Independent Record Label | Est. 2009
Wilmington, North Carolina

 
 

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Showing posts with label JPW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JPW. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Here are the first three Fort Lowell Records releases for next year

MindsOne Stages - Release Date: February 7, 2025 - PRE-ORDER HERE
  • FOR FANS OF: 9th Wonder, The Alchemist, Atmosphere, Beastie Boys, Benny The Butcher, Big Pun, Black Moon, Kev Brown, Common, Da Beatminerz, D.I.T.C., DJ Premier, El-P, EPMD, Gang Starr, Hi-Tek, Hieroglyphics, J Dilla, Jay Z, KRS One, Little Brother, Lootpack, Madlib, Madvillain, MF Doom, Mobb Deep, M.O.P., Mos Def, Nas, Organized Konfusion, OutKast, Marco Polo, Redman, Run The Jewels, RZA, Sage Francis, Skyzoo, Talib Kweli, The Roots, Wu-Tang Clan

Kicking Bird 11 Short Fictions - Release Date: April 4, 2025 - PRE-ORDER HERE
  • FOR FANS OF: Arcade Fire, Band of Horses, Broken Social Scene, Blur, The Cardigans, Cheap Trick, Elvis Costello, The Dears, Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, KISS, The Love Language, The New Pornographers, The Pixies, The Presidents of the United States of America, The Rolling Stones, Silversun Pickups, Surfer Blood, T. Rex, Two Door Cinema Club, Weezer

JPW & Dad Weed Amassed Like a Rat King - Release Date: April 22, 2025 - PRE-ORDER HERE
  • FOR FANS OF: Amen Dunes, Barenaked Ladies, Calexico, Cornershop, Elephant 6, Flaming Lips, Gin Blossoms, LEN, My Morning Jacket, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, R.E.M., Todd Rundgren, Steely Dan, U2, Wilco, Link Wray

Saturday, December 21, 2024

JPW: Tiny Desert Concert



[Repost from KJZZ 91.5FM Phoenix; by Sam Dingman, December 16, 2024]


The Show's latest installment of the Tiny Desert Concert series features JPW.

Jason P. Woodbury has been in bands since he was in middle school. As he got older, he focused more on producing music as well as writing and podcasting about it.

He says when the pandemic started and he had more time to himself, songs started tumbling out. Woodbury joined The Show to discuss how JPW isn’t his first time leading a musical group.

Conversation highlights

JASON P. WOODBURY: I grew up singing in my family's church in Coolidge, Arizona. And I was, even like at a pretty young age, brought in to like lead the singing. So like a prepubescent JPW was like leading singing — and then a post pubescent one as well.

SAM DINGMAN: And I'm imagining the songs you were singing in church were religious in nature.

WOODBURY: No. All, all Scorpions and Megadeath.

DINGMAN: Can I join your church? [LAUGHS]

WOODBURY: [LAUGHS] Yeah, it was a cool church. ... All you know, very traditional protestant hymnal, whatever that would be. You know, it's interesting because I don't think that that sort of sacred or religious or mystical quality has ever really left what I, what I do.

DINGMAN: I'm glad you brought that up too, because I know, obviously we're talking about a very small sample size of your songwriting ura here tonight. Just three songs. But it does seem like they share a preoccupation with whether or not to trust feelings, kind of gazing at things that are being seen through mediation, whether it's eyelids or mist or water. Do you find yourself as a songwriter returning to certain themes over and over again?

WOODBURY: Yeah. And when I was younger, it really bothered me because I was like, I'm always writing about the same thing. But I think at least for me as an artist, it's just been learning to like, accept that those preoccupations are there and that maybe the most like true thing I can do is sort of run towards them. You know what I mean?

DINGMAN: I became familiar with your work through your commentary and analysis of music on the Transmissions podcast and in other places. Jelp me connect the dots between your life as somebody who talks to musicians, somebody who analyzes music, somebody who understands it at a kind of theoretical level and somebody who makes music.

WOODBURY: Yeah, boy, how, I don't know how to entangle it all. You know, it's like in listening to other people's art, I feel like I gain the ability to synthesize my own feelings through somebody else's work, right? And so that's what draws me to music. That's what draws me in is that I feel like the best music for me creates a space for the listener to enter into something, you know, whatever that is.

DINGMAN: Can you think of a moment in the Transmissions podcast — maybe there's been many of them — where you've been talking to a musician and you had this thought like, "Oh my God, they just said the thing that I have been trying to figure out in my own creative process."

