For those of you who have never heard Whadawookie's take on lo-fi, psychedelia before, make an effort to change that. I talked to current sole member Bryce Hotz about everything from his recording techniques to his influences to why he's not playing Lincoln Calling this year.
Derek Munyon: How did you start your Whadawookie project?
Bryce Hotz: Whadawookie is an online screen name I've used since I was 15 or 16. I didn't really start using it as a name for my music projects until I started work on my last album, Fix'r Up'r. I'm not sure why I decided to do that. It's kinda lame sounding when I think about it too much! Oh well.
DM: So is the name a conscious reference to Star Wars or just something you just started using?
BH: It's from a song by a pop punk band called Supernova. I haven't ever really even listened to their other stuff, but that song was on the soundtrack of Clerks, and I always thought it was funny. That's what the chorus of it proclaims, "What-A-Wookie!" like the wookie in question is a totally fine example of all a wookie could be.
DM: Is any other musician involved in Whadawookie or is it just a solo project?
BH: No, it's just me for the time being.
DM: You get that great lo-fi garage sound. What do you do to achieve that sound and keep it from sounding amateur?
BH: For Fix'r Up'r, I wanted it to sound real dark. To me, in editing terms, that's the same as cutting lots of the highs strategically. I have taken a few audio recording classes at UNO that helped me a lot in terms of making my songs sound more professional.
I recorded music for years before that with very unprofessional results. I also recorded that album in a basement studio that I built from the ground up. It made a huge difference when it came to miking instruments and actually having them sound good. Absorption panels go a really long way if you don't have an ideal environment to record in. This next one I'm working on is going to be brighter in character, although the songs will still be depressing.
DM: What influences your lyrics?
BH: Um… sarcasm? Feelings of being ostracized or estranged? A lot of standard human emotion stuff, I suppose. Sometimes it's just a way for me to vent frustration with a problem I see in my life or others. Every once in a while, it's just pure fantasy for comedy's sake.
DM: Who are some of your major influences overall?
BH: I'm really kinda all over the place. The Cure, The Beatles, Smashing Pumpkins, Nick Drake (and Cave), Radiohead. My parents were baby boomers that loved '60s, '70s stuff and my friends and I were products of the '90s and early 2000s.
I've always had a hard time focusing on one influence.
DM: 1960s nostalgia and psychedelia are popular once again with bands like MGMT and Animal Collective. I notice a psychedelic flair in your material, what are your thoughts on music that draws from the past? Do you think it hinders advancement in music?
BH: Not really. I mean, it can if one follows the hard line and just repeats it verbatim. Music has always been about drawing from the past, especially any music with a semblance of melody in it. All the scales, modes and chords have all been figured out for so long that it's not even worthwhile worrying about if you are being original.
The melody has already been devised somewhere. What you can do is compile bits and pieces in a unique way and it isn't that tough to do with so much source material. Avant garde musicians have pushed the envelope a little bit, but it is all still conceivable in the framework of music theory.
DM: Why, would you say, Omaha is a great place for art?
BH: I don't know, I am not always out at all the functions that go on around town. I guess it is good for some things and not for others. I can say that it's better than where I grew up near Springfield, Nebraska, because there is actually enough people interested in the arts to keep them all going and thriving.
There are communities of folk here invested in keeping it all going, and that's an essential component. Also, the cost of living here is low, so that's obviously nice for someone who spends a large amount of their time on their art.
DM: EDM is really popular right now, do you think that's how music will continue to progress, or do you think it will return to a more organic sound?
BH: There is room for both. I have no clue which way trends on a whole will go, though I'm sure there will be more usage of synthesizers. You can hear that happening already. I've started using them more and more, but I still enjoy awkwardly hammering it out on a physical instrument.
There is much to be said about going through the process of learning a real instrument. It is quite the arduous task both physically and mentally.
Honestly, some of my favorite music ever such as the early 2000 Radiohead albums or Portishead's Third is what I consider a real progression and those records were so amazing because they blended the organic and inorganic so well and still had a keen eye for the structure of the song.
I can't comment on EDM specifically because I never learned how to dance.
DM: If people were to dance to your music, how do you think they should go about it?
BH: As awkwardly as possible, so that the room looks like a bunch of old people with fake hip joints.
DM: You're playing this year's Lincoln Calling. What are your thoughts about being included and how are you preparing?
BH: I actually decided not to play it, but that was nice to be selected for it. I was considering doing an all-acoustic set. I might still figure something out like that here in town at the Barley St, or wait til I have a full band set up going.
DM: What was the determining factor in not playing?
BH: To be honest, I felt that I was mismatched on the bill. I was planning on playing an acoustic solo set at a party club that had a bunch of funk bands playing. I got the feeling that wasn't going to go over that well. Nothing against anyone involved with that, but I'm not one of those people that subscribes to the "any publicity is good publicity" mode of thought. I'd rather use discretion with how my music is presented.
DM: Who are your favorite local groups?
BH: I've been buddies with Back When and Noah's Ark Was A Spaceship for a long time and really enjoy how they have evolved over the years. Servus is really good. Anniversaire, Conduits and The Yuppies as well. I'm not out at shows a lot so I don't know about a lot of newer bands in town, but I do keep up a bit through friends or the internet.
When I first got involved in the Omaha music scene, I was more interested in punk and hardcore bands, or if it was the Saddle Creek route, Cursive and the Faint. That was over 10 years ago, though, and the landscape has changed quite a bit. I still really look up to Cursive in particular out of all bands that have come out of this town. When I bought Burst and Bloom EP at Ye Olde Antiquarium, it blew my socks right off me feets. Actually, it still does and they continue to impress me in their songwriting from album to album.
DM: What are your plans for Whadawookie? What do you think comes next?
BH: I am just gonna keep on keepin' on. I don't really have any plans other than that. Writing music has been such an integral part of my life for 12 years now I don't think I would be a very happy camper if I didn't continue. I am working on a new album right now, and I have a black metal project in the works with Ryan Phelan, my old friend and drummer of previous projects Gyromancer and Beneath Burning Skies. I'm trying to collaborate more often instead of just playing with myself all the time.
This interview was conducted over social media.
For more information and tracks from Whadawookie, check out his Facebook, Souncloud or Bandcamp.
Derek Munyon runs the We Are All Portals blog. For more on what WAAP is doing, check out Facebook, Tumblr or Twitter.