Spotlight: Wooing
Story By Isabel Crabtree | Photos By Karen Peterson
Something about the fact that Rachel Trachtenburg, 25-year-old frontwoman of Brooklyn band Wooing, used to collect dust bunnies isn’t exactly surprising. Trachtenburg says she made a habit of scooping up the dust that records collect as they spin and calling them her “music dust bunnies.” “I’ve probably held on to a lot of things that I did not need to,” Trachtenburg says, her black bob bouncing as she laughs and recounts the unique and creative upbringing that led to her inevitable career as a musician.
Born in Seattle, Washington, Trachtenburg started performing music at the age of six, where she played drums in a family band. Her childhood was like a daydream-love-child of Almost Famous and Little House on the Prairie, full of sewing, rescuing animals, making music, and letting her creativity drive her. “I learned a lot just from growing up on the road and on tour and thinking that was normal, to be in a band with your parents,” says Trachtenburg. “And then realizing when you get older that that’s totally not normal.
Sitting in a Bushwick café wearing a skirt she says she’s had since she was thirteen, Trachtenburg stands out given her blunt bangs, colorful outfit, and easy laugh. While she may seem like the coolest kid in Brooklyn, she’s not that different from her listeners; she meditates to help her creative flow, watches Friends and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and adorns herself with silver jewelry and black eyeliner. This twenty-something, however, grew up on stage, and is confidently, if quietly, settled in her identity as a musician and creative.
After moving to New York, Trachtenburg set out to continue making music in her own right. Fast-forward to today, and Trachtenburg’s band, Wooing is gaining speed as the new band to watch. Their music has a mix of influences, from Alice in Wonderland to True Crime, and from Classic Rock to The Breeders. The video for “In Colour” features a cult and costumes hand-dyed by Trachtenburg, and samples dialogue from a documentary on an experiment from the sixties where housewives were given LSD. Trachtenburg’s ethereal vocals and the band’s unique sound are overlapped with the repeating taunt from a nameless woman: “I can talk in Technicolor,” inviting listeners to sympathize with her, be intrigued by her, want to reach out and meet her.
Formed two years ago, Wooing has the power to remind listeners why non-mainstream music is so good, especially in a climate of über-pop-stars and million-dollar music video budgets. “Right now I'm just focused on next year, focusing on honing in on the music and being able to creatively show people how we’ve grown as a band,” Trachtenburg says. “Because even though we are a new band, it feels like we’ve grown a lot, especially in the writing style and vocally.” Their sound is reminiscent of the sixties; you might be able to guess the influences, but it doesn’t really remind you of anyone else.
“A lot of times people will be like ‘Oh what can you compare yourself to?’ and I hate that question because I don’t want to be able to compare myself to anyone, ideally,” says Trachtenburg. “Art is about showing who you are as an individual, and I think it’s important to gain inspiration from other things, but also to try and do something new as well.” The key for Trachtenburg? Making music she would want to listen to.
“My parents grew up in the Sixties and Seventies, so all their favorite bands became my favorite bands when I was growing up, like ABBA and Pink Floyd,” Trachtenburg says. “And all of my childhood years in Seattle, we would go to a lot of estate sales and yard sales, and that stuff is all going to be stuff from the Sixties and Seventies, so I feel like an old lady in a lot of ways.”
Subtly rooted in the guitar and carried through by Trachtenburg’s youthful vocals, Wooing doesn’t abide to any one genre’s confines. Instead of hopping on the alt-train, it seems they’ve created something new. It’s retro, but matches the energy listeners expect from music today. It’s psychedelic-punk, like the Pixies and the Doors got together to jam, but were interrupted by a fourth-wave feminist Blondie. They respect song structure, they make music that’s fun to listen to, but they’re also effortlessly cool and reject the pressures of pop. It’s hard to say who they’re like, because, well, that’s the point—they’re different.
Swimming in a different direction in a world of cut-throat music competition, Wooing’s lyrics and videos will surprise you as much as their sound. “Tear World” was inspired by the documentary about Tillikum the whale in SeaWorld. Trachtenburg says “We’re working on this new song called ‘Something Good’ and I’d said something else, I’d said ‘the sun will kill you,’ and JR thought I said ‘something good,’ and I was like, ‘you know what yours is a little simpler and less negative, let’s go with that!’ So we’ll get into a rehearsal space and just jam and let the music flow.”
It’s clear that creativity runs deeply through Trachtenburg’s veins, and seeps into every aspect of her work. She commits to things wholeheartedly, and upon meeting her, it’s evident that she works with a dedication that can only help in such a tough industry. Wooing’s music videos present Trachtenburg’s personal aesthetic in an immediately recognizable way, no matter the song or director. Their newest video, “In Her Head” directed by John Zhao, features references to Hayao Miyazaki’s Totoro and is visually a sharp contrast to their darker videos, but has a similar wandering energy.
Due in part perhaps because Trachtenburg grew up in the music business, and knows how difficult and risky it can be, she makes it a priority to work with women. “It’s very trendy right now, women empowerment, and I think that can kind of be off-putting in ways, but I’m happy if that can be the ‘it thing’ right now, and we’ll just stick with it for as long as it goes,” Trachtenburg says. “It makes me feel like I can be myself, and it feels good to just be supportive of other women, especially in all these industries where it’s easy to let rejection get into your head. And, it’s a good reminder that there’s room for all of us.” The desire to work with women and her side hustle as a model led Trachtenburg to photography duo Jin + Dana.
“I’d met them through a fashion shoot a few years ago and really liked working with them and wanted to work with a mostly female team,” Trachtenburg says of the duo who directed Wooing’s colorful and visually stunning video for “Could Have Been.” “They did a great job of finding that line between pop art and something kind of modern. I like to work with people that are open to a flow and a give and take. I was like I want to get a bunch of plastic flowers and they were like ‘Great!’ and it just all happened.” The video features an homage to pop art in the form of contrasting-color profile shots, but stays true to the band’s breezy subcultural style with lots of languid action shots of Trachtenburg, guitarist JR Thomason, and drummer Rosie Slater.
What’s next for Wooing? “I feel like I’ve become more grounded in my vocal style, like doing more screaming and harsher things on stage when the lyrics call for it, so I want to make an album that represents that,” Trachtenburg says. “Long-long-term, it’s just making more music that is new but still fits in the same family, continue to travel and play shows, and playing in new crowds. We’re looking at stuff for England for the summer.”
While Wooing’s live impression is more shy than their video persona, going on tour is the next logical step. Wooing recently began a Spring 2019 tour with The Black Lips and Fucked Up, taking them from New York to Kentucky to Canada. Touring a new album would further develop their in-concert confidence, and would foster more fan relationships, which Trachtenburg finds important. It’s clear that to her, the most human parts of the music industry are what makes it worthwhile.
“Both my parents love music and I grew up playing ‘Name that Tune’ in the car to Classic Rock and oldies. It’s kind of cool to just see how everything’s come together,” Trachtenburg says, displaying Wooing’s records: one album depicting her embroidery, another showing a dark, highly contrasted image of her surrounded by red flowers. They’re intimate and unusual, like taking a look inside someone else’s diary, or at a roadmap of Trachtenburg’s life so far. “I hold on to things if I really love them,” She adds. “And find new ways to, hopefully, let them grow along with me.”
