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Click below to hear a live session we did with Philly-based psychedelic experience Needle Points in April!
“Let the boogie lick your lips. Let the jangle, shake your soul. Let the light shine on your third eye. And may your visions bring you back to love. Love which is…. Needle Points.”
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By Nick Stropko
Last week I interviewed Jenn Wasner, one half of the Baltimore-based group Wye Oak. We spoke about side-projects, the state of pop music in 2014, traveling, and the Baltimore music scene. Be sure to check out their excellent new album, Shriek, and look out for them May 5th at Union Transfer.
So, what’s the situation with having a home between various bouts of touring? It seems like it’d be pretty inconsistent…
Well for awhile I didn’t think it was necessary. During the fall for the touring we did for Civilian when we were really, really pushing it, I didn’t actually have a home. That made sense to me on paper, but it actually took a bit of a toll, as you can imagine. Since then, I have moved into a really nice house with a friend of mine–she’s really busy too, she’s a grad student–but we have a really nice house, and we do the best we can to take care of it, but between her schedule and mine…the best we can hope for is that it’s well-preserved. It’s lived in…but on and off, between the two of us. I’d say it’s really important to have a place to live in, even if it’s just for a couple days.
Understandable. A place that’s not a storage unit, anyway.
Exactly, which is what it was, for a little while.
Well, I looked at your tour schedule, and it seems like you’re hitting it pretty hard again.
Yes, but believe it or not, not as hard as we were. This is an improvement. I know, it seems insane but it is not as crazy as it was [during Civilian]. But it’s still a formidable amount. We’ve been on tour since the better part of March and April, and then we have a little bit of time off, and then we’ll be back in March for the better part of May, June and July.
In March, we toured down to SXSW with our good buddies, Future Islands, and then we went to Europe, and we played a bunch of shows over there. We went to Turkey, and a bunch of other places. Then we came back and went to Coachella, and we came back from that, and now we’re about to go on a proper US headlining tour.
I actually lived in Istanbul for a few months, so just for my curiosity, how did you like it there?
It’s the best! Gosh, I had such a great time. We gave ourselves a couple days after the show just to hang out, and I’m really really glad we did–it was absolutely one of the coolest, if not the coolest place, I have ever been.
I actually picked up, like, three phrases, and they all came in great handy for the show. I can’t remember it anymore, but–I learned it about five minutes before the show and then promptly lost it–I learned good evening, because I have a superstition that I have to start every show that I play, assuming that it’s in the evening, by saying “good evening.”
Is it difficult working out the logistics to go somewhere as far as Turkey to play one show? It seems like it would be tough to pay for airfare and things like that with one gig.
It’s tricky for us to fly in general, just because we are two people but we have way more than two people’s worth of stuff. That actually makes it really tough because of baggage restrictions and stuff like that. If we had more physical bodies to distribute the gear amongst it would be easier, but we really don’t. That is the trickiest part. It can be really expensive and really exhausting, because it basically involves me strapping like 100 pounds of shit to my body and grabbing a couple more bags on top of that and working my way through airports and train stations. So it’s no joke, but it’s way worth it. Getting to visit a place like Istanbul–in my wildest dreams as a child I would have never thought I’d find a way to do that. It’s absolutely worth it, it’s just hard work.
You have a new album coming out. It’s excellent, by the way.
Thank you for saying that!
This new album seems to be influenced by some of the stuff you’ve done as Dungeonesse, and maybe to a lesser extent as Flock of Dimes. Do you think there was an overt influence from that, or do you think it just seeped into your subconscious or or writing process?
Continue reading “Interview with Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak (April 25, 2014)”
1 REAL ESTATE – Atlas
2 ST. VINCENT – St. Vincent
3 GARDENS AND VILLA – Dunes
4 WAR ON DRUGS – Lost In The Dream
5 GUIDED BY VOICES – Motivational Jumpsuit
6 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
7 BLACK LIPS – Underneath The Rainbow
8 WARPAINT – Warpaint
9 AVA LUNA – Electric Balloon
10 DUM DUM GIRLS – Too True
