Interview with Redwoods
You seem to be very proud of your songwriting skills, how does that process usually go for you guys?
Usually one of us will come up with a guitar riff or a bass line and then we build the song up from there. Sometimes we’ll be jamming just for fun and a song will form spontaneously. Lyrics almost always come last and are written based on the mood of the music.
How did you get into songwriting?
We’re all big music fans who listen to a wide variety of artists and genres and loved the idea of taking all of our influences and blending them together into a sound of our own.
You have released a couple of EP’s and are currently getting ready to release your first full-length album “Daybreaker”, how has the album process differed from the EP’s?
I think the main difference from the album process to the EP’s was the vision in the beginning. When we first started crafting the music for Daybreaker we wanted to plan out a story that the album will tell instead of just throwing songs together. There was a lot more work involved on that end compared to the EP’s. An EP could be compared to a short story, whereas an album reads like a novel. We took a lot more time to envision a path we wanted the album to go and how it would be interpreted.
You worked with Canadian producer Garth Richardson, can you tell us how that experience was?
It was very motivating and inspiring to see how passionate he is about making our music sound as good as possible, especially considering some of the bigger names he’s worked with. He knew exactly what kind of sound and vibe we were looking for and offered a lot of valuable feedback and ideas. The setting of his studio was really a soothing place to be for the creative process as well. All in all an amazing experience that we hope to do again in the future.
What can we expect from the album?
A good mix of upbeat party bangers, and melodic sing alongs.
What tracks are you most excited for people to hear off the album?
Drowning and In Between.
You just released a video for No Stoppin’ now, what was the inspiration behind the video?
When we decided to add the ACapella intro with the tambourine to the song, I just had this vision of a chain gang marching and singing. And seeing as the song is about desperately counting down the last few seconds of the work week, dying for some fun, the song lyrics kind of wrote the rest of the story for us.
How was the filming process of the video?
Our good friend Andrew Crandell filmed the video who our bassist (Chad) knows very well outside of the band so it was a lot of fun. We picked locations in North Vancouver where we grew up and did sort of a run-and-gun style of shoot for most of the scenes. Basically, we’d just show up to a spot, get the shots we needed, and on to the next one. The backyard scenes were the most fun, well, because we were drinking beer! We are very proud of how everything turned out and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
You guys started playing together in high school, what inspired you to start at such a young age?
It was more of a coincidence really. We were all good friends in high school who happened to play instruments, so naturally we formed a band.
What advice do you have for any young aspiring musicians?
Keep pushing yourself to learn and listen to as much material as possible. Play with as many other musicians as you can.
Other than your album, what else do you have planned for the next year?
Playing shows and making more music! We have a pretty full summer ahead of us to support the album release. June 1st our official album release party is happening at the Railway Club in Vancouver with plenty more gigs after that including Uptown Live New West Festival. We are in the works of planning a cross-Canada tour in September with our pals the Fallaways and Chase the Bear, both amazing local bands. And of course, we are always creating more tunes for you to listen to, so as usual, stay on the lookout! Bigger things are coming!
To find more music from Vanouver’s Redwoods visit redwoodsvancouver.com