WOODBURY: Oh, yeah. Actually the most recent episode, the one that closed our ninth season was an interview with Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent. And listening back to it, I was like, "Oh my gosh, like I was really talking a lot in this one." You know what I mean? Like, and I was really nervous about that. But then when I was listening back to it, there were these things where I would say something and he would say: "I felt like you were like a fly on the wall. Like that's exactly what I was trying to write about." But he said to me: "It's validating for you to hear those things and to, and to remark on them and to like, confirm for me that they're in there."

DINGMAN: I feel like you're also, you're describing my favorite kind of artist interview, where you're talking to Matthew and you, in the interview, don't necessarily know what you're looking for other than to get closer to whatever his source is. And he is a songwriter, maybe, doesn't even really know what he's writing about other than he's just trying to channel what's coming from the source, and you kind of find it together.

WOODBURY: Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think that's another thing that just over and over again I've heard from almost every songwriter I've worked with or talked to. I mean, the song comes from somewhere else and you have to just, like, make room for it. That's something I've experienced. You could think of it as, I don't know if you want to get mystical, some sort of shared thing that you're feeling and I'm feeling. And you listen to a song and you're like, this song is saying it for me. It's saying what I don't have the ability to say, and I think that's awesome.

Thursday, December 12, 2024

JPW & Dad Weed 'Two Against Nurture' - 2024 in Review // Favorite EPs, Reissues and Albums





[Repost from I Heart Noise; by Ilya S., December 5, 2024]

“J Moss is a deeply authentic music maker. One of the most prolific recording projects I’ve heard of in recent memory, Modern Folk can be anything from fingerstyle acoustic guitar, to field recording laden soundscapes, to noisy spacious freak outs, to a free rock band full of friends” – Bud Tapes

J Moss, aka The Modern Folk, is no big fan of lists, by his own admission. Which is why we’re honored to have him kick off an overview of 2024 for us!

JPW & Dad WeedTwo Against Nurture (Fort Lowell Records)

FOR FANS OF: Amen Dunes, Calexico, Cornershop, Elephant 6, Flaming Lips, Gin Blossoms, LEN, My Morning Jacket, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, R.E.M., Todd Rundgren, Steely Dan, U2, Wilco, Link Wray

The dark is arriving earlier each passing evening. The veil between the spirit world and the land of the living grows thin. Into the glooming emerge Phoenix songwriters Zachary “Dad Weed” Toporek and Jason P. Woodbury, aka JPW, noted podcaster, liner notes author, and songwriter, bearing a bag of autumnal psych pop. Recorded in Toporek’s backyard studio between 2021-2024, these three tracks showcase the birth of a songwriting partnership between these longtime friends and collaborators. Operating like an ersatz Becker and Fagan, handling singing, writing, arranging, and production in a 50/50 split, these songs indulge their taste for ragged power pop, chiming folk rock, and even semi-improvised jams.

Friday, November 29, 2024

Songs of Our Lives #60: Jason Woodbury



[Repost from Foxy Digitals; by Brad Rose, November 12, 2024]


On this episode of Songs of Our Lives, it’s Jason Woodbury! After a quick chat about the connection and influence of writing about music and playing music, plus his new EP with Dad Weed, we get into unfortunate moments with the Bob Seger Band, the lifetime of influence Vince Guaraldi has had, sticking up for The Smiths, Judee Sill’s transcendent lyrics, Bill Evans replayability, Bob Dylan, Cocteau Twins, Tom Verlaine + more!


CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO FULL PODCAST


Listen to all of Jason’s picks HERE
Jason’s Website
Jason’s Substack, “Range & Basin”
JPW & Dad Weed “Two Against Nurture”
JPW “Raw Action On Route”
Transmissions Podcast

Sunday, November 24, 2024

Successful collaboration between two songwriters leads to melancholy, memory and magic in three atmospheric tracks






New EP: JPW & Dad Weed || Two Against Nurture

Phoenix-based singer-songwriters (and longtime friends) Jason P. Woodbury aka JPW and Zach Toporek aka Dad Weed have joined forces, and the synergistic effect is inviting. The three tracks on their Two Against Nurture EP embrace sunny psych pop with a dark folk edge. A two-sided tension is reflected on all levels, including in the lyrics, such as “Well everybody’s talking about moving away // You think you’ll be sticking around” (from Everybody’s Talking (Again)) and “Sun tan lotion // Wearing mirrored skin // You’ve arrived here // Just in time for the end” (from Big Wave). Musically you’ll also hear a clash of styles and preferences, resulting in a rich and surprising orchestration that sounds experimental at times, but is always captivating.

