The result is darker than expected, a collection of songs featuring metallic-sounding guitars and coldly precise drum machines. It sounds like an infusion of industrial clanking and clacking into the quirked-out indie pop Woody Whatever is known for.

Of course, the old traits are still there Guided by Voices remains an obvious inspiration aesthetically and musically, especially on the triumphant hook of opener Rave Time and Schmall has used drum machines before on his The Great Pop LP.

Perhaps most interesting, the EP offers some alternate takes on songs Woody fans might be familiar with from the guitar-heavy live show. The highlights, Listen Up and Name One Time, both show off Schmalls knack for branding melodies on the brain. All in all, its a satisfying holdover until the proper album release later this spring.  -Chris DeVille

{ the intro image is a borrowed frame from a peanutbreath animation. }

+ How often are you writing songs? I get the feeling you write like at least one a day or something.

Erik: Lately, I’ve slowed down a bit. A couple years ago I made it a habit to record at least three to five new songs a day. I figured the only way to learn to write songs was to write tons of shitty ones. I also had to teach myself to sing this way too.

Today I’ve been focusing on quality over quantity. Even though I’m trying to pace myself, I still have a lot of songs that need albums. I’m currently tracking an album called Time Money that was recorded variously over the first half of the year, I’m about to put out a split EP with Cabriolet called Pop Hearts, and by last count, my band had at least 20 unrecorded songs that need to get done.

I’m really excited about The Skirts of Blue Disease an album that I’m currently writing songs for now. It will hopefully be completely finished by the time we hit the road in December.

+ Do you have friends who run recording studios or something because I would think it would be a bit expensive always recording stuff?

Definitely not. I started with a 4-track cassette recorder and built my way up from there. My best purchase was the Roland Studio Pack on ebay for about $400. That along with the cheapest condensor mic I could find is the closest I’ve come to a recording studio.

+ Are the people listed in the band on your website going to be on the new album?

They show up variously on Time Money. Since I usually record as the song hits me, whoever is around gets on the recording. Usually though it’s nobody. Tom Huffman’s been on a couple albums. He was my roommate for two years so that helped. Lately I’ve been consciously trying to play the role of songwriter and leave the instrumentation to my band. The next two albums I plan on having full band.

+ What is the situation with band members? Seems like you kind of go through a lot. Do your bandmates hate you because you make them play so much or something?

Most people have this dream of a band where everybody writes the music together and everyone makes all of the decisions together. I believe bands are best when there is a songwriter (or songwriters) who brings something for the others to play. Jamming for hours on hours until something comes out is not really my style. Until recently, Woody Whatever has been pretty sporadic with live performances which has annoyed some people. My focus has always been on the studio albums, which I preferred to do alone. Now I finally understand how great a live band can be and I write songs specifically for playing with them.

+ Is it easy finding people you can relate to musically to want them in your band?

It’s been difficult finding band members that I really click with. I think this current line-up is the best yet. Dare I say perfect. I trust all of their instincts. The hardest part of putting together a good live band is finding people who are influenced by the same kind of music. If you like The Pixies but hate The Beatles, we’re going to have some musical differences down the road.

+ What is it like making music with your brothers? I am curious how that kind of works out. I can’t imagine doing anything with my brothers. There is no fighting, like the kind that only siblings have in a weird kind of way?

With Jeremy, we’ve never actually written together in the same room. I’d like to but we haven’t lived close to each other since we started collaberating. Since he’s a writer, he can just email me his lyrics and I pick and choose the lines I can use. With Jason, we only played together in 2001 for I Can’t Aim When You Keep Moving which we recorded over a couple of weekends he came to Dayton. It was pretty seamless. For the most part, we both had songs we brought for the album. We switched around on instruments playing each others songs until we ran out of songs. We made quite a few up on the spot too. My favorite is “Southern Saltwater” where I played some simple chord progression and Jason improvised an entire song while looking at this framed magazine cover called “Southern Saltwater” that for some random reason features my uncle on the cover holding some fish. Great stuff.

+ Does running Agriculture Records enable things to go more smoothly now with putting out your stuff? Is it really expensive putting out the amount of material that you do?

