WOODEN SHJIPS: NEW WAVE PSYCHEDELIC ROCKERS
Finding inspiration on the rugged west coast of America, new wave psychedelic rockers Wooden Shjips released their fourth album Back to Land in 2013.
Formed in San Francisco in 2006 the band moved up the coast to Portland to record their latest album, where singer and guitarist Ripley Johnson and drummer Omar Ahsanuddin have recently relocated.
The Oregon landscapes had a profound effect on keyboardist Nash Whalen, whose crisp organ-playing takes centre stage on tracks such as Everybody Knows.
“A few days before we began recording in Portland, I went to the Oregon coast,” he said. “I soaked in all the sounds of the ocean and the forests along that rural stretch of coastline. It cleared my head of all other recorded music.”
The band members grew up on the east coast and say the west has always fascinated them as a place where they can allow their minds to wonder free, which is evident in the development of their songs. “Jamming really is best accomplished with the mind wandering down all sorts of crazy paths,” says Whalen.
“Sometimes I revert back to being a toddler and approach the keyboard as a completely new object, touching random keys as if for the first time to see what they do. A lot can be discovered that way. And a lot can be discovered in that moment when I wonder why we are here, just as long as I let the drone do its thing and enjoy what exactly everyone else is doing.
Recording is such a different process and it puts me in a hyper-focussed state. When the tape begins to roll, my palms start to sweat and my mind blocks out everything that I don’t need at that moment.”
Back to Land follows on from the eponymous Wooden Shjips, 2007, Dos, 2009, and West, 2011 and is clearly more upbeat than its predecessors but still retains a trippy and drifting feeling in songs such as the album’s finale Everybody Knows.
“Our music is psychedelic rock, but there is quite a spectrum of psychedelic music and art. One of the things that unites it all is that psychedelia stimulates the senses in a unique way,” says Whalen. “It isn’t a pure emotional or physical or spiritual response, but something else that combines all of them in a way that has to be experienced and cannot be easily explained.”
Interacting and sharing experiences with their fans is extremely important to the band and this is aided by the multi-level platforms offered online.
“The internet allows people to find the music they want to hear and read about the bands they actually care about,” says Whalen. “It really has helped us connect with fans around the world. I remember in the mid-90s when I was first following bands online through message boards and email lists. I found it really exciting to learn what a band was up to as they toured instead of waiting and hoping for some coverage to come out in print. The interaction between fans fuels much of the exposure just as much now as it did in the ‘60s.”
The band have firmly secured themselves in the modern psychedelic scene, following in the footsteps of the pioneer Lou Reed whose Velvet Underground they are often compared to. “One of our goals always was to make music that could be considered timeless and appreciated in any era. And if people want to hear us play in 25 years then that would be a real privilege for us.”
Words: Adrian Murphy
Illustration: Karolina Burdon