Two Against Nurture, written and produced by Jason P. Woodbury and Zach Toporek, is out digitally via Fort Lowell Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Monday, November 18, 2024

JPW & Dad Weed - Two Against Nurture





[Repost for If It's Too Loud; by Ken Sears, November 6, 2024]

JPW & Dad Weed is the collaboration between Phoenix songwriters Zachary "Dad Weed" Toporek and Jason P. Woodbury. The duo just released a three song EP titled Two Against Nurture. The three songs comprising the EP are this glorious mix of the more mainstream side of early 90's alt-rock such as Gin Blossoms and R.E.M. alongside the more experimental sounds of Polaris and The Flaming Lips. Despite it not sounding like a complete 90's throwback, songs like "Everybody's Talking (Again)" and "When I Get Lonesome" are going to hit a nostalgia button you didn't even know you had. Plus, the songs are just a load of fun and have a sunny side that is necessary here in New England when it's getting dark at 4:30 in the afternoon. "Big Wave" closes out the EP, and goes in a completely different, more early country infused Wilco meets Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Wilco. Two Against Nurture is made up of three perfect singles.

You can listen to Two Against Nurture below. The EP is out now via Fort Lowell Records, and is available via Bandcamp. For more on JPW & Dad Weed, check out Jason P. Woodbury's website. Dad Weed can be found on Instagram here.

Monday, November 4, 2024

JPW & Dad Weed: Two Against Nurture





[Repost by Here Comes the Flood; by Hans Werksman, October 29, 2024]

Phoenix, AZ based musicians Jason P. Woodbury and Zachary Toporek themselves JPW & Dad Weed for their debut EP Two Against Nurture. The three tracks were recorded in fits and starts over the years, but they share the same framework: free-flowing, gnarly power pop that mixes the Byrds with unhinged 90s grunge.

Never mind the stoned teenagers having a laugh name for their duo. This is very much a release for music geeks, who will have a field day dissecting all the references Woodbury and Toporek managed to sneak in.

Two Against Nurture is released via Fort Lowell Records.

Tracks:
  1. Everybody's Talking (Again)
  2. When I Get Lonesome
  3. Big Wave

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

OUT NOW: JPW & Dad Weed 'Two Against Nurture' [Digital EP]





The dark is arriving earlier each passing evening. The veil between the spirit world and the land of the living grows thin. Into the glooming emerge Phoenix songwriters Zachary “Dad Weed” Toporek and Jason P. Woodbury, aka JPW, noted podcaster, liner notes author, and songwriter, bearing a bag of autumnal psych pop. Recorded in Toporek’s backyard studio between 2021-2024, these three tracks showcase the birth of a songwriting partnership between these longtime friends and collaborators. Operating like an ersatz Becker and Fagan, handling singing, writing, arranging, and production in a 50/50 split, these songs indulge their taste for ragged power pop, chiming folk rock, and even semi-improvised jams. Opener “Everybody’s Talkin’ (Again)” pairs suburban Arizona ennui with “summer of ‘99” alt-pop. Driven by Woodbury’s muted bass rumble and Zach Toporek’s exalted breakbeats, the song finds the duo abstracting and stretching out childhood memories, reflecting on the often occulted logic that drives the process of belief and self propulsion. Drawing from early Halloween memories and the spirit of magical possibility that marks the shift from summer to fall, the song’s earnest message urges living in the here and now: “Everybody’s talking about moving away/you think you’ll be sticking around.” ”When I Get Lonesome” continues the thread of ‘90s pop influence, pairing Byrds-inspired jangle pop with scuzzed-out guitars. Closing number “Big Wave” is built on a loose, mostly improvised session, which finds Toporek reflecting on climate dread while Woodbury twists a Telecaster into an open tuning and channels his inner Neil Young. Two Against Nurture opens up the vortex and beckons you to enter. Don’t delay.



JPW & Dad Weed Two Against Nurture is now available everywhere.

