Wooden Arms
It’s music that is easy to love
WHO?
Alex - piano, vocals, guitar
Jeff - guitar, vocals, trumpet
Alex - drums, vocals, bass
Fifi Homan - violin, vocals
Phoebe Fulbrook - violin, vocals
Yep – that’s a lot of people and a lot of instruments.
WHAT?
It’s too simple to say it’s classical or rock - both are here. Wooden Arms bring a big, full sound, almost overwhelming, as piano, guitar, strings, drums and trumpet crash together. But here’s the thing. The same people are able to create moments of utter stillness, even silence in their songs. It’s music that is easy to love and has the ability to draw in audiences of all ages and genres.
HOW?
Hearing Wooden Arms play you may think their sound has come about through a group of talented musicians meeting to create a thing of beauty for us to hear.
Well, true and not true. Meeting Alex Carson, the band’s sole surviving founding member, you realise that things never run entirely smoothly. True, all the members are at the top of the tree with their instruments. But the way Alex tells it, there’s more mongrel than thoroughbred about their formation.
“It all started with my elderly neighbour, Mary O’Brien,” said Alex. “Basically she liked singing and bought herself a Marshall and Rose piano. But then couldn’t play and more and donated it to me. Without Mary, there would be no Wooden Arms.” Then a friend donated his sister, suggesting her as a violinist. Next came the cellist found busking in the street - and bit by bit drums, guitar, trumpet were all collected up and started working together. Out of chaos cometh beauty. And believe us – the music this act makes is beautiful.
GOSSIP?
The band are beginning to get noticed. Radio plays on BBC Introducing and 6 Music – and FANS. Yes, one woman likes them so much she made the drummer write their song lyrics on her foot, which she then went off to the tattoo parlour to have made permanent.
LIVE?
When Wooden Arms started Alex was the main songwriter. Personnel have changed over the years and each added their own influence. Now it’s even more collaborative and you can sense when watching them live how the songwriting effortlessly changes hands throughout the gig. There’s a new single Burial out on the 17th June with a headline gig to accompany it at Norwich Arts Centre on the 30th. The album Trick Of The Light is due later in the year.
soundcloud.com/woodenarmsband/burial
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