Interview: Lorenzo Woodrose
It's not very often one gets to interview a true legend of psych/garage music, so I was chuffed when Lorenzo Woodrose agreed to answer a few questions. Baby Woodrose have been an ever-present on the scene since their debut, 'Blows Your Mind!' (never has an album been so aptly titled) in 2001 and have gone on to release another 7 albums. Woodrose formed Baby Woodrose while at the tail end of his tenure in Danish psych/garage legends On Trial and has gone on to release material as Dragontears, Pandemonica and Spids Nøgenhat (the latter with vocals entirely in Woodrose's native Danish language). From a personal perspective, I got into Baby Woodrose 'at the ground floor', purchasing 'Blow's Your Mind!' on release, and is one of the few records I've had to replace because the original has worn out! Many thanks to Lorenzo for his time and patience.
DOP: Your musical resume is impressive to say the least, being a member of the legendary On Trial as well as Baby Woodrose, Dragontears, Spids Nøgenhat and Pandemonica. How did you start in music?
LW: From the age of 10 music was really my biggest kick in life. I had an older brother who introduced me to many things. A few years later me and some friends started my first band. It was really an all consuming obsession.
DOP: Starting with Baby Woodrose, one can hear many of the great 60s garage bands like The Seeds, The Standells and The Sonics....who are your major influences?
LW: 13th Floor Elevators is probably the biggest one. But also Dead Moon and The Bevis Frond can be heard clearly in my music if one knows what to listen for.
DOP: I believe you played all the instruments on 'Blows Your Mind' - how did you find that after playing in a band for so long,
LW: It was just easier that way. I had hundreds of songs in my head.
DOP: Going back to Baby Woodrose, 'Money For Soul' saw your reputation grow, do you consider it your 'breakthrough' album?
LW: Yes, sure. It also exposed us to the mainstream in Denmark but actually .... 'Blows your mind' has become our best selling album over the years. It just keeps selling. And it seems to many of our fans it is their favourite. Mainstream success is good for financial reasons. But it's the underground audience that has stayed loyal and kept us going.
DOP: As a fan, I must say it's certainly my favourite..a breath of fresh air in a garage scene that was growing a bit stale at the time. Whenever I do a mixtape for anyone 'Pandora' is always there!
LW: Yes, I still love the garage sound. Collect original 45s and such. But it becomes a bit samey to repeat the same 4 chords and write the same girl-put-down lyric again and again.
DOP: Turning to the Dragontears project...was there a different creative process involved?
LW: I was trying to evolve a bit and mix more psychedelic influences into it. For the same reasons. Sort of....try to widen the spectrum. Instead of writing 25 songs over a year and then pick the best 12 for an album, rehearse them and then record them. It's a bit more fun to just write 3 or 4 that you really believe in and just go in the studio and see what happens. Make room for a bit of spontaneous ideas.
DOP: Each of the three Dragontears albums has a distinct 'identity' was this a deliberate decision or just the way, as you say, they evolved?
LW: Yes, totally random! Each time i had a few ideas ready, but they turned out differently. Doing Masters Of War was just something that happened for example. It was not planned, but we needed one more song, so... Sometimes an idea would turn into something else or become a longer jam and take up a whole side.
DOP: Many European bands produce lyrics in English, for greater exposure I assume, however the Spids Nøgenhat project was entirely in your native tongue, was that important to you, to give some cultural identity to the band?
LW: Yes, absolutely. It really touches influences that are part of the Danish golden era of rock which was 69-75 really. Bands like Alrune Rod, Young Flowers, Furekaaben, Moses, Røde Mor, Tømrerclaus. They all sang in Danish And had a certain tradition of political and social criticism. Personally, in all my lyrics, the one thing that ties it all together is a fascination and an attempt to describe the psychedelic iexperience I believe. Sometimes it is fun to do it in Danish. I think all my songs can be interpreted in various ways, but at the core they are all about my own inner psychological mechanisms and thought patterns from a psychedelic viewpoint.
DOP: The Pandemonica material has a more experimental feel to it..can you tell us a bit about the project?
Yes, Pandemonica was really my home demos recorded between 1993 and 1996 roughly. I had a 4 track Fostex and did about 100 songs in this period, that really predates everything else, although it was simultaneous with a few of the early On Trial albums. The 3 albums were released much later, around 2000. Today they are rare and hard tofind, but available for download at my bandcamp site.
DOP:Any plans in the pipeline you can share?
LW: Currently I am working at promoting the documentary movie about me called Born To Lose. The cinema release is this week in denmark. I dont know if it will ever be shown on big screen outside denmark, but maybe at some documentaty film festivals next year and hopefully there will be a DVD release at some point. Also...I am preparing for a new Baby Woodrose album that will be out september 2016. I have the songs almost ready and currently rehearsing with the band. I think the album will be called Freedom.
DOP: Which bands / artists are rocking your world at the moment?
