Being a talented vocalist of Hands Like Houses, Trenton Woodley has had a busy year with tour life and recording the band’s alternative EP, reimagine. He’s a realist at heart and someone that isn’t afraid to be honest with himself about his own struggles, which goes to show that there’s more to life than just being in a cool band.
With his upcoming national tour with Far Away Stables as well as having the prime opportunity of travelling to Europe with a couple of well-known bands, there’s plenty to look forward to for the lead vocalist.
Trenton, it’s such a pleasure to hear from you. How you doing?
Yeah, great thank you.
My name’s Jana from the AU review. Before this interview, what did you eat for breakfast?
I’m actually staying at Alex’s down for practice for a few days. He made me a sautéed mushroom and zucchini on toast. It was amazing.
Wow, that sounds really healthy as well.
Yeah, I should definitely do it more often at home (laughs).
Since the release of Unimagine, I’ve noticed you guys have grown in a very mature way in terms of your songwriting. What’s the story behind the album and how did it all come together in the end?
With Unimagine, I guess we actually had a bit longer to write than a lot of people necessarily realized. We had a very drawn out recording process so a lot of these songs we’ve actually started, kind of towards the end of before Ground Dweller actually came out. It has a kind of great way in identifying that we actually learnt a lot through A) On the road and B) Our taste developed from being a young, bright-eyed band in identifying with the music and I think we were trying to figure out where we wanted to be and which songs we enjoyed the most. So, you know for us starting, we’ve learnt a lot about giving the music the opportunity to develop. That’s what I think Unimagine really is, just giving the songs some soul.
Fans have responded really well when it came to your recent release of your single, “Revive (Introduced Species)”, what motivated the band to make an alternative EP?
We’ve always enjoyed listening to bands such as As Tall as Lions and Deaf Havana. They [Deaf Havana] had an alternative album we still listen to and I think it was a chance to make the sort of music that we don’t necessarily get to explore when we’re a loud rock band. For us, it was a chance to strip back the actual core elements and then rebuild it from the ground up so that it really could be its own EP. Hopefully fans enjoy the rest of the EP. We try to give each song an identity and sound.
You guys have been touring a lot of Australia lately. What have been your most memorable moments of tour life so far?
I think it’s really great in Australia to see how we’re growing. We haven’t really had a support tour since going out with Tonight Alive in September of last year. We’ve played a combination of club and headline shows so kind of seeing natural growth from that is really, really affirming. I think people seeing these kinds of shows in our last Australian tour was really encouraging as our music started to reach out more people, providing us with opportunity. It all comes down to a lot of hard work and personally, a lot of pain and heartache.
I can imagine that your upcoming national tour will be absolutely unreal for fans. Any surprises in store for them?
We’re trying to work on a new song or two and it really is a great opportunity. Depending on a few logistical things we should take on tour, certainly it will be surprising because we’re trying to bring new things and improve the show so that we’re not actually playing the same.
I know you’ve been to other countries as well and have witnessed incredible experiences but being far apart from loved ones can be difficult. What do you do when you’re feeling homesick?
Get on the phone. A couple of us are in serious relationships and when we tour, it’s a long distance relationship.
It certainly is a struggle when we’ve come pretty close to breaking point a few times with longer gaps, and you know, longer periods of time away. We’re all kind of learning to deal with it in our own way. But it does come down to having the technology we rely on. Like your phones, Skype and Internet connections. It certainly doesn’t fix it but it makes it a lot easier.
Can you imagine yourself doing something else if you weren’t in a band?
Yeah for sure. Couldn’t tell you what though cause I have a million ideas. A lot of the guys are part of teaching assistance programs in schools. I know at least 3 of the band members have done that. I’ve done that in various stages. Helping out kids with learning disabilities. But being in a band gives you a lot of freedom and opportunity. To be able to explore whatever you feel like.
I find that your band’s music is very positive and uplifting which is great. Would you consider yourself as quite the optimist?
