picture credit: bowers-wilkins.co.uk
Roddy Woomble has returned back to his solo works after a six-year hiatus, in which he produced an album and toured with his band Idlewild for 2015’s Everything Ever Written. The Deluder, released last month, has been met with great reception from critics and fans alike.
Roddy Woomble’s music constantly plays on my headphones, and every time I listen to his songs I find something interesting and meaningful to them that I didn’t spot before. When given the opportunity to interview someone who has had such an influence on me, I, of course, grabbed the opportunity and asked him everything I ever wanted to know…
This album has quite a different sound to your more country style works, but it isn’t quite the same as Idlewild – why the change?
I am not really interested in making the same record again and again, and I’m also not popular enough for people to expect a certain kind of album from me. I have a bit of freedom, and a whole lot of interesting friends and musicians to work with. I try and make the most interesting music I can, and time will tell if it’s good enough.
You’ve mentioned in a blog post that Tame Impala have inspired you recently – what other artists have you recently found inspiring?
I like electronic music a lot – anything released on the Kompact Label tends to be great. I also really like the group Peaking Lights. I listen to a lot of Jazz too – Bill Evans, Miles Davis, John Coltrane.
The concept of age plays a part in The Deluder – can you describe what your thoughts are on the significance age has (whether on you, on the world, etc)?
I could write an essay on this! But I won’t, all I’ll say is that aging is certainly not something we can avoid, but it really does creep up on you, and before you know it you are older than you thought, and yet you feel the same way you did when you were young – but you’re not anymore. It’s confusing.
A lot your old and new lyrics signify missing home – what things do you particularly miss when you’re away touring?
I guess I use ‘home’ more as an emblem in songs. I’m not taking about my actual house. I miss my family when I go on tour of course, although these days I never go away for more than 10 days at a time.
You’ve mentioned Jupiter was inspired by your son learning about space, which is really sweet and interesting – what other sorts of effects has family life had on your songs?
Not so much on songs, but I guess the older you get and when you have a family your attitude and priorities to many things change. Songs become less important, but also somehow more meaningful.
From touring with Idlewild to playing as a solo artist, it is clear you’ve performed in a lot of varying venues – but can you describe your perfect kind of venue and atmosphere?
The venue doesn’t bother me as much as the crowd. If the place if full of people that are very into the music and ideas, it’s a perfect gig as far as I’m concerned. That can be 2,000 people in a large hall, or 50 people in a small club. I have smaller crowds with my solo band concerts, but they are very good listeners!
Your works are very much a personal, creative process of songs – can you describe the process you have when making them?
I always have lines and ideas prepared, and then when I meet whoever I’m working with – either Idlewild, or my solo collaborators (Sorren, Lucci, Andrew, Danny) and we try and make up some songs. It’s a fractured, complicated, mysterious business, but we usually get there in the end.
There are a lot of literary and cultural references in your works – what particular works have you seen or read that have left a real impact on you?
The Orcadian Poet George Mackay Brown made a huge impact on me when I discovered him in my late teens. His sense of place and short, meaningful lines and poems really struck a chord. Around 25 I discovered ‘The Book of Disquiet’ by Portuguese Poet Fernando Pessoa, which again changed my way of thinking about words. Otherwise, I love Paris in the 1920’s – Surrealism, Gertrude Stein, the age of the Bohemians. And the Beats – Kerouac, Braughtigan, Ginsberg etc – Great books to discover in your teens.
Your book Instrumentals was really interesting and insightful, and I loved the integration of lyrics and the artwork – would you release another book of this kind?
I’m not sure. I enjoyed putting it together with Alex Brown the designer. I’m always working on words, and maybe in the future, I’ll concentrate on some kind of book. But for now, I’m happy with songs.
Roddy Woomble is playing at Rescue Rooms on the 18th of October.
You can read our review of The Deluder here.
By Eve Smallman