Agriculture Records is a dream come true for me. I finally have a system of putting records that is quick and cheap. Most of these records existed solely on my computer until a month ago so it’s nice to see those available finally. Since I’m always a couple albums ahead of myself, it’ll be great to finally be able to keep up with myself. The turnaround time on an agriculture record can be one day. Our latest release by Untamed Pony took three days. One night of recording, one day of mixing down, and one day of printing up the album. I hope to release lots of other bands too. I’d like Agriculture to be that excuse for people to keep writing songs in their bedrooms.

+ Is it incredibly inexpensive to put cd’s out this way? I wish more people would put out stuff as fast as you. Seems like everyone else takes too long.

It’s actually incredibly cheap. I’ve developed a simply system for releasing albums that is highly efficient. The sky is really the limit for Agriculture. Since it doesn’t set me back too much to take on a new release, I can take a lot more risks on my favorite artists. It’s really all about the artists. They can do whatever they want without my interruption. If they think the album needs to have a thirty minute drum solo, so be it – it’s their album.

+ You thank Bob Pollard on “I can’t aim when you keep moving.” Have you met Bob or is he just someone that inspires you a lot?

I met him once at a private industry party my brother Jason was invited to in Columbus. It was a handshake and he went on his way. I was thrilled. Jason slipped him a copy of Roar before he left. He inspired both me and Jason equally. Being from Dayton how could we not? I love his lo-fi ethics. We both bought 4-tracks and started cranking out short pop songs in no time. The only difference was, Jason had a job and I was still in high school. I’d been recording and writing songs since I was eleven but Bob Pollard gave me direction and hope. I figure I can be the other guy from Dayton…

+ What was the reason for you moving to Athens, Ohio? School stuff or something?

Yeah, I moved out here to go to Ohio University. I graduated in June with a degree in Music Production and a minor Music. I would consider it a giant waste of time. I should’ve gone to a tech school so I can actually get a job.

+ What bands are you really into lately?

People always think that since I’m in this band and write these songs that I must be super trendy and know every new up-and-coming band. In reality, I’m pretty content to listen to the same music I’ve always listened to. The Beatles, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, of course old GBV. I also like early 90s hip-hop and R&B which confuses people. Old school Ice Cube was great!

+ Have you done any touring outside of the Athens/Dayton Ohio area? Any touring plans in the near future?

We played two shows in Columbus Ryan from catbirdseat.org set up for us. Everything else has been locally in Athens. I moved from Dayton before I attempted a live Woody Whatever show. The first show I ever played as Woody Whatever was actually in Portsmouth, Ohio, a tiny Ohio River city in Southeast Ohio. We played with an arty french-pop band called Les Parvenues from Huntington, West Virginia. They didn’t go over very well. Right now I’m working out a midwest tour in December.

+ Where are places you hope to go to during your Midwest tour? And your tour for summer 2006, will that be another region of the country that you want to go to?

The midwest tour will start in Dayton and head out towards St. Louis and work our way up to Chicago. Unfortunately nothing is locked down yet so it will be interesting to see how the tour actually ends up looking. This is the first time we’re hitting the road so it’s probably a disaster in the making. For Summer 2006 I’d like to head out to the east coast and play as many places that will have us.

+ What are things that inspire you to write music?

The first time I heard The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips, I wrote and recorded Sunday Definitley in three days. Ultimately though, it’s life that inspires me. If I’m in a great mood, the songs are upbeat. If the weather sucks, the songs slow down. If I have a shitty job the songs are depressing. My brother Jeremy’s been sending me lyrics to use for a couple years now too. When I sit down and read his stuff I get inspired. The songs we make together are my favorites.

+ What does “text on for lovers” exactly mean (from Liquor stores on blank stares )? I wonder if it has something to do with people talking on the internet but not sure.

Exactly. It’s about falling for someone on the internet.

+ Is Athens a nice place? Like Musically and culturally? (I’m considering moving to a nice college town – just looking around at this point.. . )

Well, musically it’s a very clicky town. If you have a lot of friends, you get big shows. At our last show we had about 10 people. It’s also a small town so if you make friends with the newspapers, you get in the papers. If you’re friends with the bar managers, you get the good shows. Otherwise, you’re better off heading to Columbus. It doesn’t make for a lot of variety but there’s some great new bands emerging that’s making this scene exciting. I’m hoping to document as much as I can on Agriculture. As far as culturally, you’re either a jackass close-minded typical college kid or not. Everyone I’ve met that isn’t a jackass, close-minded typical college kid has been great.

