Today marks a very important day for the LA electro-rock band Woven; their much delayed new record finally sees the light of day. After numerous holdups, the band is proud of release their third and definitely best record to date, Designer Codes. This record mixes an array of influences from Aphex Twin to Elliott Smith. However, Woven makes it very clear that they are creating their own individual sound while still creating a listenable atmosphere reminiscent of truely honest electronic acts like The Notwist and Portishead. This album re-paints the gloomy side of electronic music into a darkly sensual and cinematic fusion of trip-hop rhythms, soulful vocals, and dub grooves. The band will be touring all over the United States this fall; you can check if they’re coming to your town .

Lead vocalist/guitarist Ory Hodis took the time to talk with Kata Rokkar about his thoughts on the new album, artwork, touring, and toys that sound like Satan…

Kata Rokkar: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard you?

Ory: That’s always a tough one. I’d first describe it as a if Nine Inch Nails was having breakfast with Pink Floyd and also invited Elliott Smith, Aphex Twin, and Fugazi.

K: That’s quite a breakfast.

O: Yeah, it’s hard because I always have to describe our band by naming numerous other bands because all five of us have such different influences that cover the entire musical spectrum except for new country. When we combine it, it really sounds like a whole lot out there.

K: How do you feel about the new record?

O: I love it. I think it’s the best one yet. It’s the first time we didn’t focus on one process. On 8 Bit Monk we focused too much on the computer aspect and less on the band as a whole. This one is like, really song specific so every song was done differently. Some songs were done with the band as a whole; some songs were done on the computer, taken out and then flushed out as a band. On a whole it sounds less like a project and more like a band. Even though on 8 Bit Monk we all played our instruments, this album is more organic sounding.

K: You can definitely tell in the song “She Blows My Amplifier,” that the band sounds much tighter.

O: Yeah

K: What’s the story behind the album’s title, Designer Codes?

O: We actually wanted to call the album, in the beginning, “Perception Whore.” Which is still my favorite title. But one of our favorite artists, Jeffery Scott, we ended up using our favorite pictures that he’s done for the title. We didn’t want people to get the impression that “Perception Whore” was related to women at all. So we scratched that name. But “Perception Whore” is more of a state of mind and can be applied to both men and women. We wanted something that is related to society’s state of mind right now. “Designer Codes” which we feel is…it’s a funny title but I like the two words because they have nothing to do with each other. It’s just how we’re all thinking about people’s codes; codes of ethics, codes of honor, what are the codes that people live by. Then were having a conversation about, this is kind of strange but about how clothing even…like you have your designer jeans that look like you have oil on them and made to look like they are tattered. No one wants to do the time anymore. So we kind of combined the concepts and how people codes and everything are so designer right now. It’s like you can see right through them. They look like they have these certain codes of ethics or codes of honor but it’s just a façade. Kind of a jaded title but that’s what we came up with. Plus we’ve all been through some crazy shit this year.

K: Is there any concept behind the album?

O: The thread that goes through the album is; I think change in general. A lot of the lyrics are due to changes in relationships and ones that I have been coming to grips with. And they span a long range of like seven years. Different changes in my life that seem to happen so suddenly and then I tried to flow with everything. In the end you just have to own it and it’s a hard trait to realize. That you have the power say, “You know I’m not going to take my moment and waste it just because some fucked up shit happens.” So I guess that definitely is the theme. The song “Fragments” is definitely the flagship song because it encompasses everything on the album.

K: Is the new album politically charged at all?

O: No not really. 8 Bit Monk was really politically charged. I think we definitely moved away from that. I made it more personal because the more I think about our political situation that more I think that it’s there because we let it happen. That relates on a personal level. You can only blame people so far. We elected him. I’m not out there protesting every single day. Everyone is so concerned about their daily grind that sometimes it can come off as just complaining and I don’t want to feel like a complainer. I felt as if I should focus on myself.

K: How did Jawnee leaving the band affect the direction of their sound?

O: I played with the guy for like 12 years. He is definitely more than a brother to me and I spend more time with him than I spend with any family members. We’re definitely going to keep playing with him. I don’t know, we haven’t written a new album without him (laughs). So it will be interesting. But I know on a personal level he’s wanted to branch out. And in a relationship, if you’re not willing to make changes, you kind of have to introspect or leave. We as a band were willing to make changes for him but he wasn’t for us so I think it’s a really positive thing. Also the album is about change. Things got really scary in the beginning and we had a lot of hard changes but we look back on it and think, “Wow this is was the best thing that could have happened.” So one of our best friends, Barack (Steddie), is playing bass for us right now. Plus, our band dynamics are much more mellow.