11 HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF – Small Town Heroes
12 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
13 SISYPHUS – Sisyphus
14 SNOWMINE – Dialects
15 YELLOW OSTRICH – Cosmos
16 TEMPLES – Sun Structures
17 TOY – Join The Dots
18 BLEEDING RAINBOW – Interrupt
19 LO-FANG – Blue Film
20 ETERNAL SUMMERS – The Drop Beneath
21 PERFECT PUSSY – Say Yes To Love
22 WOODSMAN – Woodsman
23 CHEATAHS – Cheatahs
24 JAKE BUGG – Shangri-la
25 TACOCAT – NVM
26 CEO – Wonderland
27 FALLS – Into The Fire [EP]
28 SLEEPY SUN – Maui Tears
29 NENEH CHERRY – Blank Project
30 DRY HEEVES – Boogie Till Ya Puke
1 ST. VINCENT – St. Vincent
2 REAL ESTATE – Atlas
3 GARDENS AND VILLA – Dunes
4 GUIDED BY VOICES – Motivational Jumpsuit
5 BLACK LIPS – Underneath The Rainbow
6 AVA LUNA – Electric Balloon
7 WARPAINT – Warpaint
8 DUM DUM GIRLS – Too True
9 HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF – Small Town Heroes
10 TEMPLES – Sun Structures
11 SNOWMINE – Dialects
12 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
13 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
14 TOY – Join The Dots
15 PYPY – Pagan Day
16 CHERRY GLAZERR – Haxel Princess
17 MODERN BASEBALL – You’re Gonna Miss It All
18 NATURAL CHILD – Dancin’ With Wolves
19 SLEEPY SUN – Maui Tears
20 TACOCAT – NVM
21 WARM SODA – Young Reckless Hearts
22 DEVIL MAKES THREE – I’m A Stranger Here
23 DISTRICTS – The Districts [EP]
24 SKATERS – Manhattan
25 MARK MCGUIRE – Along The Way
26 CASKET GIRLS – True Love Kills The Fairy Tale
27 NOTHING – Guilty Of Everything
28 ETERNAL SUMMERS -The Drop Beneath
29 DAMAGED BUG – Hubba Bubba
30 PAUL RUSKE – Uncertain Times
1 REAL ESTATE – Atlas
2 BLEEDING RAINBOW – Interrupt
3 GUIDED BY VOICES – Motivational Jumpsuit
4 SNOWMINE – Dialects
5 TEMPLES – Sun Structures
6 WARPAINT – Warpaint
7 TOY – Join The Dots
8 ST. VINCENT – St. Vincent
9 YELLOW OSTRICH – Cosmos
10 MODERN BASEBALL – You’re Gonna Miss It All
11 DEVIL MAKES THREE – I’m A Stranger Here
12 HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF – Small Town Heroes
13 GARDENS AND VILLA – Dunes
14 SKATERS – Manhattan
15 DISTRICTS – The Districts [EP]
16 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
17 TACOCAT NVM
18 BOY AND BEAR – Harlequin Dream
19 JAKE BUGG – Shangri-la
20 PAUL RUSKE – Uncertain Times
21 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
22 NATURAL CHILD – Dancin’ With Wolves
23 HOSPITALITY – Trouble
24 DUM DUM GIRLS – Too True
25 SLOTHRUST – Of Course You Do
26 BAND OF HORSES – Acoustic At The Ryman
27 MOZES AND THE FIRSTBORN – Mozes And The Firstborn
28 ANGEL OLSEN – Burn Your Fire For No Witness
29 BLONDFIRE – Young Heart
30 EAGULLS – Eagulls
1 TEMPLES – Sun Structures
2 WARPAINT – Warpaint
3 BLEEDING RAINBOW – Interrupt
4 SNOWMINE – Dialects
5 GUIDED BY VOICES – Motivational Jumpsuit
6 BAND OF HORSES – Acoustic At The Ryman
7 MODERN BASEBALL – You’re Gonna Miss It All
8 TOY – Join The Dots
9 DISTRICTS – The Districts [EP]
10 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
11 JAKE BUGG – Shangri-la
12 YELLOW OSTRICH – Cosmos
13 STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS – Wig Out At Jagbags
14 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
15 NATURAL CHILD – Dancin’ With Wolves
16 SLOTHRUST – Of Course You Do
17 PAINTED PALMS – Forever
18 SOLIDS – Blame Confusion
19 ANGEL OLSEN – Burn Your Fire For No Witness
20 HOSPITALITY – Trouble
21 DEVIL MAKES THREE – I’m A Stranger Here
22 GARDENS AND VILLA – Dunes
23 TINARIWEN – Emmaar
24 CIBO MATTO – Hotel Valentine
25 SPEEDY ORTIZ – Real Hair [EP]
26 BLONDFIRE – Young Heart
27 MARK MCGUIRE – Along The Way
28 BROKEN BELLS – After The Disco
29 PYPY – Pagan Day
30 CASKET GIRLS – True Love Kills The Fairy Tale
1 DUM DUM GIRLS – Too True
2 SNOWMINE – Dialects
3 GUIDED BY VOICES – Motivational Jumpsuit
4 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
5 WARPAINT – Warpaint
6 TEMPLES – Sun Structures
7 TOY – Join The Dots
8 DISTRICTS – The Districts [EP]
9 SPEEDY ORTIZ – Real Hair [EP]
10 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
11 SLOTHRUST – Of Course You Do
12 PAINTED PALMS – Forever
13 SOLIDS – Blame Confusion
14 BLEEDING RAINBOW – Interrupt
15 CHEATAHS – Cheatahs
16 HOSPITALITY – Trouble
17 HOLY WAVE – Relax
18 ANGEL OLSEN – Burn Your Fire For No Witness
19 YELLOW OSTRICH – Cosmos
20 JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW – Post Tropical
21 TINARIWEN – Emmaar
22 STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS – Wig Out At Jagbags
23 SKATERS – Manhattan
24 EL TEN ELEVEN – For Emily [EP]
25 EAGULLS – Eagulls
26 CASKET GIRLS – True Love Kills The Fairy Tale
27 PYPY – Pagan Day
28 DAMIEN JURADO – Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son
29 ADVENTURE GALLEY – Anywhere That’s Wild
30 QUILT – Held In Splendor