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

JPW 'Raw Action On Route'





[Repost from Foxy Digitalis; by Brad Rose]

The Capsule Garden Vol 3.19: September 25, 2024

There’s a call being broadcast from beyond the cosmos, hypnotizing our focus into the deepest reaches of space. Hazy memories snake through inner starfields like a mantra beckoning us to go back to reality. JPW’s voice crackles at the crests of slinking guitar leads, all with a wry smile buried in resonant hollows. Simple rhythms underscore the melancholy as if our hearts beat in unison across different stories in different times. Raw Action On Route sings in space-age shadows, adrift on lackadaisical waves while hanging heavy in the golden gravitational pull of future dreams.

Sunday, October 6, 2024

Is the protest anthem a lost art, or has the sound of revolution switched political sides?



[Repost from KJZZ 91.5FM Phoenix; by Sam Dingman, September 27, 2024]

As a summer of political chaos draws to a close, the wars and policy debates that have prompted violence and upheaval remain. Some pundits are saying it feels like the late '60s all over again. But when it comes to music, things don't quite sound the same.

Jason Woodbury, musician and podcaster on Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions, has been documenting the fluctuations of the music industry for years on his podcast and he joined The Show to talk about how things have changed since the golden age of the protest anthem.

Full conversation

JASON WOODBURY: The late ‘60s, early ‘’70s really are the time when a number of factors, the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement produced a sort of cultural consciousness that crossed over into the pop realm.

You've got songs like Creedence Clearwater Revival's “Fortunate Son,” an anti-war song that hit number 14 on the Billboard hot 100. Also in 1969, John Lennon's “Give Peace a chance.” Pretty blatant outright lyric there that also hit number 14. Not only is this stuff really conveying a, a point of view and a message, but it's also achieving mainstream success.

SAM DINGMAN: I think one of the interesting phenomena about the success of these songs is that it makes us look back at that time, kind of through the lens of the popularity of the songs, if that makes sense. Like, because of the widespread resonance of those songs, it becomes very easy to look back at that time and think like, well, everybody hated the Vietnam War, when of course, the reality is that those things were the subject of very intense debate.

WOODBURY: Yeah, I almost feel like the pop culture element of it allows for a sort of retrofitting, right? Like, oh, yeah, everybody must have been on board because I mean, listen to how, how good this song is. It's easier to paint a slightly rosier picture maybe if you're just going by the sort of artistic breakouts of that time.

DINGMAN: Yeah. Well, and I'm curious to know what you think about this idea, too, that maybe another reason that it's easier to paint with a bit of a broad brush in terms of memory using these songs is that they were by and large channeling a kind of sentiment rather than a specific message against one particular party.

You know, obviously there was probably, you know, some implicit messaging against say the Nixon administration, but it's not like, it, it, it seemed like it was more about channeling a general spirit amongst the people rather than taking a firm stance on one side of the aisle or the other.

WOODBURY: Yeah, that's actually really interesting to think about. You know, I think about the, the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song “Ohio,” which was written about the Kent State massacre. And it specifically says, you know, “Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming.” But I think it's that next line that almost speaks to what you're saying. You know, he says, “we're finally on our own.” That speaks a lot more to the spirit of a thing and, and sort of a general feeling than actually saying, you know, you can only listen to this song if you're against the Vietnam War.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, you get into stuff that actually probably was far more aligned with the actual very, very radical stuff from that counterculture, stuff like Public Enemy, NWA. These were artists that were speaking about very bleak realities and often accompanying them with really controversial statements, you know. And that remains popular music. When you think about news anchors freaking out over NWA lyrics, it's like a reminder that like, that's the mainstream, paying attention to this, this stuff.

And I think that that continues on for a while, you know, in the early 2000s, you also had stuff like Green Day with “American Idiot” or the Dixie Chicks, now just the Chicks, but at the time, the Dixie Chicks, who spoke out against the war in Iraq and really faced like a very, very intense backlash from the Nashville establishment. And I think that after that point, say in the early 2000s, you really do start to see the kind popular protest song, not completely go away but certainly lessen in, in frequency.

DINGMAN: Yeah. But I think it is really interesting that, that point you're making about the Chicks, I mean, obviously the Chicks still have their fans, but at the time that they made that statement, they were one of the, the biggest acts in popular music, right?

WOODBURY: That's right. And I mean, I think that when you even think about just sort of the strange way that political ideology ebbs and flows in relation to culture, you look at the, the Chicks, who were taking this stance and were speaking out against the George Bush administration and people like Dick Cheney. You think about that in context of 2024 and you've got like Dick Cheney saying that you should vote for Kamala Harris, you know, the quote unquote progressive person on the ticket.

