Jason P. Woodbury is a writer, deejay, and record man based in the Sonoran Desert. He's the creative director of Hello Merch, an independent merch, pop culture, record label, and apparel brand, where he oversees the A/V wing, WASTOIDS. Woodbury edits Justin Gage’s Aquarium Drunkard, where he also contributes, as well as hosting and producing the weekly Transmissions talk show podcast. His monthly program Range and Basin on dublab airs every third Sunday of the month as part of the Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard broadcast. Previously, Jason has worked as a clerk, cargo driver, events producer, and director of marketing for Zia Records, limited-edition vinyl projects, including You Gotta Have Soul: Raw Sonoran R&B and Funk (1957-1971). He's written for Pitchfork, Comic Book Resources, Flood Magazine, Relix, and other outlets. His interviews have been featured on NPR online and he’s been quoted by Rolling Stone and Vice.
He has worked in various capacities with Third Man Records, Light in the Attic, Warner Records, Polyvinyl, In the Red Records, ORGMusic, Craft Recordings, The Playboy Jazz Festival, Jealous Butcher, and the Pickathon Music Festival, and has written liner notes for a number of projects, including the deluxe edition of Terry Callier's The New Folk Sound, the 2019 edition of Jim Sullivan's 1972 Playboy album, and The Microcosm: Visionary Music of Continental Europe, 1970-1986. Woodbury’s explorations and essays about folklore and nature have been featured in zines by artist Brad Dwyer and Ken Layne’s radio show/podcast/publication Desert Oracle. Woodbury has previously served as music editor for the long running alt-weekly Phoenix New Times, contributed to The Arizona Republic/AZCentral, and hosted the Audio Ranch radio program with Arizona music historian John Dixon.
Are you originally from Phoenix, AZ? What was your childhood like growing up? When did you first begin to fall in love with music, more specifically the guitar? What was it that initially fascinated you? Was music relevant around your household growing up?
I grew up splitting my time between Coolidge, a rural cotton town located halfway between Phoenix and Tucson, and Chandler, a suburb on the east side of the Phoenix metro area sprawl. My childhood was centered around reading, going to church, watching movies, reading comics, and listening to music on the radio. When I got into high school, I started playing guitar and bass in earnest—inspired in part by my dad, who played bass, and my uncle Nathan, who was a guitarist divided his time between my family’s tool shop and running a local TV studio/production space. Music was definitely relevant in all the households I grew up in; my dad’s brothers instilled in me a love of The Traveling Wilburys and mid-century pop; my uncle Nathan hipped me to stuff like Tangerine Dream; my dad was into Boston and ELO, both of which made a huge mark. My step-mother introduced me to R&B and ‘90s soul, and she instilled in me a love of Chicano lowrider oldies, MTV new wave hits, and the soundtrack from That Thing You Do. Her brothers’ taught me “La Bamba,” and somehow that unlocked the door to jangly stuff like The Smiths. My mom’s parents would dance to Sinatra, The Texas Tornados and ZZ Top in their sun room. My mom had the most eccentric taste of all—she liked country music by The Judds and Reba, but she also introduced me to stuff like Alanis Morisette, No Doubt, and through her then boyfriend Brett, alternative culture in general. What fascinated me most about music was how simple chord shapes and progressions could be a vehicle for big, massive emotional moments—the idea that it doesn’t take much to say a lot. Artists like Tom Petty and The Ramones really cemented that notion in my head. On top of that, I started leading the congregation in singing at church, so I learned quickly how to get over being afraid of singing in front of people. So when I started playing rock music with buddies, singing came pretty naturally.
Do you have any siblings? What would you and your friends do for fun growing up? When and where did you see your first concert and what kind of impact did that leave on you? Who were some of your earliest influences?
I have a raft of siblings: my brother Brad, from my dad and mother’s marriage; Alex and Olivia are my brother and sister from my dad’s second marriage, I have another brother, Dillan, on my mom’s side, and a couple step siblings, Brendan and Louren, on my dad’s side. We spent a lot of time making our own fun, being absolute desert rats: driving backroads, fooling around at each other’s houses, swimming in canals—perilous activity, in no way do I “recommend it.” My family would go see movies in Casa Grande. When I’d spend time in the bigger city with my mom, I’d get to go to record stores and comic shops, which became life lines to pop culture. My first show is embarrassing: Creed with Collective Soul and a band called, and I was kinda confused about this for religious reasons, “Full Devil Jacket.” Collective Soul utterly smoked Creed. After that, I started to get into pop-punk, emo, and indie music, and immediately those shows became my standard for live music. I would come home from shows late at night and sit in the closet and make endless recordings of song ideas on my tape machine, just my unplugged electric guitar, bashing out little three chord things. As far as earliest influences, I think the Prince soundtrack for the 1989 Batman movie has got to be up there. U2, The Cars, and ELO certainly. When I started writing my own songs, I definitely was thinking Green Day; that matured into wanting to be part of the Get Up Kids, then getting into stuff like Wilco, Sonic Youth, Sleater Kinney, that sort of stuff, and classic songwriting from people like Neil Young, Springsteen, Dylan, the VU, Bowie, Lou Reed, etc. When I began working in a record store at 21, bam, it was anything goes musically. I couldn’t, and still can’t, get enough.