Woody Whatever I Can’t Aim When You Keep Moving 2001It’s Autumn! And Autumn should mean putting on Woody Whatever music because this is the perfect music for this season. I Can’t Aim When You Keep Moving is Woody Whatever’s debut album, and it features T. Hero, Erik’s brother. Erik Schmall is Woody Whatever for the most part, it started out with just him and he eventually got others involved here and there and he runs a pretty good ship in a good captain kind of way. This album has 19 songs and all of them are very melodic and the lyrics are interesting, a bit abstract and very nice sentiments expressed throughout the songs. Song titles include “Guest For Breakfast,” “Busser’s Remorse” and “We know Han Solo”, which makes Han Solo sound like he’s the Star Wars equivalent to.. . Richard Grieco? The songs have a nice rough, thick sound to them with instruments and vocals. The drums – especially the drums on “Lemon Flavored Car” – are just too yummy. My favorite song on the album is “Southern Saltwater.” Just a numbingly-pleasant good song. The songs are really catchy and upbeat sometimes and more somber at other times. This is probably their roughest album in terms of recording – but it’s perfect this way. Naoko 10.05.05

Woody Whatever Sunday Definitely 2002It’s difficult to hear all the lyrics being sung, which I always have a problem with when I listen to music, but the best part of that is getting little snippets here and there of nice sentiments or moments which you will find with Woody Whatever songs. “April is to May… . .. . It’s the holiday, for kings to celebrate.. … .. . . .she is yours, she is mine.” This collection of songs from Woody Whatever has the song structures sounding more developed and the singing is going in lots of areas too. The songs are not as loud in some places like with their first album, not that it’s a flaw because it would ruin the mood of the album if it were that way. And going by the song title “13 Songs To the Regional Campus” this is around the time Erik moved to Athens to become a part of that yucky student population known as “Ohio University kids”. I wish I had a treehouse to sit in and listen to these songs while it starts to get darker earlier and colder each day now. Naoko 10.05.05

Woody Whatever When I Lost I Left 2003 This band is totally beating Bob Pollard with output. Never thought that would ever be said. Funny too that it comes from another Dayton native. Lots of albums and EP’s in between albums as well. I get the feeling by the time it’s Winter, I’m going to need more fingers. Upbeat! Quasi-cheerful singing! More of a full band sound! The songs are fun. The drumming is solid, the guitar-strumming is perfect. Erik Schmall is definitely a good song-writer. In some places it reminds me of some of the happy moments in Beach Boys songs. The lyrics are good in a J Mascis kind of way. Not that the lyrics or how they are sung are similar in any way between the two but there isn’t one lyric that will make you cringe which I have always liked about J Mascis’ lyrics and have finally found with another band. It’s rare to find a band in which there isn’t at least more than a dozen lines somewhere that make you cringe a bit because the sentiments go a bit overboard in some territory in which you would rather not get your scuba gear wet for. There is always a bit of a balance beam that is a bit difficult to stay on when it comes to writing lyrics and expressing them in the right way and Woody Whatever does this really well and just has really good, comforting lyrics. Songs I’m really enjoying at the moment. “Go Away,” “Ginger Suicides,” “Get Inside My Life”. Naoko 10.05.05

Woody Whatever Liquor Stores On Blank Stares 2004A big album, twenty-six songs in all. On this album Erik has his two brothers contributing like on previous albums here and there. There are also others coming into the fold for this album as well like Pearce Dietrich of the Spelling Bees. More songs on this album about falling in love, which are sweet. There is something nice about Woody Whatever songs that deal with relationships. Can’t really put my finger on it, but it’s nice how they are not over-idealizing it and there is a simple realism about them. A smidge of sadness, uncertainty, and just feeling lost about someone you like or something. Some of the songs are also more fun and experimenting with just fun instrumentations and singing like on the songs “Missing Misses Halloway” and “We’re Crying” with some horn sounds. On the song “Stop Smiling” there is a nice low sweeping sound loop that sets the mood really well. There is more of a use of a synthesizer or keyboard which I don’t think they’ve used before and they have incorporated more into their sound recently like on the album The Great Pop. Some songs have a really great energy about them like “Silver Boy,” “Best of Luck, and “Work Then Die” – which is especially good and would be nice to hear live. And then there are songs that sound like they were written alone on a boring rainy day. Funny that there is a song called “Rainy Day” I just noticed. There is a bit of melancholy throughout Woody Whatever songs even when they are a bit more upbeat. Naoko 10.05.05