K: Do you have any videos planned?

O: Hopefully. We’re looking for someone. Actually we have one video planned for Cosmonaut. We are just tapped for money. So we’re looking around for some talented individuals that want to do videos. But it costs a shitload of money to put out a record. I did not even realize. (laughs) I mean it is insane. Thousands and thousands of money.

K: Tell me about the artwork and your decision with Jeffery Scott.

O: A lot of our album is very post-modern and it has this kind of desolate Mad Max sound. You know when you’re watching one of those post-apocalyptic movies and you see the costumes and they look like patch work from different times on their bodies. You’ll see some old 50s kind of style pants with a trench coat and it’s torn with random garments thrown on. That’s kind of what I think of our music. A lot of that with mellow vocals with this crazy industrial beat that you would hear on a Ministry album or something with a kind of Jane’s Addiction riff. When we looked at Jeffery Scott’s photos, you look at it and think, “Ok, this looks like a really nice vintage photo from the 40s.” But you look closer and there all these things that are woven into the photo that are just patched in there from different periods. Also the way he created it too was completely artificial and a lot of our songs are created that way. The beats and other sounds are created solely on the computer. And they’re brought out of the computer and we play them. To cut a long story short; we talked to him and about his process and how he treats his photos and it turned out to be the same process as us and how we play our music. I thought it was very fitting.

K: Any plans on touring with your buddies from dredg again?

O: I really hope so. We really love those guys and we stay in contact with them. I know we’ll be playing shows but as for a full tour, I’m not sure yet.

K: Do you plan on doing any national touring again?

O: Yeah, actually in late September we’re taking off for 2 months all over the U.S. and playing about 40 shows.

K: How well did your last tour go?

O: It went really well. It was nice seeing fans we haven’t seen in a while. I think this tour is going to be off the hook. It’s going to be awesome. A tour is a mindfuck for us because we’ll have show with a huge crowd, I don’t how it happen, like one person told the next and told the next and then we’re feelin’ great and the energy is there. I remember sometime ago we opened up for They Might Be Giants. They’re a super amazing band and a great bunch of guys. So we played in front of like 5,000 people and then the next day we played in front one person. The fucking bartender! Talk about a mindfuck. I went from thinking we’re the shit to “what the fuck happened?” We actually had to play for like 2 hours but it worked out because we just improvised the whole time. So the bartender loved it.

K: What was the last book you read?

O: The last book I read was from Reed Ghazala and it was about circuit bending. It’s like when you take electronic toys from toy shops and you open them up and poke around and re-do the circuitry inside and you create different effects and synthesizers. So I do that a lot with casio keyboards.

K: Is there a lot of that on the new record or the tour?

O: No, but there’s going to be because I’ve been sampling the fuck out of my instruments. So the next album is going to be everywhere. I have some really cool toys. My favorite one is the Yamaha DSS-3 and it’s this toy sampler. You can like, record your voice in it and play it off the keyboard. So the sampling chip, if you rearrange all the routing and cut out all the leads; you create this matrix of switches. Dude it is crazy! You record your voice into it and you flip these switches and it’s so random and evil, it’s awesome.  Plus there’s like 50,000 different possibilities, it’s just endless. But that was just a manual. I guess the most recent book I read would be Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse. Which was amazing; totally amazing.

K: One more question. What have you been listening to lately?

O: I’ve been listening to a lot of Beirut. A ton of Beirut. Umm, The Cure, Tom Waits, Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode, Aphex Twin, I can’t get enough of that guy. Peter Gabriel, Sunny Day Real Estate.

K: I was actually lucky enough to catch Jeremy Enigk live on his solo tour.

O: How amazing was that?

K: Holy shit man, that guy is the real deal. And he played Sunny Day Real Estate songs too.

O: Wow. He did that all on acoustic guitar?

K: Guitar and piano.

O: Damn that is incredible! Fuck, he’s one of my favorite singers. The range on that guy is insane.

K: Yeah he’s amazing. Well that’s it. Good luck with the record and I’m sure I’ll see you soon when you’re on tour this September.

O: Thanks a lot man, take care.

Woven – She Blows My Amplifier

The Mars Volta – Televators (Woven Remix)

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