New : Patrick Watson :: Tracy’s Waters
Patrick Watson & The Wooden Arms Borrow From Twilight Zone And 1940s
Cartoons Aesthetic For Foley Sounds On New Album ‘Wooden Arms’
“Folk Science Fiction” Infuses Album, Out May 5 On Secret City Records
For their new album ‘Wooden Arms,’ Patrick Watson and the Wooden Arms used
foley effects, borrowing from the toolbox of 1940s cartoon and old Twilight
Zone episodes. They decided to stay away from stock instruments like a
standard drum kit and shun reverb and digital delays in favor of homemade
and uniquely-created sounds. Watson says, “We are composing cinematic pop,
as if Dolly Parton was a science fiction writer and lived in Iceland.”
Watson says, “We wanted to create folk science fiction music, like in the
Twilight Zone, where there’s a normal situation with a twist. There should
be an innocence to it, a sense of a humble, grounded story with a subtle
twist.” The band also made use of such oddball items as a tree branch, a
plunger, a megaphone and drawers in creating a palpable atmosphere.
“Everyone does their own things for their own instruments. Everyone does
pieces and parts.”
“Our drummer, Robbie [Kuster] wanted to get away from drum kits,” continues
Watson. “So he rebuilt things, including a bicycle, for percussion.” The
band played pot drums and a ukulele on the title track, using a bicycle for
percussion on “Beijing.”
‘Wooden Arms’ will be released May 5 by Secret City Records.
