Naoko, of the slightly confused depression academy on superior dynamics in cross-polinated evolution studies talks with Woody Whatever's Erik Schmall - a young man who, in his lifetime, may put out more albums than meals you will enjoy.

{ the intro image is a borrowed frame from a peanutbreath animation. }

+ How often are you writing songs? I get the feeling you write like at least one a day or something.

Erik: Lately, I've slowed down a bit. A couple years ago I made it a habit to record at least three to five new songs a day. I figured the only way to learn to write songs was to write tons of shitty ones. I also had to teach myself to sing this way too.

Today I've been focusing on quality over quantity. Even though I'm trying to pace myself, I still have a lot of songs that need albums. I'm currently tracking an album called Time Money that was recorded variously over the first half of the year, I'm about to put out a split EP with Cabriolet called Pop Hearts, and by last count, my band had at least 20 unrecorded songs that need to get done.

I'm really excited about The Skirts of Blue Disease an album that I'm currently writing songs for now. It will hopefully be completely finished by the time we hit the road in December.

+ Do you have friends who run recording studios or something because I would think it would be a bit expensive always recording stuff?

Definitely not. I started with a 4-track cassette recorder and built my way up from there. My best purchase was the Roland Studio Pack on ebay for about $400. That along with the cheapest condensor mic I could find is the closest I've come to a recording studio.

+ Are the people listed in the band on your website going to be on the new album?

They show up variously on Time Money. Since I usually record as the song hits me, whoever is around gets on the recording. Usually though it's nobody. Tom Huffman's been on a couple albums. He was my roommate for two years so that helped. Lately I've been consciously trying to play the role of songwriter and leave the instrumentation to my band. The next two albums I plan on having full band.

+ What is the situation with band members? Seems like you kind of go through a lot. Do your bandmates hate you because you make them play so much or something?

Most people have this dream of a band where everybody writes the music together and everyone makes all of the decisions together. I believe bands are best when there is a songwriter (or songwriters) who brings something for the others to play. Jamming for hours on hours until something comes out is not really my style. Until recently, Woody Whatever has been pretty sporadic with live performances which has annoyed some people. My focus has always been on the studio albums, which I preferred to do alone. Now I finally understand how great a live band can be and I write songs specifically for playing with them.

+ Is it easy finding people you can relate to musically to want them in your band?

It's been difficult finding band members that I really click with. I think this current line-up is the best yet. Dare I say perfect. I trust all of their instincts. The hardest part of putting together a good live band is finding people who are influenced by the same kind of music. If you like The Pixies but hate The Beatles, we're going to have some musical differences down the road.

+ What is it like making music with your brothers? I am curious how that kind of works out. I can't imagine doing anything with my brothers. There is no fighting, like the kind that only siblings have in a weird kind of way?

With Jeremy, we've never actually written together in the same room. I'd like to but we haven't lived close to each other since we started collaberating. Since he's a writer, he can just email me his lyrics and I pick and choose the lines I can use. With Jason, we only played together in 2001 for I Can't Aim When You Keep Moving which we recorded over a couple of weekends he came to Dayton. It was pretty seamless. For the most part, we both had songs we brought for the album. We switched around on instruments playing each others songs until we ran out of songs. We made quite a few up on the spot too. My favorite is "Southern Saltwater" where I played some simple chord progression and Jason improvised an entire song while looking at this framed magazine cover called "Southern Saltwater" that for some random reason features my uncle on the cover holding some fish. Great stuff.

+ Does running Agriculture Records enable things to go more smoothly now with putting out your stuff? Is it really expensive putting out the amount of material that you do?

Agriculture Records is a dream come true for me. I finally have a system of putting records that is quick and cheap. Most of these records existed solely on my computer until a month ago so it's nice to see those available finally. Since I'm always a couple albums ahead of myself, it'll be great to finally be able to keep up with myself. The turnaround time on an agriculture record can be one day. Our latest release by Untamed Pony took three days. One night of recording, one day of mixing down, and one day of printing up the album. I hope to release lots of other bands too. I'd like Agriculture to be that excuse for people to keep writing songs in their bedrooms.

+ Is it incredibly inexpensive to put cd's out this way? I wish more people would put out stuff as fast as you. Seems like everyone else takes too long.

It's actually incredibly cheap. I've developed a simply system for releasing albums that is highly efficient. The sky is really the limit for Agriculture. Since it doesn't set me back too much to take on a new release, I can take a lot more risks on my favorite artists. It's really all about the artists. They can do whatever they want without my interruption. If they think the album needs to have a thirty minute drum solo, so be it - it's their album.

