Canadian Band Winona Forever Talks New Music, Creative Processes, Tinkering & More
☆ By Molly Cole ☆
IT’S THE TYPE OF MUSIC YOU LISTEN TO IN WHILE IN THE SUN OR DRIVING — Winona Forever makes music that brings out your best. It’s the type of music that I can play my dad, knowing he’d be impressed by my taste. Their latest album, Feelgood — which they began touring in 2019 — includes a mixture of bedroom pop and sax. Originally forming in Vancouver, the now Montreal-based band is writing, producing, and creating visuals from their home, with a basement-turned-studio. Working around Montreal’s COVID lockdown, Rowan Webster-Shaw, Ben Robertson, and Alex Bingham have found ways to share their music despite the isolation and distance. Adding a new flavor to their sound by adding saxophone to tracks like “Keep Kool,” the band was inspired by Stan Getz, and collaborated to make a sound unique to them.
Read below to learn more about the band, their creative process, and more.
LUNA: You all met in Vancouver, and you're in Montreal now right? How is living in Montreal during lockdown?
ALEX: Well, lockdown is interesting right now.
ROWAN: We have a curfew … 8 o’clock — you can't go outside,
ALEX: It was supposed to be a month long, but they just kind of indefinitely extended it.
LUNA: What sparked the move to go to Montreal to Vancouver?
BEN: We've definitely done a ton of shows in British Columbia, and we wanted to be on this side of Canada for a bit and see what that was all about. We were able to do more ambitious touring while we were here — those kinds of changes.
LUNA: How is living together as a band, creatively?
ROWAN: It's pretty cool. We've got a studio in the basement; we've always lived together.
BEN: People ask us that, like, "How do you not hate your band members?" It would be really bad if I did. [You] just kinda have to keep things communicated and stuff, but, yeah, I think we're doing pretty well in that regard. I think we like the spontaneity of being able to jam, and definitely compared to a studio where you pay a lot of money, we can just try ideas [out] over a period of time.
LUNA: And your guys' studio is in your place right?
ROWAN: Yeah, we're in it right now.
BEN: We've got to make it a little cuter because we have to film our shows down here sometimes.
LUNA: I was gonna ask about live shows, since you guys were in the middle of a tour, right? And then it kind of got cut.
ALEX: "Middle of a tour" — we were like a week in.
BEN: We were in New Orleans when we had to pull the plug. We just drove all night until we got back because they were gonna close the borders. Well, they weren't gonna close the borders, but...
ROWAN: But we were just scared [that they were].
BEN: We did a few shows, though — we got a taste of it. It seemed like it was gonna go really well, [but] it was definitely out of our control.
LUNA: Have live shows been going pretty good for you guys right now? Is it fun? Is it kind of nice to not have that pressure of not performing for people, or do you miss it?
ALEX: Oh I definitely miss it at least.
BEN: I don't miss it that much, but only because the studios are really fun. But we've only done like one — I think one Zoom show — and we are starting to just kind of film our own version of that and do sessions, but more so to just support new music and release it when it makes sense, rather than [focus on] the show side of it.
LUNA: In your newest release, your album Feelgood — which you guys started touring — you've got some really cool things like horns and sax and stuff. Where did that inspiration come from?
ROWAN: Ben started playing sax …
BEN: Yeah, I played some of the horns, but also our collaborator David — who’s from Toronto — is a sax player in Toronto at this point. He played on "Keep Kool," and the first songs that had horns, and that went so well that it was encouraging. I really liked Stan Getz, and I was kinda like, "Hey David — do that thing." But that's pretty different from how the songs sounded, so it kind of added a new flavor, I think.
ROWAN: I think the more time we spend just recording music instead of playing shows, you get to experiment with more of that. That album was kind of more instruments than just guitar and drums and stuff — I think we're continuing with that.
LUNA: On Instagram you've mentioned that there is some new stuff coming out — is there anything we can expect from that, or any new songs?
ROWAN: Yeah, we're hoping to start putting out music — hopefully not too far in the future; hopefully in the spring.
BEN: The way that music is consumed right now is kinda one song at a time, and I like doing cool photos and visuals for each one and that's probably what we'd like to start. We just had a whole batch to work through, so some of that is starting to [get] done — that means that we should let it be done and move on. That's a great feeling for sure
LUNA: Speaking of visuals, your guys' videos are really cool! You collaborate with your friends in terms of posters and art, and I would imagine that it would be a pretty big deal to you guys.
ALEX: Well, Lester — who we've worked with a few times — [is] a great collaborative.
BEN: Yeah, he brings a lot of ideas — we've done a couple that were pretty, like, "Here's what the idea is," and then we do it, and I feel like that's probably gonna be how we move forward. But again, we’re working with Emily, who has the skill set to kinda get the ideas on camera, but … it kinda depends per video, and I think we really like thinking about all that stuff, and usually it will make a lot of references to the music, so it's all … just a bunch of approaches to the same idea sonically — that kinda thing.
LUNA: Your music and lyrics — especially on your last album — are reminiscent of really fun times, and encourages you to keep your spirits up. Do you think playing Feelgood during lockdown — or during this period when people aren't feeling necessarily great — has been lifting spirits, or do you feel it's been a little repetitive in a way? How are you feeling when you’re playing it?
BEN: Well, I mean, we aren't actually playing that music a whole bunch.
ALEX: We’ve just been working on new stuff. I hope that it's helped people — if it's helped people that'd be pretty cool.
