Music > Interviews

Wooden Arms

09/12/14

Norwich’s own Wooden Arms are a group of six musicians who make the most lovely music together. Swathes of delicate piano, beautiful choral harmonies and trip hop inspired beats conspire to create a sound that reminds me of an English Sigur Ros with hints of Portishead and Mozart. They’ve been played extensively on BBC Radio 6 Music, have recently released their latest six track album Tide and are off on tour in Europe. I spoke to lead gentleman and composer, vocalist and pianist for the group Alex Carson about meeting Lauren Laverne and how they manage to fit six musicians into a lounge.

Can you describe the type of music you make to people who haven’t yet heard it?

I’m always partial to the term Edwardian Hip-hop; another I like is Tudorian Funk. Like Parliament but with ruffs. The honest answer is we’re not really anything specific – we make some songs that could be considered classical and we make some songs that could be considered folk. But ultimately we write modern music with some classical background and we really like a good pop song. I’m sure you can draw your own opinion from a listen or three.

Your album “Tide’ came out in September. Can you tell me a little about it?

It’s a 6 track vinyl / CD concoction which we recorded at the Old Granary here in Norfolk by local sound wizard David Pye. Although it’s only 6 tracks it’s roughly the same length as most albums these days (around 30 mins) as we’re not one for a short ditty. It’s a mix of some old songs with very new arrangements and entirely new material and I see it as the starting point but by no means the plateau of what we’re about. You can purchase it from us at woodenarms.co.uk or probably just blow into a conch on Gorleston sea front and I’ll appear with one.

 You played live for Lauren Laverne on Radio 6 Music recently. What was that experience like?

It was great - quite nerve wracking of course but overall a wholly enjoyable experience. Lauren is by far the easiest person to hold a conversation with so it’s very easy to see why she’s so popular. It’s quite hard getting across central London at twat o clock in the morning to get set up and be ready - which can hamper the atmosphere we’re more used to with a live show but once the adrenaline kicks in it’s all the same.

You’re touring Europe next year; I wondered what your favourite venues are that you’ve already played?

My favourite venue personally has been Union Chapel in London - beautiful building with superb sound and a very dedicated team that are at your beck and call. I’m hoping we can play there again in 2015. We had a very lovely show at the Reeperbahn festival nestled amongst the prostitutes and sex shops at the Imperial Theatre. But locally I’ve never looked further than the Norwich Arts Centre (and I don’t just say that because we’re playing there soon!) it’s genuinely one of the best venues in the UK and they really care about what they’re doing.

How did you all meet and get together?

I think we were all married in the 70’s in one of those communes you hear about. I drank the Kool Aid in 1972 and the rest as they say was history. But to be fair, the mists of time have fogged that right up. I say this because the story of how we actually all met is rather dull and tedious. The only thing of note is that it was accidental mostly - I never intended to form a band, I ended up just meeting very talented, beautiful, delicious people who didn’t hate the music I was writing. Some have since gone, and some have since come, and I doubt that will change.

I know Milly Hirst from your band is a singer songwriter in her own right. Do the rest of you make music with other groups or on your own as well as with Wooden Arms?

Our drummer Mackenzie writes and plays for Corinthians, a 4 piece psych-indie outfit who are ruddy good. And Jeff the trumpet/guitar/vocalist also writes under the name An Early Aeronaut. It’s not at all surprising that they also contribute to some of the Wooden Arms canon as well; December, in particular, off the last record, is penned by Jeff.

What’s your songwriting process?

I often ingest an unholy amount of Laudanum and then await the hallucinations. But usually that fails and I have to sit and slave over a hot piano instead. I tend to write everything at the very beginning, structure, melody, lyrics, harmonies, rough idea of arrangement. But I’m loosening my tyrannical grip on the composition now and I start to release ideas a little earlier to the rest of the band and then we tend to evolve the song naturally over time. Unlike a lot of songwriters I like to think very visually and I need to notate almost everything before it makes sense to me; I don’t tend to think very aurally which is very odd considering it all ends up just going back into the ear eventually. But it really helps me to think up more interesting harmonies or arrangements that aren’t perhaps the most obvious. Often when you’re writing something a certain chord sequence or melodic shape is apparent but when it’s written down in front of you it feels like those choices are less clear cut and that allows you the ability to write something a little more unusual. Doesn’t always happen, but sometimes...