Did you participate in any other groups growing up prior to your more recent outfits, Kitimoto and JPW? Tell me about these bands and how they came to be. I understand that JPW just released a new album on Fort Lowell Records. Can you tell me about this release? What do you find yourself expressing as well as exploring the most through your music? As someone that is always writing and talking about music, I’m curious to know where you stand, as an individual, with your very own craft!
I started playing in bands in high school, yeah. We had a succession of terrible and mostly forgettable names. One incarnation was called “Placing Distance.” Generally speaking, I think all band names are kinda terrible. When I moved to Tempe at 21, I started a power pop/indie trio called Hands on Fire. I played guitar and was the primary songwriter. We played a lot around town in Phoenix—opening for Fleet Foxes, The Black Angels, and oddly enough, Blue Cheer. I also played in a folk-punk band called Porches and we toured a little bit together as well. My work in Porches led to joining the indie-pop outfit Cardiac Party, which was inspired in part by ‘90s alt-pop like That Dog, but also more out there stuff like Animal Collective, Dan Deacon, and Deerhoof. When the main songwriter in that band, Ryan McDowell, moved to Los Angeles, I kept playing with guitarist Jon Douglas and drummer Cavan Noone. We went by a number of names off and on for years—me on bass sometimes, or occasionally just two guitars and a drummer. Zane Gillum—who I play with in JPW and Kitimoto—had moved away, but moved back to town. He joined up with us on bass and that group became Kitimoto. In Kitimoto, we focus on Jon’s songs. We first interacted playing shows together in the mid-2000s. He has a long running project called A Technicolor Yawn, which rules. I’d always wanted to play his tunes, and with Kitimoto you’ve got these four dudes who’ve been playing together for years—the feel is just really good and natural. We recorded our album Vintage Smell with producer Austin Owen at Rancho Linda Vista, an intentional community in Oracle, Arizona, where Andy Warhol once shot an X-rated western film. JPW is the catch all for my musical projects. The first record, Something Happening/Always Happening, was produced by a friend and hero of mine, Michael Krassner, from Boxhead Ensemble. Lately, I’ve been performing with my buddy Zach Toporek’s project Dad Weed; we do combined sets, some songs from his record, some from mine, and a bunch we’ve written together for a record that will be out…soon, we think? We’re just wrapping it up.
How did you initially meet Justin and become such a consistent and constant force over at Aquarium Drunkard in the last ten years, or so? What have you learned as well as enjoyed the most while working over there? When did you start doing the “Transmissions” show and who have been some of your favorites guests to speak with over the years?
In 2012/13, I was writing and editing the music section of the local alt-weekly Phoenix New Times. Justin Gage noticed some of the pieces I’d written and asked if I’d want to contribute to AD. And the answer was a hearty yes—AD was and remains my favorite blog. I started pitching in, writing reviews, interviews, song blurbs, the year-end stuff. In 2016, we relaunched the Transmissions podcast as an interview program. In 2020, we took it weekly and it’s been a great way to connect with artists and listeners and explore topics I’m drawn to: creative process, spirituality, transcendence, the flexible nature of time. I still shake my head when I think about how lucky we’ve been to get some of the guests we have. I loved talking with Dorothy Moskowitz of The United States of America recently. Justin and I once interviewed Daniel Lanois at his place in Silverlake—that’s a highlight. I loved speaking with Jim Jarmusch, his work is deeply inspiring to me. I was nervous, but he was delightful and game to chat. My talk with Beverly Glenn-Copeland was very moving and consciousness expanding. As was the chat I had with the late Joanna Brouk, a new age artist who really blew my mind. I’ve had occult historian Mitch Horowitz on a few times, I always love hanging with him.
Our readers don’t know this about us, but we’re avid Adam Sandler fans. Please enlighten them by giving your top three films and why!
I have to go with my gut instinct here:
Uncut Gems
Billy Madison
The Wedding Singer
Sandler is so fascinating; he’s made incredible movies and some absolute stinkers too. I had a hard time leaving Punch-Drunk Love off my list, but I went with Uncut Gems as an example of Sandler pushing very hard, showcasing the coiled intensity that fuels even his funniest, most lighthearted stuff. In terms of classic Sandler comedies, I went with Billy Madison. It’s a ridiculous movie conceptually, but it made such an impression on me as a kid. My aunt and uncle took my siblings and I to see it as kids while my dad and stepmom were on a trip together. They ended up yanking us kids out the theater upon realizing it wasn’t a kids movie. When my dad returned, he was like, “We watched the most hilarious movie while were out, it’s called Billy Madison.” It became a back to school tradition to watch that one annually. Lastly, I’m going with The Wedding Singer, because it really showcases Sandler’s sweet side. He and Drew Barrymore’s chemistry in that movie is magnetic. I love a rom-com and that one just excels. My wife Becky and I watch it a couple of times a year.
What have you been up to more recently? Anything new and excited on the horizon for Spring/Summer of 2023? Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
As I noted earlier, Zach and I are putting the finishing touches on a record we really dig, hopefully we can share more about that soon. We’ve got some incredible projects going at Transmissions, and I do a show called Click Vortex on the audio/video network WASTOIDS with my collaborator Sam Means (of The Format and Hello Merch). We’re actually doing a live gig this weekend, March 26, at the Crescent Ballroom with Cris and Elmo Kirkwood of The Meat Puppets.