BEN: That's the feeling it seems to give off — people will DM us saying they are still really liking that record; I guess it did come out in 2019 now. Personally if I'm feeling shitty I’ll probably put on something happy, whereas when I was younger I would probably listen to something more emo or something.
LUNA: When you’re sad, you just accentuate that sad.
ALEX: Yeah, and just go with it, but I think that music has the power to just start your day right — that was kinda why Feelgood was a word to represent the last one to me. I think what we're making now is somewhat in the same vein of that type of thing.
LUNA: Because you all lived together, individually, what are your creative processes like?
BEN: We all work on different things. I think Alex likes to jam the most — that's always a good thing to remember: that we used to jam and play shows and record a year after anything, any idea, we just had to totally flush it out. I kind of like to demo really aggressively like right off the bat; Rowan, I don't know how you would describe your approach?
ROWAN: Yeah, I don't know, I feel like it changes quite a bit — push yourself to stay fresh — I don't know if I have a thing that I always like to return to.
BEN: Rowan's done a song per day — it seems like a challenge but it's an approach.
ROWAN: It's like a way to break through like writer’s block and stuff.
BEN: That really helped me. I was always like, “Oh, that's a cool idea,” and it took me trying it, and I did, like, 15 days, and it was really helpful to get some new ideas and not be so precious about the ideas.
ROWAN: Yeah, I think it teaches a lot about not being precious, and just letting an idea be what it's gonna be, and you either like that idea or you don't, but if you try and change that idea you're just gonna get more frustrated.
LUNA: The whole idea of writing every day I find kind of difficult. Now, when you guys are stuck inside — especially with the curfew — do you feel like you have to be making music all the time? What else do you do with your day other than making a song a day?
BEN: I've been learning the Adobe programs, just in the last two weeks, because we were doing live sessions and some photos and we’re probably gonna put up some soon — like Lightroom and Premiere. It's a very different thing than like, Logic Pro … I've been enjoying that.
ROWAN: I've been trying to learn how to mix music better — right now I haven't been doing anything that's like an escape from music.
BEN: You cook and stuff!
ROWAN: Yeah! I enjoy cooking — oh, I started making kombucha actually!
LUNA: Oh yeah? How's that been going?
ROWAN: It's been good actually. I had my first batch the other day; it's very tasty.
ALEX: You made something before though — you made like a pineapple drink right?
ROWAN: Yeah, I made tepache in the summer — fermented pineapple drink.
LUNA: Wow, that's pretty impressive. I think my mom tried to make kombucha once and it did not go well. It wasn't that good I don’t think.
BEN: Did you tell her that?
LUNA: I think she knew … I think it was unspoken. She was like, “No, you don't have to try it.” What about you Alex — what have you been doing?
ALEX: Tinkering a lot I guess — our space has a little workshop in the back, which I've been making a mess of repeatedly.
BEN: Alex is really good at making stuff and soldering.
ALEX: Yeah, kind of just trying to modify stuff without breaking it.
BEN: He made this speaker that spins, kind of like what's in organs.
ALEX: Something called a Leslie speaker — we got a free organ from a guy who we bought this mixing board from, and I took parts out of it and turned it into an amp, and now it has like a spinning speaker on it and it sounds pretty cool.
LUNA: That's amazing!
BEN: It's really cool — that description of it might not paint a picture of it but …
LUNA: I'm imagining just a lot of moving parts.
BEN: Just chaos. Lots of sparking.
ROWAN: That's what it is.
ALEX: There were sparks when I was starting it — I had Rowan test it out.
ROWAN: Yeah, I touched it with my guitar and it sparked and it snapped one of my strings just clean in half. I was a little scared for a while.
ALEX: I was like, “I guess the wiring isn't done!”
LUNA: “It just needs a little more time guys, I promise.”
BEN: Mad scientist over here.
LUNA: In the future, if I Miss Corona and us part ways, where would you be, what would you be doing, and who would you be with? You can take some time to really think about it and perfect it if you want.
ALEX: I wanna go back on tour.
ROWAN: We're also thinking of moving back to Vancouver, so we'll be in Vancouver, I guess. We were supposed to go to Europe this year so … Hopefully in the future we get to do that.
BEN: Anywhere between going back home and going to Europe.
LUNA: Those are your two options! Okay. So you'd be with each other still then.
BEN: I think so.
LUNA: Never leaving each other's side. And one last question — Winona Forever, what is your favorite thing that Winona Ryder has done?
ALEX: Hmm, you guys have seen more of her stuff than I have.
ROWAN: I mean, I like Heathers, but Stranger Things is pretty good.
ALEX: Stranger Things is really good! I mean, at least season one. It's just kind of perfect. And Beetlejuice is pretty good.
LUNA: Did you see the Timothee Chalamet Superbowl ad that she was in?
WINONA FOREVER: No?
LUNA: She was in an Edward Scissorhands, Timothee Chalamet Superbowl commercial. But it was a car commercial; I don't really know how Edward Scissorhands plays into that?
BEN: The Edward Scissorhands car manufacturer.
LUNA: A lot of moving parts coming together, but you know what, it's Winona Ryder.
BEN: The Superbowl always manages to make those marriages happen.
LUNA: Thank you so much for doing this interview! Short but sweet. I hope you have a great rest of the day, hopefully your 8 p.m. lockdown is lifted.
BEN: Yeah, we got less than four hours on the clock so we gotta.
LUNA: Get out there now — make the most of it!
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