You signed to Butterfly Records this last Summer. How come you decided to go with them?

The decision to go with any label or in fact tether yourself and your music to any ‘business’ entity is always a calculated one. However, saying that, Butterfly Collectors (or Oli and Maik to us) have always put our music at the forefront of everything - which is what we have always done. So with that in mind, a pairing was obvious. They cared as much as me about the success of Wooden Arms and they were happy to put their money where their mouth was. A rare trait in this day and age.

What are your influences as a band, musical or otherwise?

For me personally, a looming unease at my own mortality and the constant consequence of my actions. This acts as a regular influence to get off my arse and create something. I, however, cannot speak for the rest of the band on that front. But we have quite a varied musical diet and we all ingest different things, some are more folkier and some are more classical, some are into choir-based sacred music, some are into psychedelic rock. The scope is limitless and we’re not keen to hamper our influences to any select categories.

I know you do a lot of music promoting, Alex, in and around Norwich. Can you tell me a bit more about what it is you do?

I have run a record label and promotions company called Bare Feet Records (or BFR for short) for donkey’s years now. I’ve been putting on gigs all over Norwich including Norwich Arts Centre, the Birdcage, the Bicycle Shop, Jurnets Bar and quite recently the Murderers, the  Plasterers and Gonzo’s Tea Room. It’s something I’ve really enjoyed and I always think the better promoters are musicians, and the better musicians are promoters. It’s very educational to see things from the other side of the curtain and it definitely affects your judgement in either capacity.

What other local music is worth checking out at the moment?

Real Life Charm are my current favourites; a very polished unique sound that is very distinct from what is currently going on in Norwich. I am also in love with Birds of Hell who is this incredibly charismatic, enigmatic, and any other word ending in ‘atic’ character who is always a delight to watch. Harry Edwards is doing something really interesting in Norwich as well; he’s got a nice James Blake sound to him whilst also doing his own thing. I have of course always loved Sam Leonard aka True Adventures; some of his new work is very exciting and I’m honoured to be part of it.

What sort of local support and help have you appreciated up until this point in your career as a band?

 We’ve had such brilliant support from local bands and venues. Norwich is a very easy place to play shows and work on something new. It’s big enough to have plenty of stuff going on, but small enough to really feel a sense of community. The BBC Introducing team are second to none here and we’re deeply indebted to the Birdcage constantly for being a place to allow us to work on new material. We’re also part of Escalator, which is a locally run group that works with the Arts Council to help bands get a leg up. It’s all run from Norwich Arts Centre, and they’ve been a huge supporter of us. Without them we wouldn’t have been able to make our last record for sure.

Do you have a regular rehearsal space? With all those instruments I shouldn’t have thought you can fit in someone’s lounge!

Well that all depends on the lounge doesn’t it? We actually rarely get a chance to rehearse all 6 of us - often one of us is busy/ill/can’t travel, so we do somewhat staggered rehearsals. But we’ve done living rooms and practice rooms and we like doing long weekends of stoically working on music all together rather than necessarily doing something regular each week. Our drummer lives in London, as will I very soon, so we end up sending each other demos a lot of the time and working on them vicariously.

Finally, why are you called Wooden Arms?

The naming of the band was rather unceremonious - we had been playing together a little while and had a show booked so needed a name. I am deeply enamoured by the music of Patrick Watson and he made a great album called Wooden Arms. There really wasn’t much more thought about it than that. But it’s stuck and he hasn’t sued so everything seems to be going okay.

Wooden Arms play Norwich Arts Centre on January 30th. Tickets available from www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk