Josh Woodward Hits Us With 5 For Insight

So you seriously didn't download netBloc Vol. 18’s 42 page liner-note booklet?!? Yesterday I thought you were kidding… well here’s another mini-interview, this time with featured artist Josh Woodward.

01 - Why free music? When I was first starting to move my music out of the figurative bedroom, I stumbled across a website called SongFight, which is a songwriting competition. As part of the contest, they keep an archive of all the song entries online forever. When the time came to release my first album, a lot of the songs were already online for free already, so I decided to just put the rest up for download as well. Money’s never been my goal with music, so I just kept doing it with my other albums. It’s been a great way to get my music out to people who might be interested in it.

02 - Any recent musical discoveries you’d care to share? I’ve actually been in a bit of a musical rut the past few months. I’m always on the lookout for new music, but nothing has really punched me in the face lately. The last album to bowl me over was Café Tacuba’s “Sino”. Maybe the new netBloc will end my rut. :)

03 - In your lifetime, who/what do you consider an influence to what you now do as a musician? I have a huge range of influences. Some of them are close to my style (Peter Mulvey, Death Cab For Cutie, Elliott Smith, Bright Eyes, Moxy Früvous, etc), others are more toward the traditional folk end of the spectrum (Joanna Newsom, Nick Drake), and others are more electronic (The Postal Service, Of Montreal, Grandaddy). I listen to a lot of Latin American music (Café Tacuba, Julieta Venegas, Juana Molina). I grew up listening to a lot of metal and punk music, but also a lot of classical and hip-hop. So there’s a whole lot of weird stuff in the mix.

04 - What was the last free netaudio album you downloaded and listened to? I’ve been really into Ruth Theodore’s “Worm Food” album on Jamendo. And if you’re into Italian-language potty humor hip-hop (and really, who isn’t?), Padre P-Yo’s “Il demo più inutile che esista” is hard to beat.

05 - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Boomerangs or Winter? Ohio only has two seasons - Summer and Winter - so I’m not qualified to judge Spring and Autumn. I hear they’re lovely. Summer is good boomerang weather, so they can keep themselves company. I’ll choose poor old lonely Winter. I like underdogs.