Drowning Sea God Records quizzed Michael Woodman of cinematic weird rock band Thumpermonkey about his solo work. The interview comes ahead of his first London show of 2023.
Drowning Sea God Records: After many years of writing in Thumpermonkey, you released your first solo music in the form of full-length debut Psithurism. You’re now working on a follow-up. How different is working on solo material from working with Thumpermonkey?
Michael Woodman: I still wouldn’t say it’s completely solo, because the skill of the other people I involve makes a big difference to the way it comes out. With Psithurism, there were certain tracks where I had demos, and then I’d give John [Simm, drummer] the song and he’d do something different from what I was expecting – then I’d think: ‘Oh, that’s interesting!’. Then, I might get Sam Warren [Thumpermonkey bassist] in to play some bass, and while some of the parts were written by me, I’d leave space for Sam to do different things to what I’d normally do. He’d then be grooving off of a drum part that was slightly different to what I had written. So, even though Psithurism was conceived and recorded remotely during lockdown, (and therefore isn’t about a group of people getting into a room together and jamming out a song), it does become a collaborative process.
That may be different with the new stuff I’m writing because, thus far, it’s generally me providing all the performances. I’m getting John to do some drum tracks, and I might bring in some other people, but it feels like the core tracks may go down in a more composed way this time. Time will tell.
DSGR: There isn’t a lot of predictable music in your work. How do you write that way? Does it come automatically, or do you have to consciously shield yourself from cliché?
MW: No. I don’t know whether this is indicative of an adherence to a monastic lifestyle to hone my craft without polluting influence or whether it’s more likely because I’m a 46-year-old man who doesn’t understand young people’s music anymore.
I have a great deal of difficulty interrogating the process. There’s certainly not a point where I say: “I could do this thing, but this will upset people, so I’ll do that instead.” It’s what comes out and it feels normal to me and when enough of the ideas come together, I’ll have a moment where I go: “Oh, Christ, I’ve written something really strange again.”
To some extent, that bothers me. Sometimes you hear a certain kind of music, and it’s perhaps music in a style that you don’t normally write, and I think: “I’d love to write something like that” – but there are certain things you’re destined for and other things you aren’t. I don’t know if it’s helpful to chase that, mainly because I don’t really have the time. I throw enough roadblocks in my way in terms of anxiety levels and just getting past that barrier of inertia that creativity can present sometimes. If it sounds halfway like a structured idea that appeals to me at that time, then I’m all in.
DSGR: The lyrics have a poetic quality and seem to be evoking something rather than communicating an idea.
MW: I wonder how much of that is cowardice [laughs]; being afraid that if I come out and say the thing, it’s too direct and it’s corny. I wonder if any perceived ‘poetic’ quality is me taking my most pure, direct thoughts and obfuscating them wilfully.
I’m always going back to media that’s about the journey; media that evokes mood rather than narrative, and is closer to dreams. Maybe I’m trying to go for a ‘Herzog ecstatic truth’ thing where, rather than saying the actual truth, I’m saying a version of the truth that gets to the deeper meaning [laughs]. Maybe I just don’t want to sing “I’m sad” or “I want you”, so I say some nonsensical bullshit. The truth is probably somewhere in between.
DSGR: In your press release, you say you move away from Thumpermonkey’s sci-fi maximalism to a more nature-centred outlook. What’s behind that?
MW: I was trying to demonstrate a difference in tone, I guess. I wonder how much that was successful. The audience would have to say.
Make Me Young, etc. [Thumpermonkey’s latest album] has this zoomed-out, cosmic horror narrative with a focus so wide that it clearly evokes terror in the protagonist. Things seem overwhelming at the point he’s had insight into the true nature of reality and earth’s impending destruction. That sounds like a really pompous triple-gatefold vinyl release!
Psithurism is much more insular. There are lyrics about retreating into the forest, moving away from technology, covering yourself in leaves and devolving into a creature that doesn’t have self-awareness, becoming part of nature. Both are types of sorrow or grieving, but with quite a different focus.
DSGR: Is there any climate awareness to that shift?
MW: No, it’s very selfish, inward-facing. It’s therapy, I guess, as always. Maybe it’s just the musicians I surround myself with, but you look at everyone’s lyrics and I think everyone’s just processing trauma, aren’t they? Publicly! It feels healthy because it’s moving away from being worried about producing art and using it as a tool to serve your own self-care. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
DSGR: How did you find out about James Hutton, the illustrator behind the beautiful artwork on Psithurism?
MW: I went onto fiverr.com and searched for a ‘person who can do artwork good’, and he was on there! I was looking for spidery folk art, woodcuts, and things like that. Ian Miller was an artist we both talked about a fair bit.
James does beautiful stuff and is very easy to work with. It was exciting to be able to communicate an idea from which he would immediately produce a fantastic sketch. A lot of his commissions seem to be for metal bands, as far as I can see [laughs], though I like its aesthetic in the context of my music and I think it works well; the idea of beautiful decimation, a natural, possibly magical world that doesn’t care about you as an individual, in which you’re just a speck. A sort of Werner Herzog vibe where nature is both beautiful and terrifying – a force that will just as much devour you as look at you.
DSGR: What can fans look forward to next?
MW: Well – I’m still working that out. I’m producing a lot of music, but certain tracks may get dropped. That’s the sophomore thing, isn’t it – a slightly different anxiety to creating a debut record? It takes a lot of emotional energy to have the confidence to put something out under your own name, and then do that again. Luckily, I have no pressure on me apart from the pressure I put on myself, and eventually, something will manifest.
I have the entire thing in demo form. but it’s inevitably going to mutate between now and its completion. All I can say at the moment is that to me it feels more straightforward than previous music – but then I always say that about everything I make, and still end up creating something really weird.
Get tickets for Michael Woodman’s show at The Victoria Dalston in London on 19 January 2023.
Listen to or buy Psithurism, out now on Believers Roast.
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