AB MAGAZINE
Interview with Julia Frodahl
December 22, 2003

How did you end up playing together? Were you in other bands before forming the Edison Woods project?

Edison Woods is my first music project. When I started it, I was living in a converted horse stable in Williamsburg. They are lofts now, I was living on the ground floor, and there were no windows but there was a great big skylight. It was a 1600 sq foot box of cement with a few wires falling from the ceiling, I suppose for leashing up the horses. My friend Gus would come over and, as well as we could with our frozen fingers buried in gloves and with wool caps falling over our eyes, we began to play with the songs I had written. Eventually we found a guitar player, then a drummer, then a cellist, etc... until it's become this mini-orchestra with beautiful strings, voices, and incredibly creative musicians.

Could you introduce yourself and the other members of the band?

Britta Steiner: violin
Catherine Bent: cello
Christian Biegai: Baritone sax
Rich Hinman: electric guitar
Rob DiPietro: drums
Justin Wallace: electric bass
Susan Oetgen: back-up vocals
Julia Frodahl: keys, vocals, harmonium, accordion

What would you say are the main differences between this latest album and the first you recorded as Edison Woods? Do you have the feeling of evolving in any concrete direction?

I think you'd find that the song dynamics and the subject matter are what have evolved the most.

What would you say was the main contribution of people like Mark Van Hoen and Alan Weatherhead to the overall sound of the album?

Alan brought a wonderful warmth to the record, and Mark contributed to its subtlety in a smart and beautiful way.

Would you say there is a creative continuity between your albums and your art performances and installations as Edison Woods? Can you explain us something about those kind of parallel activities?

Yes, there is naturally a creative continuity. Music is what is most natural to me, and the medium I enjoy the most, so it is the most active part of it all. But all the activities begin to come together. At times I'll bring ideas from some of the art performances to the music performances. Or it can happen the other way: I may write a performance piece and then compose for it, such as I did for "The Inner Life Of Characters" in which I spend time sitting in a fishtank with a large orange fish named Axol.

Did you meet Simon Raymonde before working with him? Were you a follower of his solo work or his Cocteau Twins albums?

We had been corresponding, yes. I have enjoyed all of his work.

Your first album was released in a Canadian label and now you signed a contract with the Germans of Glitterhouse, are you finding problems to connect with like-minded people there in the States?

A little bit. No one here really knew how they might market us. So we made our own home, called Habit of Creation, and are actually very happy that we did. We love what Habit of Creation is becoming.

How would you describe the kind of audience you have back home?

It's quite diverse really, and we love that.

What other bands in New York do you find somehow related to? Do you feel any interest in the current New York sound craze, all this revivalist fashion rock, the electroclash, the no-wave?

Most of the electroclash stuff has died down now. What I did love about that craze was the creativity, the vitality, the inclusion of things like fashion and a consideration for performance. But I do feel that the music itself tended to fall short. My two favorite bands now: Coco Rosie is one, and TV on The Radio is the other. Both are gorgeous, quite distinct and creative and an experience to watch live.

Are you deeply into the music of Chan Marshall, Low, Cowboy Junkies and the rest of bands and artists commonly associated to your band by the press?

Yes, I do enjoy them very much. But the character of our music that I feel is being missed is the strangeness, the peculiar sounds that swim under and through our music. It's an important part, and an important acknowledgement for me of all that life is made of. There are many things to be found beneath the surface there.