Nope. Definitely not (laughs). I think for me, Unimagine as a whole is about perspective and while there is a lot of positive and uplifting type of songs, there is also some dark stuff in between. I’m a firm believer that you really need to know depression and your happiness vice versa. You need to see things from both sides to really appreciate what both are. And I think in terms of getting myself out of periods of depression, it’s something I struggle with regularly. You know it’s a common thing and I don’t think people should be afraid to talk to someone about it. For Unimagine, in particular, there’s a lot of therapy and just kind of being able to withdraw myself to things that suck and appreciate the things that are great. You look at the album cover, it’s got the UN, and if it shifts, it’s about perspective and turning things around.
Is there any life quote or motto you like to live by to?
Not a specific one but there’s a few that come to mind. When it comes to a band, people ask me what’s your advice for musicians? Music is key but you know being creative on a bunch of different things and being true to the people around you and to yourself is what’s important.
Have you been to a gig recently? What band or musician has stood out for you in the current year?
I haven’t as much as I would liked to in the past year. We got to see Circa Survive at a Club. Favourite band I saw recently was Safe Hands from Newcastle. Really, really cool band. Far Away Stables, who are taking on our tour, big fans of them, played with them and seen them live recently and that was fantastic.
Recording a cover of “Torn” for Punk Goes Pop must’ve been fun. Are you intending on covering more songs in the future?
I think we’re all open to it especially cause “Torn” has been incredibly well-received. It’s opened up a lot of pathways and we actually have our first couple of commercial radio plays just recently here in Canberra on that song.
It is a fun process, just kind of saying – what’s a song we all love? And one that we know so we can give it our own character and flavour. With that song [Torn], we really tried to give it our own tone, making it sound like no one has ever heard of it before but still doesn’t sound too far removed from a regular Hands Like Houses song. If we have time off between albums and feel like doing a song, we might work something out either with Punk Goes… or do it independently as a band.
What are your plans for the rest of the year? Do you have anything that you’re looking forward to in particular?
We’re really stoked to get our reimagine EP out in a couple of weeks and then beyond that, we’ve got the Australian tour. We’ve got our Europe tour with Bury Tomorrow, In Hearts Wake and Slaves – so that’s a solid lineup. Kids really seem excited over there – I should say fans rather than kids, sorry (laughs).
It’s going to be a really fun tour. We love touring the UK and we get to go to some new places in Europe as well so that’s gonna be great fun. Once we get home, we’ll just get stuck back into writing album three.
Speaking of the new album, how’s that going?
It’s really just on the skeleton phase. We’ve got, you know the basic kind of chord structures and few kind of early-day melody. Even if the lyrics aren’t there, the melody is starting to take shape. We’ve been tracking ideas for the last couple of days. The guys have been doing more tracking for the last couple of weeks, so it’s very much on its early days but we’re trying to get a head start. We’re also trying to enjoy the process and really refine the stuff compared to Unimagine where we had to just go in 100% confident. We’re glad to have the time to get the head start.
When do you think it will get released?
Probably looking mid-next year, depending on a few things. Ideally, that would be when we can get it out.
Also, what about Soundwave? Will you guys be a lucky contender for that next year?
Oh look, we’d love to be. I know AJ has spoken positively about us on Twitter etc. We were a little bit cheeky just before the announcement came out and we were like ‘Hey man, you got any space left?’And he was like, ‘Oh crap, I knew I forgotten something.’ If we find out on the next announcement or if we hold out for 2016, who knows. We certainly don’t have any idea at this stage. We know we’ve tried to get BDO re-established for future years and trying to get Soundwave lockdown. Otherwise, we’d love to be a part of it and would love to get the opportunity to in the next couple of years but we’ll see how it kind of all pans out.
Thanks again for your time, Trenton. Wishing you all the best with the band and for the rest of 2014.
Thank you!
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