+ You thank Bob Pollard on "I can't aim when you keep moving." Have you met Bob or is he just someone that inspires you a lot?

I met him once at a private industry party my brother Jason was invited to in Columbus. It was a handshake and he went on his way. I was thrilled. Jason slipped him a copy of Roar before he left. He inspired both me and Jason equally. Being from Dayton how could we not? I love his lo-fi ethics. We both bought 4-tracks and started cranking out short pop songs in no time. The only difference was, Jason had a job and I was still in high school. I'd been recording and writing songs since I was eleven but Bob Pollard gave me direction and hope. I figure I can be the other guy from Dayton...

+ What was the reason for you moving to Athens, Ohio? School stuff or something?

Yeah, I moved out here to go to Ohio University. I graduated in June with a degree in Music Production and a minor Music. I would consider it a giant waste of time. I should've gone to a tech school so I can actually get a job.

+ What bands are you really into lately?

People always think that since I'm in this band and write these songs that I must be super trendy and know every new up-and-coming band. In reality, I'm pretty content to listen to the same music I've always listened to. The Beatles, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, of course old GBV. I also like early 90s hip-hop and R&B which confuses people. Old school Ice Cube was great!

+ Have you done any touring outside of the Athens/Dayton Ohio area? Any touring plans in the near future?

We played two shows in Columbus Ryan from catbirdseat.org set up for us. Everything else has been locally in Athens. I moved from Dayton before I attempted a live Woody Whatever show. The first show I ever played as Woody Whatever was actually in Portsmouth, Ohio, a tiny Ohio River city in Southeast Ohio. We played with an arty french-pop band called Les Parvenues from Huntington, West Virginia. They didn't go over very well. Right now I'm working out a midwest tour in December.

+ Where are places you hope to go to during your Midwest tour? And your tour for summer 2006, will that be another region of the country that you want to go to?

The midwest tour will start in Dayton and head out towards St. Louis and work our way up to Chicago. Unfortunately nothing is locked down yet so it will be interesting to see how the tour actually ends up looking. This is the first time we're hitting the road so it's probably a disaster in the making. For Summer 2006 I'd like to head out to the east coast and play as many places that will have us.

+ What are things that inspire you to write music?

The first time I heard The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips, I wrote and recorded Sunday Definitley in three days. Ultimately though, it's life that inspires me. If I'm in a great mood, the songs are upbeat. If the weather sucks, the songs slow down. If I have a shitty job the songs are depressing. My brother Jeremy's been sending me lyrics to use for a couple years now too. When I sit down and read his stuff I get inspired. The songs we make together are my favorites.

+ What does "text on for lovers" exactly mean (from Liquor stores on blank stares )? I wonder if it has something to do with people talking on the internet but not sure.

Exactly. It's about falling for someone on the internet.

+ Is Athens a nice place? Like Musically and culturally? (I'm considering moving to a nice college town - just looking around at this point.. . )

Well, musically it's a very clicky town. If you have a lot of friends, you get big shows. At our last show we had about 10 people. It's also a small town so if you make friends with the newspapers, you get in the papers. If you're friends with the bar managers, you get the good shows. Otherwise, you're better off heading to Columbus. It doesn't make for a lot of variety but there's some great new bands emerging that's making this scene exciting. I'm hoping to document as much as I can on Agriculture. As far as culturally, you're either a jackass close-minded typical college kid or not. Everyone I've met that isn't a jackass, close-minded typical college kid has been great.

This band is totally beating Bob Pollard with output. Never thought that would ever be said. Funny too that it comes from another Dayton native. Lots of albums and EP's in between albums as well. I get the feeling by the time it's Winter, I'm going to need more fingers.

Upbeat! Quasi-cheerful singing! More of a full band sound! The songs are fun. The drumming is solid, the guitar-strumming is perfect. Erik Schmall is definitely a good song-writer.

In some places it reminds me of some of the happy moments in Beach Boys songs. The lyrics are good in a J Mascis kind of way. Not that the lyrics or how they are sung are similar in any way between the two but there isn't one lyric that will make you cringe which I have always liked about J Mascis' lyrics and have finally found with another band. It's rare to find a band in which there isn't at least more than a dozen lines somewhere that make you cringe a bit because the sentiments go a bit overboard in some territory in which you would rather not get your scuba gear wet for. There is always a bit of a balance beam that is a bit difficult to stay on when it comes to writing lyrics and expressing them in the right way and Woody Whatever does this really well and just has really good, comforting lyrics.

Songs I'm really enjoying at the moment. "Go Away," "Ginger Suicides," "Get Inside My Life".

Naoko 10.05.05