Woodhands has had a slow climb to indie stardom, but those experiences reflect heavily in the way they make and perform music – with conviction. Composed of synthesizist/vocalist Dan Werb, drummer Paul Banwatt, and producer Roger Leavens, Woodhands regularly rams dance floors with their surgically precise, high energy sets.
Lucid Media Magazine caught up with the synth-rock heatmakers fresh off of a packed performance for MTV Live, to talk about their third studio album, penning diss tracks, getting really wasted, and explaining to the rest of us what a Super Jupiter is.
“I bought a Roomba today,” says Dan Werb from his Toronto residence. “You know, one of those robotic vacuums. It’s on the charger right now”.
“She’s like Rosie the Robot,” chimes in Paul Banwatt, “but with less sass.”
This is Woodhands in a nutshell: enamored with technology, but unwilling to take it seriously. Not surprisingly, it reflects in their playful-yet-dark third album, Remorsecapade.
In addition to making fun of themselves, they also enjoy making fun of other things, like Pitchfork Media. In a recent move that mirrored Toronto hardcore darlings Fucked Up, Woodhands released a track which clowns the taste-making website. In case you are interested, this track is downloadable from their MySpace page.
“We literally just heard about Fucked Up doing the same thing. It wasn’t a case of us imitating them or vice versa. We were goaded into it by Pitchfork’s Ryan Shreiber, over a dinner of ribs,” says Dan.
“There is no ill will between us. At least there wasn’t at the time,” interjects Paul. “But we were pretty drunk; we’re not so sure though, now that the track has been released [laughs].”
Blame it on the liquor, but it wouldn’t be the first time that group got themselves a not-so-memorable situation.
To read the complete Woodhands article, check out the printed version of Lucid Media which may be found on the racks and shelves of your local bookstores.