Woody Whatever I Trip the Reverend 2004Woody Whatever’s billionth album – and unlike some bands, they just get better and better. A band that definitely uses home-recording gear to the fullest and with their own record label Agriculture Records, they are able to put things out so quickly and efficiently. Surprised that very few others do things like this because it seems so simple and perfect. The vocals on this album are really good, like on previous albums, but just improving and developing more and more. Erik’s singing has an interesting way with how it’s carried with the use of the microphones or how it’s recorded and with how he’s just a really good singer. Woody Whatever consists of a more complete band now, but with this album you get the impression that the band is more than capable of just consisting of the main songwriter and even if it were just Erik singing and playing his guitar by himself it would still be really good. The instruments sound clearer on this album. Especially with the guitar. Almost like a twinkling bell sound on some parts in the song “Get On Get Up.” More abstract lyrics and song titles. Like “The Itchy Trigger Pawn” and “Like Pandas Through Parking Lots” which makes you wonder what they are about exactly… . much like the title of the album. Tripping a reverend does sound like fun, especially if you’re a mischievous little kid which I used to kind of be in church and can almost imagine doing that at least once. Naoko 10.05.05

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The plodding, upbeat “Cherry Fountains” contains something of an odd island motif, while the more straightforward 2-chord guitar pop and reverb drenched vocals of “In Perfect Order”, clocking in at under 2 minutes, balances things out. “I’ve Been Afraid”, on the other hand, is an airy, lovely slice of atmospheric pop, its intertwining guitar and synth melodies juxtaposed by the minimal moodiness of the stripped down rhythm guitar/vocal track “Nevermind, Nevermind”. “I Boarded a Flight” is another mellow acoustic rock number, while “Stephani” is, perhaps, the perfect closer for this particular album, a blend of whimsy and romantic melancholia encased in a catchy indie pop shell with layered vocals again bathed in reverb.

While the album’s production is quite sharp and well done, the band’s indie sound is somewhat sparse and lo-fi, and it’s that very lo-fi aesthetic, in addition to their stylistic quirkiness, that adds a quaint, intimate, endearing quality to their work. That, blended with infectious pop hooks and sensibilities, creates a package that’s not only stylistically and sonically interesting, but one that will also have you humming its catchy melodies for days on end. Indie pop fans, particularly those that like their music to fall a bit left of center, should give this disc a listen.

The answer, I think, is to listen to Woody Whatever’s new album, The Great Pop, and to drown your post-modern sorrows in the array of pop nuggets that it has to offer. The record itself is very lo-fi — imagine “Into My Arms”-era Lemonheads with scratchier production and shakier voices, or perhaps the Shins when they were still called Flake Music — but its melodic hooks are well thought-out. The opening track, “Drive an Uncle Through Mountains,” is single-worthy not only for its insanely catchy chorus, but for the jangly, REM-style guitars and Ric Ocasek handclaps that help it create a laid-back, we’re-on-a-road-trip vibe (hence the title). It’s probably the strongest cut on the album, but The Great Pop is also interesting for its flirtations with electronica. When Woody’s folky guitar-pop starts to get old, its sound is inevitably revived by the addition of synths (”When You Get Home”), a winding keyboard effect (”Careers [Just Choose Anyone]“), or flow-y, digital collages borrowed right outta the Flaming Lips’ musical workshop (”I’ve Been Afraid”). Nice.

Things head southward, however, when the Schmall brothers recede from the proverbial spotlight and drench their harmonized vocals in so much echo that songs become distant and aimless. “Nevermind Nevermind” hinges on the lyric, “I’m not goin’ in circles,” but after a few reverb-laden passes, it feels like the opposite is true! In a similar way, studio effects force the sunny chorus of “I Booked a Flight” to the back of the mix when it really deserves to have a spot in the forefront. Frustrating indeed, but these moments are the exception, not the rule, and thanks to Jeremy Schmall, the lyrics are always solid. In fact, I’d like to leave you with another excerpt from his poetry, one more indicative of The Great Pop’s shimmery goodness: “When I pat his leg to wake him … he raises his arm and says / ‘Rock ‘n roll!’” Now, that’s the spirit.

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