And I think that speaks to just how weird and sort of complicated these things have become and how it's become increasingly difficult to sort of take a coherent stance in certain ways. And, and to some degree or another, most protest music requires that kind of specificity that's become maybe a little bit more elusive in a time where people are like, well, hang on. What, what exactly, where do I align, you know, is there an anti-war, you know, candidate or whatever things like that?

When you look at some of the stuff that has broken through in more recent time, there's a MAGA rapper, Forgiato Blow, who managed to score a really big hit with his song “Boycott Target.” That Oliver Anthony's super viral “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which debuted at number one.

Like now you might actually have more of a chance of scoring like a protest hit if you're sort of saying something very different than what you might hear more progressive artists saying. And those are both examples I think that sort of show how this has changed quite a bit.

DINGMAN: Yeah. Well, it certainly feels like we've come a long way from “Give Peace a Chance.”

WOODBURY: I mean, I like that one still. I, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a John and Yoko stan. So plenty of protest music in their cannon to to, to return to.

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

JPW - Raw Action On Route





[Repost from Doom & Gloom From the Tomb; by Tyler Wilcox, September 9, 2024]

A great writer/editor/podcaster/dude — Jason P. Woodbury is definitely all of those things. But he’s also slowly but surely building a beautiful sound world as JPW. This short-but-sweet EP is like JJ Cale and Cass McCombs going on a long desert road trip with no particular destination in mind. Lonesome drum machines, drift-y vocals, burnt guitar lines — the good shit, as we like to say. And hey, another great dude Chris Schlarb (Psychic Temple/Big Ego Records) shows up to lend his skills to a dank ‘n’ dubby remix of “The Road That Knows No Law.” My only complaint for this one is that it should go on for at least 10 more minutes.

Friday, September 6, 2024

OUT NOW: JPW 'Raw Action On Route' [Digital EP]





Noted podcaster, liner notes author, and music writer Jason P. Woodbury, aka JPW, returns with another broadcast from the far side of the cosmos. The Raw Action On Route EP collects three recordings made circa JPW’s debut, Something Happening / Always Happening (Fort Lowell Records), which was hailed by MTV News (RIP) as “...a desert broadcast from the past where remnants of space-age pop mingle with an undeniably easy (and breezy) feeling you might've found out Topanga in 1972." Utilizing a sparkly red Partscaster gifted to him by his brother, a set of vintage drum machines, and plenty of reverb and echo, these selections present a darkly comic side of Woodbury’s songwriting: “I Miss That Song” tells the story of a doomed cosmonaut drifting through outer space with an Osmonds’ deep cut playing on a loop in their head, while the instrumental “Old Scratch” blends soundtrack score cues with dubby ambiance, a wheezing pump organ subbing in for reggae’s signature melodica. The EP closes with a remix of SH/AH’s “The Road That Knows No Law,” featuring woozy, Twin Peaks-worth synth textures from Chris Schlarb of Psychic Temple, who mixed these songs to tape at his Long Beach studio Big Ego. Drifting into spookiness but retaining a lo-fi friendliness, Raw Action On Route drops you back into JPW's orbit. Enjoy your spin. 

JPW Raw Action On Route is out now on all digital music platforms.

Sunday, September 1, 2024

What is musical sainthood? One artist shares his perspective on music's connection to spirituality



[Repost from KJZZ 91.5FM Phoenix; by Lauren Gilger, August 14, 2024]

Who are your musical saints? Not just those artists you admire, but those you view in almost mystical terms.

For Jason P. Woodbury, it’s a long list. Woodbury is a local musician himself, as well as a music writer and podcaster for Aquarium Drunkard.

And, as many good (and bad) things begin, this conversation began on Twitter, or X, with a post from another musician about musical sainthood. It’s a concept that hits close to home for Woodbury — who told The Show he’s always viewed music through a spiritual lens.

He joined The Show to share some of his own musical saints and tell us what the idea means to him.

Full conversation

JASON P. WOODBURY: To start off, I will do the disclaimer, which is to say this in no way adheres to any single religion or dogma. I think canonization in the Catholic Church proper, let's say, you have to have a few requirements, right?

There's like overall virtue. There are, of course, martyrdom — should you die defending your belief or whatever — faith and charity, and then, of course, miracles. And so, to me, songs are miracles. So, all you have to do is have a good song to qualify as a musical saint in my personal canon.