LW: Regarding other bands, there's a whole huge wave of new underground bands coming out in denmark right now. Some are really great too.... Bands like The Wands, Sonic Dawn, Fribytterdrømme, De Underjordiske, Telstar Sound Drone, Deadpan Interference, Emma Acs, Spøkraket, Morgan Square.... Maybe this leads back to your first question. The bands that inspired me to get into the whole psych garage scene were swedish.... and I think the scene has survived all these years because every 10 years there's a new generation taking up the sound and the style. Being influenced by the previous wave, all pointing back at 1967.
Cheers to Lorenzo!
DOP: Your musical resume is impressive to say the least, being a member of the legendary On Trial as well as Baby Woodrose, Dragontears, Spids Nøgenhat and Pandemonica. How did you start in music?
LW: From the age of 10 music was really my biggest kick in life. I had an older brother who introduced me to many things. A few years later me and some friends started my first band. It was really an all consuming obsession.
DOP: Starting with Baby Woodrose, one can hear many of the great 60s garage bands like The Seeds, The Standells and The Sonics....who are your major influences?
LW: 13th Floor Elevators is probably the biggest one. But also Dead Moon and The Bevis Frond can be heard clearly in my music if one knows what to listen for.
DOP: I believe you played all the instruments on 'Blows Your Mind' - how did you find that after playing in a band for so long,
LW: It was just easier that way. I had hundreds of songs in my head.
DOP: Going back to Baby Woodrose, 'Money For Soul' saw your reputation grow, do you consider it your 'breakthrough' album?
LW: Yes, sure. It also exposed us to the mainstream in Denmark but actually .... 'Blows your mind' has become our best selling album over the years. It just keeps selling. And it seems to many of our fans it is their favourite. Mainstream success is good for financial reasons. But it's the underground audience that has stayed loyal and kept us going.
DOP: As a fan, I must say it's certainly my favourite..a breath of fresh air in a garage scene that was growing a bit stale at the time. Whenever I do a mixtape for anyone 'Pandora' is always there!
LW: Yes, I still love the garage sound. Collect original 45s and such. But it becomes a bit samey to repeat the same 4 chords and write the same girl-put-down lyric again and again.
DOP: Turning to the Dragontears project...was there a different creative process involved?
LW: I was trying to evolve a bit and mix more psychedelic influences into it. For the same reasons. Sort of....try to widen the spectrum. Instead of writing 25 songs over a year and then pick the best 12 for an album, rehearse them and then record them. It's a bit more fun to just write 3 or 4 that you really believe in and just go in the studio and see what happens. Make room for a bit of spontaneous ideas.
DOP: Each of the three Dragontears albums has a distinct 'identity' was this a deliberate decision or just the way, as you say, they evolved?
LW: Yes, totally random! Each time i had a few ideas ready, but they turned out differently. Doing Masters Of War was just something that happened for example. It was not planned, but we needed one more song, so... Sometimes an idea would turn into something else or become a longer jam and take up a whole side.
DOP: Many European bands produce lyrics in English, for greater exposure I assume, however the Spids Nøgenhat project was entirely in your native tongue, was that important to you, to give some cultural identity to the band?
LW: Yes, absolutely. It really touches influences that are part of the Danish golden era of rock which was 69-75 really. Bands like Alrune Rod, Young Flowers, Furekaaben, Moses, Røde Mor, Tømrerclaus. They all sang in Danish And had a certain tradition of political and social criticism. Personally, in all my lyrics, the one thing that ties it all together is a fascination and an attempt to describe the psychedelic iexperience I believe. Sometimes it is fun to do it in Danish. I think all my songs can be interpreted in various ways, but at the core they are all about my own inner psychological mechanisms and thought patterns from a psychedelic viewpoint.
DOP: The Pandemonica material has a more experimental feel to it..can you tell us a bit about the project?
Yes, Pandemonica was really my home demos recorded between 1993 and 1996 roughly. I had a 4 track Fostex and did about 100 songs in this period, that really predates everything else, although it was simultaneous with a few of the early On Trial albums. The 3 albums were released much later, around 2000. Today they are rare and hard tofind, but available for download at my bandcamp site.
DOP:Any plans in the pipeline you can share?
LW: Currently I am working at promoting the documentary movie about me called Born To Lose. The cinema release is this week in denmark. I dont know if it will ever be shown on big screen outside denmark, but maybe at some documentaty film festivals next year and hopefully there will be a DVD release at some point. Also...I am preparing for a new Baby Woodrose album that will be out september 2016. I have the songs almost ready and currently rehearsing with the band. I think the album will be called Freedom.
DOP: Which bands / artists are rocking your world at the moment?
LW: Regarding other bands, there's a whole huge wave of new underground bands coming out in denmark right now. Some are really great too.... Bands like The Wands, Sonic Dawn, Fribytterdrømme, De Underjordiske, Telstar Sound Drone, Deadpan Interference, Emma Acs, Spøkraket, Morgan Square.... Maybe this leads back to your first question. The bands that inspired me to get into the whole psych garage scene were swedish.... and I think the scene has survived all these years because every 10 years there's a new generation taking up the sound and the style. Being influenced by the previous wave, all pointing back at 1967.
Cheers to Lorenzo!
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