedrooms and Back Streets' tour was inspired by some of the amazing house shows that we have played or attended in Toronto. It's a really special was to see and experience music on both sides of the coin, it's interactive and intimate in a way that you can't really access in a traditional venue. It's also a real challenge musically and I think that was part of our attraction to it, as musicians it was fun to change and reinvent the songs every night.

ER: If you had three words to summarize your band/sound, what would they be?

GG: Plaid on Plaid.

ER: What's playing in your headphones right now?

RAM

ER: Touring all over Canada from coast to coast calls for a ton of travel time. What's your favorite way to kill time while on the road?

GG: We love to listen to This American Life. It's a great way to break up the drive and it always seems to initiate conversations. A great way to pass the time and also maybe learn something new.

ER: In an interview with EyeWeekly, you said, "I’ve always wanted to write short stories, but I’ve never been able to, so I guess I kind of adapted that into songwriting. I go back and revise them and rework and rework and rework." How do you know when you're finished? When do you say stop?

GG: Sometimes I don't think I'm ever finished, usually when it's time for me to record my vocals that's when I am done. I do find with some songs that I even change the lyrics live if I find something that fits the story more appropriately. However recording is a pretty great way to give yourself a deadline.

ER: As a lyricist and potential short-story writer, you certainly must have a number of literary influences. In past interviews you've cited American writer/poet Raymond Carver. Who else makes the cut?

GG: On tour in Victoria a friend gave me a copy of a collection of works by Patrick Lane that I've really been enjoying as of late, it's a bit Carveresque but sort of dark in a different way. I've enjoyed reading some Dorthy Parker and I'm starting to test the waters of Eveyln Waugh. I recently read a review by Stephen King of the new Carver book and also biography, I'll be excited to have a look at those.

ER: Anything else you'd like to tell our readers?

GG: If you're in Montreal, lock your car. Also we are putting out a performance style documentary of the Bedrooms and Backstreets tour in pieces on our myspace. Our friend, and fantastic filmaker, Scott Cudmore (creator of the show Camera Music) came along with us on the tour and we shot a lot of footage in some strange places (canoes, gondolas, abandon schools, sunflower fields etc.). You can see it on our myspace or on Vimeo (in HD) and on youtube.