But, at the same time, I think a lot about saints as somebody who has given something up or sacrificed something because they believe that their art has something important to say. So, I tend to think there's a slight trials and tribulations element to sainthood. So, so yeah.

LAUREN GILGER: Just like Joan of Arc, okay. 

WOODBURY: Just like Joan of Arc and the Smiths

GILGER: Right, right, and you say music has always been kind of spiritual to you. You grew up in this way, right?

WOODBURY: Yeah. I grew up in a very, very small church in rural Arizona — in Coolidge, Arizona — and, even before I hit puberty, I was like leading the song service for the church. My dad had done it and uncles, and, to me, music and sacred experience always go — have always gone hand-in-hand.

And the most interesting thing is that even as my own faith and perception of the Divine has changed over the years and become far less tied to one specific religion, that element of music as a sacred space has never gone away.

GILGER: Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about and hear some of your musical saints. Who did you come up with? This can't be an easy list to make.

WOODBURY: No, I mean, because there's so many people that I wanted to talk about. So, I just kind of went with some of my gut responses. And the first one is the late Sinéad O'Connor, who I think of as — she's, you know, I'm sure that somebody listening right now goes, yeah, not my saint, you know, because she's known, of course, for a very controversial moment in which she ripped up a picture of the pope on SNL.

But when you look at Sinéad's life, I think that she is, in so many ways, the prototypical seeker. She grew up in the Catholic Church, had a very violent and strong reaction against it related to abuse that she suffered at her mother's hand.

But Rastafarianism spoke to her. So she's dabbling in these, like reggae religions. And then, of course, I think she joined a break off sect of the Catholic Church, and when she passed away, she had converted a few years earlier to Islam.

So, I mean, so Sinéad sort of had like a journey, but when I look at her music — and I could pick dozens and dozens of songs from the catalog — I just think of someone who, in that Irish poet sense, just had to sing about the most enormous topics she could, the biggest mysteries.

The song I selected is called, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got," which is the ultimate aim sometimes. This idea of being content. It's a real haunting vocal too.

GILGER: Yeah, let's listen.

[“I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” by Sinéad O'Connor]

GILGER: All right, so who's next on the list?

WOODBURY: All right, so next on the list, I think we're gonna go with the great Sun Ra. Sun Ra is one of the most fascinating characters in the history of music, hands down.

He claimed that he was not from the planet Earth. He was from Saturn, and he was in touch with galactic super beings, more or less, that imparted to him a message that he needed to share with humanity. And so, when the Sun Ra Orchestra — which is the name his group most often used — performed, they'd wear these huge robes, very ceremonial, right?

But, Sun Ra himself was sort of this figure who — really pivotal in the Afrofuturism movement. And he often sang of angels and demons. So there's that, in terms of the religious thing, and he just tended to speak in this sort of nomic riddling kind of fashion. And I think it speaks to a sort of a saint — or maybe we're moving more into the prophet realm here.

But it's like, these people, they don't always make sense in their time, but then many, many years later, you realize just how incredible what they were doing was. And so, I selected one of the more serene Sun Ra songs, and it's called "The All of Everything."

["The All of Everything” by Sun Ra]

GILGER: All right. Next, you have on the list Judee Sill, right?

WOODBURY: Yeah. Judee was this sort of Christian mystic songwriter. She put out two records in the 70s, and this song, "Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos," is from her self-titled 1971 debut.

["Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos” by Judee Sill]

And Judee grew up singing Baptist hymns, so she had this like sacred quality. But, by the time she gets to making her own music, she had lived years — sometimes in really, really dire circumstances. Drugs, sex work.

She's a perfect example of a saint who is far from saintly on paper, but when you listen to her songs, I think she just understood some sort of William Blake-style marriage of heaven and hell. Like pain and pleasure, high and low, transcendence and damnation. For her, they're all in the mix, and they're always happening.

There's just a lyric in this that, were I to come up with my own religion, I would keep this as like one of the main commandments. The lyric is, "so keep on moving / or stay by my side, either way / I'll tell you a secret / I've never revealed / however we are is okay."

["Lopin' Along Thru the Cosmos” by Judee Sill continues]

GILGER: All right. Next up, we have — at least one name I had heard of — John Coltrane, but you've got John and Alice Coltrane here.

