Brothers Oliver and Chris Wood have spent much of their music careers consumed by their own bands and projects. Oliver spent time down South with his blues outfit King Johnson, while Chris made a name for himself in New York with avant-jazz-rockers Medeski, Martin, and Wood. It was not until 2002 when King Johnson opened for Medeski, Martin and Wood, that Oliver joined Chris on stage during MMW’s set, sewing the seeds for a collaboration between the two.
A series of impromptu jam sessions followed, eventually leading to The Wood Brothers to record Ways Not To Lose, a stripped down explosion of folky-blues built around Chris’ distinct bass rumblings and Oliver’s road weary voice and simple, yet soulful guitar. Produced by John Medeski, the brothers’ debut album, was released on Blue Note Records, March 7, 2006.
Oliver checked in as he was heading into the studio to do some last minute work before heading out on the road with his brother for a short West Coast tour opening for Medeski, Martin and Wood.
It’s been hard for both you and Chris to hook up because of your busy schedules, so who was it that finally had the idea to get together?
I don’t know. It was definitely a mutual thing. We had always talked about just trying to do something – even if it was just to do some recording. We started out that way, just playing and recording for fun and I guess it just built from there. The chemistry was immediately so cool. The little we recorded was just so cool, we were like, “man let’s just go make a record!”
You both come from such different worlds musically and even though your background may be the same, you are both involved in bands that are so different. How was it when you finally got together?
It’s funny because a lot of people ask that. It was easy because even though the bands we play in are totally different there are still a lot of the same people we listen to. Even though Medeski, Martin and Wood is a little more avant-musically diverse, they still listen to a lot of the stuff and are influenced by a lot of the same stuff as I – everything from James Brown to Sun Ra. Even though the music I write doesn’t sound like Sun Ra, I still listen to it and still love that kind of stuff. I listen to all kinds of instrumental jazz, I love that too, it just happens that I took this different direction from Chris and became more of a songwriter and blues guitar player.
That’s the great thing about having a wide range of influences, how they make you feel and what they move you to write. You and Chris can have the same starting references but come up with something completely different because of how it impacts you personally.
Exactly. The nice thing is Chris and I have enough musical stuff in common that our styles and tastes overlap in such a cool way. We are able to add to each other’s musical repertoire.
So have there been any problems on the tour bus? Any brotherly brawls like the Robinsons, Gallaghers or Davies?
No nothing like that yet. We have been living apart for the last twenty years so we are definitely not tired of each other yet.
When you finally sat down to start playing and writing songs, how did that process go? Did you pull from old ideas you had, or did you decided to start from scratch and write all brand new material?
A little of both and it continues to be like that. What sparked it as first was just us jamming and improving, and out of that came our first song “Tried & Tempted” which is off the Ways Not to Lose record. That one came about from us just playing together for the fun of it, we came up with a groove that we both liked and I sat down and wrote some words for it. Before you knew it we had a song.
Other times one of us would bring a more developed idea in and then we would flesh it out together.
While working with Chris were you ever impressed with something he had written or played and thought to yourself, “Man my little brother can do this music thing pretty well!”
Ha, ha, ha. Absolutely! I think that was definitely the case. We teach each other a lot juts by playing together. It has been such a great experience and I feel we have both given each other a lot.
Your sound is simple, yet complex. For just two guys there is a lot going on sound-wise, both on the record and when you play live. Was that something you had planned, or did it come about naturally?
Yeah, it just is what it is. We just played and let it come about naturally. Chris is an amazing bass player, he can do so much, he is just so rhythmic. I think both of us have a style that implies other things. There is something about the way we play that implies that there are other instruments or drums in there. It is almost like an illusion.
Let’s talk about Ways Not To Lose. It is one of my favorite records of the year.
Thanks very much.
When you sat down to do the record, did you have any vision of how you saw it turning out or did you just let go of all restrictions and see what happens?
We had made a demo and played together some and people loved it, because it was just so raw with just the two of us. The main goal when we made the album was to keep it like that. Not add a whole bunch of musicians, not overdub extra tracks, just pretty much have it be us playing in a room. And for the most part that is what the record is.
I think that is what the strength of the record is. There are not a lot of extras. In a live setting you have such a stripped down raw sound and the record bis a real good representation of what you sound like at a show.
That’s not to say we are not going to try other stuff in the future, but that is the way we are doing it now. We really like it and people seem to appreciate it because it is different.
That’s a nice segue to ask about your plans for the future.
We have a record contract for several more albums, so whether we want to do it or not – and of course we do, we are excited to do some more. It is definitely a positive situation.
Do you have a timetable as to what you are planning to do? Do you want to continue touring or are you looking to take some time off and head back to your other bands and come back to this with a fresh state of mind?
I think it is just rolling and constant. It is real on and off, we are touring like crazy for a couple of weeks, and then next month we are only going to do a couple of shows. So it varies from month to month, but it will be a real constant thing. Touring is how we make our living, and records are supplemental to that. It will be a process where we take a little time off to record the album. We are always writing though, even out on the road we are always looking to put together new ideas.
Do you have a batch of songs now that you foresee as being on the next album?
Yes, not a lot we are playing live. We have a lot of songs done, and we have begun to play a few of them live.
We look forward to hearing them soon.
