Canadian folk maestro Donovan Woods is having a bit of a mad year.
Not only has he been locked down at home like the rest of us, but he’s also been juggling the recording of his seventh full-length album. Fortunately for us, he managed to get it done, and the resulting record – Without People – will be readily available for your listening pleasure on November 6th.
We caught up with Donovan to chat about recording the album in lockdown, exploring the minutia of interpersonal relationships, and why a long-distance love affair is never a good idea.
Mr. Donovan Woods! How has this whole COVID thing been treating you?
‘I feel a little bit guilty, actually. It was really good timing for me as I was just going in to make a record. I can’t imagine how hard it’s been for artists who have just put out a record – they’ve had it much tougher than me, that’s for sure.
Have you been able to find any inspiration to write?
‘I’m just starting to get back into writing now, but there was definitely 2 months there where I didn’t feel anything but annoyed. This new album was mostly written before all of this, but all recorded during it.
Did you find much difference between the process of making an album in this situation compared to before?
‘We only had 1 full day in the studio before we got the “Stay Home” warning here in Canada. The plan was to make the full album in the studio with everyone there; but now we’ve all done it from home in our own studios and then sent each bit across. Everyone is set up for that these days, though, and it’s so seamless. The transition happened instantly the next day and no one even really thought about it!
‘Everyone can teleconference now so it’s easy. You hear stories of how David Bowie used to mail magnetic tapes back and forth to make an album… That just seems insane now.
What sort of music did you grow up listening to?
‘Folk, mainly. Folk festivals and music are a big thing in Canada. I think the Celtic connection of the East Coast and the fact that so many of us have UK/Irish roots means that we love folk music. So, I grew up going to folk festivals with my parents.
When did you get into playing music and writing your own songs?
‘I started learning guitar when I was 13 and almost immediately stopped learning how to play and started writing songs. I’ve improved my accuracy, but I still only know the chords you learn on, like, the first 5 days of playing. A lot of kids my age played songs they were into, but I just started writing my own songs as that was what felt natural to do.
So, at what age did you become “a musician”?
‘I don’t know if I even am now… So, like, 32! I feel I started to take it seriously when I got to university. I took Drama at university and was in a few beer commercials here in Canada, and that brought me no happiness at all. Then some music I had written got used in movies – they could get it very cheaply as I didn’t know how much to charge for it. It was never my boyhood dream to be a musician – it was always to be famous.
Your single Clean Slate is out now! Are there any stories behind it that you’d care to share?
‘I went through a big break-up around 4/5 years ago; after that, I was experiencing falling back in love. It was this feeling that you remember from your youth – that feeling that nothing could go wrong – but experiencing that as an adult is a vastly different thing because you know it’s all not that! So, this was me trying to have an objective view on this feeling.
Is that a theme that’s explored across the new record?
‘My whole thing is exploring the minutia of interpersonal relationships and digging into the little things we do to each other. I think falling in love is in all these songs – that’s my stock. When I start writing about that, the language just happens, so I just try to chase that feeling.
On your Spotify playlist, you’ll find artists like JP Saxe, Rhys Lewis and Ben Howard – have these been the influences on this album?
‘This is the sort of music I’ve always listened to. JP Saxe is a great example of somebody who is talking about the same things we’ve always talked about in songs for 100 years but still finding a new way to do it. Lyrics like “if the world was ending you’d come over, right?”, and the one I love the most is “we can’t even be in the same room / we strategize a path to the bathroom” are fantastic – it’s always exciting to hear somebody telling old stories in a new way.
Much like how there are so many songs about long distance relationships, but Portland, Maine is the one that will stick in a lot of minds…
‘I also don’t think a lot of people have said in song that long distance relationships are a sack of shit – after all, it’s not a popular sentiment. The idea is that this person will ‘wait for you’, and there is a real romance to that – but, the truth is that it sucks and it really isn’t the right thing to be doing with your time.
If we gave you the keys to a music festival, who would be your headliners?
‘I grew up listening to Jay-Z – I always feel it should be a mythical figure like that headlining a show. I haven’t been excited about a band in a long time. The 1975 are the one exception to that – they seem to be carrying on the mantle of what a band can be.