WOODBURY: Yeah, that's right. And, in fact, the song I selected is just Alice. But, John Coltrane, of course, a jazz legend. Absolute innovator of the form, and one of the all-time greats. John and his wife, Alice Coltrane, made a lot of great music together.

After he passed away, she continued making great records, and her music became even more overtly focused on sort of spiritual forms. This was the 1960s as all sorts of Eastern esotericism was starting to kind of make its way into the US counterculture.

This song, "Journey in Satchidananda" is a song that she wrote about her guru. She's playing harp, and there's tambura, and it's this like just really evocative soundscape that I think it's kind of impossible to listen to it and not fall into some sort of a trance.

["Journey in Satchidananda" by Alice Coltrane]

GILGER: So, let's talk, lastly, about about a song I think everybody knows — and an artist we definitely all know. Madonna's last on your list.

WOODBURY: Yeah. Yeah, "Ray of Light" from 1998. This is a song that I remember being pretty young when it came out — you know, junior high or whatever. But I remember hearing it, absolutely loving it, and being just so taken by it, but also being really nervous to tell all my friends that I like the Madonna song

GILGER: I have the CD. I listen to this every day. Yeah. 

WOODBURY: Oh my gosh, I mean, I think this is her best work, to be honest.

["Ray of Light" by Madonna]

WOODBURY: And this is an interesting song, because it's from an era where she was dabbling extensively in like Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah. And I think when I listen to — particularly the song "Ray of Light" — it just actually sounds like a ray of light. It sounds like a transmission of divine solar energy or something. It is so repulsive and so — it's so immense.

["Ray of Light" by Madonna continues]

I mean, the lyric, "she's got herself a universe completely." It's like, it's kind of a reminder that we tend to think of the cosmos purely from an out — you know, the cosmos are out there. But, I think when I listen to a song like this, it reminds me that the cosmos are kind of in here as well, and I think that that's really what the song speaks to. And of course, the beat is pretty undeniable.

GILGER: Yeah, it's pretty good. All right, we'll end it on that one. Jason P. Woodbury, musician and music writer, host of the Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions podcast and creative director of the Wastoids Podcast Network, joining us to talk more about his musical saints. Jason, thank you so much as always for coming on. I really appreciate it.

WOODBURY: Oh, it's always a blast. Lauren, thank you so much for having me. And I look forward to hearing what musical saints this conversation inspires people to bring up. Thanks so much.

Saturday, April 1, 2023

The Jason Woodbury Interview

[Repost from Primitive Man Soundz; by Dakota Brown, August 22, 2023]

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



Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Boogixote Scout Report #1 | Blowin Wax

[Repost from Boogixote; by Garrett Bethmann, March 22, 2023]

JPW: Halfway to Eloy (Live at the Dirty Drummer)
Puts some sweat on your brow and a buzz in your body as you glide through some ephemeral fever dream of fast friends on lonely desert roads, listening to a radio station playing the best music you’ll never hear again. It’s a sweet little live release single culled from Jason Woodbury’s debut release Something Happening/ Always Happening on Wilmington’s Fort Lowell Records. 

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

OUT NOW: JPW "Halfway to Eloy (Live at The Dirty Drummer)" [Digital Single]

“Halfway to Eloy” was the second single released from JPW's debut album Something Happening / Always Happening last year. "Halfway to Eloy (Live at The Dirty Drummer)" Digital Single is a *live recording* of that song from the Record Release Party, which was held at The Dirty Drummer in Phoenix, Arizona on September 10, 2022.


Sunday, February 19, 2023

JPW

[Repost from Ecléctico; by Armando Bellmas, February 17, 2023]

Today on Ecléctico you're listening to "Something Happening" by JPW, a musical project led by songwriter, musician, and singer Jason P. Woodbury from Phoenix, Arizona. Released in 2022, today's song is the lead track from the project's debut album. Let the album roll after the tune and you'll find yourself driving through the American west, light and dark dancing above the landscape, your pace fast then slow as you race towards a place that is still a song away from where you want to be.

"Jason Woodbury is a galactic citizen, dialing in from the Sonoran Desert on planet Earth," writes Ben Seretan on the album's digital liner notes. "[The album is] a collection of songs you might hear on the radio after a cosmic camping trip, familiar but far off. Songs for stepping out of the spaceship to crack a goddamn cold one on a blurry summer day, taking a moment to enjoy the smell of freshly cut grass."