Woodgrain Interview: SXSW 2010

Woodgrain might seem like a band name that means nothing, and that's exactly the way this Austin, Texas foursome want it. With no vocals or guitars, they opt for two synthesizer players with two keyboards apiece, backed by bass and drums to create frenetic, swirling, spaced-out heavy dance-rock. It's fitting that the cover of their debut release The Bronze features astronaut centaurs on the moon, that's just kind of how these guys roll. Playing officially for the first time at SXSW, and bass player Tommy Pomeroy talked about his beard, recording with Mark Deutrom from The Melvins and being on tour with The Sword.

How did your band form?

We've all pretty much known each other communally, the four of us over ten years. Two of us, me and one of the synth players, Michael Hammett, we have known each other since we were little kids in Dallas and [synth player] Josh Randolph's from Houston and [drummer] Russ [McCallister] moved all around. Three of us met in Nacogdoches, Texas, where we went to college. We separated for quite a while and came together back in Austin. I moved to Austin probably about four years ago and we kind of just messed around with music, they did while I was gone out of Texas and messed around for a while, when I came back and about a year and a half ago, close to two years ago, we started Woodgrain.

Describe your sound in your own words.

It's tough man, as everyone says I'm sure. I suppose kind of a sonic wall of sound that encompasses little pockets and vortex for the listener's pleasure. It lends itself to the ADD impaired, we try to keep people on their toes.


What is the benefit of having two synth players with two keyboards each?

We don't have a guitar or vocals so having that extra sound really lends itself to those gaping spaces that people are always looking for, although it's not the same thing obviously, it takes a whole different aspect. It's just more sound filling space, you know?

How do you divide writing duties?

It's definitely equally spread to the four of us which makes it kind of hard, you know but we definitely have worked on it for a long time and come to grips with all of us putting in an equal amount of information, and it's worked out so far, its really good.

What are your musical influences?

We listen to a lot of stuff, we all have different backgrounds in music, but I know that a lot of people have compared us to certain people like Trans-Am, they've said Zombie, but we listen to a lot of stuff; Gary Neuman, Queens of the Stone Age, ZZ Top, Egg, Can, you know, Zombie. There's a lot of stuff out there, it's hard to pinpoint anything.

How did you come up with your band name?

Yeah, we were about four or so songs deep before we decided on Woodgrain. All sorts of ideas were being stormed around, but we couldn't agree on any one of them. We knew from the beginning that our sound would be difficult to label or put into a genre so we wanted a name that didn't point in any one direction. I am aware that rappers, at the moment, are fond of gripping woodgrain in their whips, but I figure it will be replaced soon enough with something that has a bit more bling like ivory or pearl. You heard it here first.

How did you hook up with your label, Australian Cattle Gods?

We played a beard benefit show, a benefit for beards and we got asked to play and Brain Nelson, he's one of the head guys from the Austin Facial Hair Club, he saw us play and asked us to put together a demo. There's an annual event at the Mohawk and it just happened, it's a big beard competition: beard, moustache, all kinds of stuff. I actually got second place in the Six-Month Sprint at the Mohawk. Josh also rocks a beard but the other two do not. But Brian Nelson saw us and he asked to record us a demo and from there we wound up making an album with him.

How was touring with The Sword?

That was an amazing experience. It was pretty much our first tour and those guys are awesome to run around with. Super professional, great guys, they're nice guys and great crowds, they've got amazing crowds that follow them around and everyone was super welcoming, we just had great shows every night. It was pretty unbelievable. Memphis was one of the most insane nights we experienced on that trip. We saw a lot of people get thrown out like battering rams, two car wrecks, it was just amazing. It was super wild.

You have just released your debut album, The Bronze -- what was that process like and how did you choose the name?

We recorded in mid-summer last year, so '09 and Mark Deutrom produced it -- he was in the Melvins -- he's produced Neurosis and a few other things. It got released February, but we already had it done in November, it was printed and shipped to us, but it just took that long to get it nationally released. So it took a while to get it out, but it was totally worth the wait. We were throwing around some names and we really liked the way ["The Bronze"] looked on paper actually, not really more than that. Also coming out, I thought about it after, having our debut coming out in the bronze position wouldn't be so bad, but that was later thought.

Being from Austin, do you have any SXSW survival tips?

Drink as much water as you do liquor. Don't sit in the port-o-potties. Those are the main things.


Carl Atiya Swanson is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.