The Woodsman’s Babe
Written by Patricia Manlucu for Urban Outfitters Space15Twenty (2015)
Los Angeles local and Brooklyn native, Joe Lengson, is the artist behind The Woodsman’s Babe. A man of many talents, Lengson is a singer, songwriter, fashion and wedding photographer, graphic designer, and more. If you’re from New York, you may have seen him perform a last minute show at SpaceNinety8 in Williamsburg! He’s currently living and LA and luckily we got the chance to speak to him about his career, his upcoming album BABELAND, and his tour in April. Check out our interview below to read more about The Woodsman’s Babe and the unexpected turn of event during our meet:
For people that haven’t listened to your music before, how would you describe your sound?
The original conceit in my mind, I thought that my music was going to be folky and rock oriented, and the original manifestation had banjos, mandolins, and violins, but then once I put music onto a recording I realized that it was the furthest thing from it. There are big drums and it was pop beats, and I was so sad to think that the music that I wanted to create is not what is coming out naturally. There was a music critic that said my music was “okay” and could be called “whimsical-folk-pop,” and I thought that as a negative because I did not want to be a pop artist, and I did not want to be whimsical. But I guess that’s what it came out to be and I’ve learned to accept whatever it is, that’s who I am. I don’t want to have to force myself to be the kind of musician I want to be. I don’t want to have to wear a folk costume to do that, I want everything to come naturally and organically. Everything that’s coming out now is completely organic, so I guess my music would be considered folk-pop.
So how did you get the name “Woodsman’s Babe?”
The name comes from a book. It is an old book that I found in a used bookstore in Whittier, California. I was walking through the bookstore and I saved probably 10 books that I thought were really cool and thought had really interesting art covers. I wrote them down, and I left for a few weeks but eventually came back to buy the books. The bookkeeper said they’ve never had that book, and I said, “Yes I wrote it down right here,” and for some reason she had never heard of it and they have never sold it. I saw that as kind of a sign.
Tell us about your new album and the inspiration behind it.
The album was written in about a month last winter. The only inspiration that came behind it was a lot of red wine. I was drinking red wine heavily in this month and it’s difficult to say that the album was written about one pivotal moment in my life. If you listen to it, it’s blatantly obvious what it’s about. What I can say is that I was drinking a lot and sleeping a lot for this one month period last winter, and I wrote an entire album in that month, and I spent the entire year recording it, and I cannot wait to just finally put it out because I’ve been sitting on these songs for a year and they’re finally recorded, mixed, and mastered. The album is basically about this particular time in my life as I was living in LA. It was about a breakup. The entire album is about that and it’s very clear. For me to just say it’s about that… I don’t want to be that person.
In your entire music career so far, what has been your favorite live performance?
It wouldn’t be with this project, it would be with my last band. I used to be in a heavy metal band. We played at Giants Stadium for a festival, and I think the headliner that day was Snoop Dog, but its one of those festivals that you see with a vast lineup of genres. I just remember that being such a great day because I woke up in the morning being so excited, and I was still very young. I was 18 at the time and we got to hangout with Fall Out Boy in the green room, and I should not have been there. I didn’t deserve to be there. I think I even got a massage that day and I was just being treated like a rock star. At the end of the day, I remember there were so many people trying to hangout with us and I didn’t understand it. I look back at it now and realize that I took that entire day for granted. That was the largest show I’ve ever performed. But everything that happened that day… I was just young and excited. As the time goes by, I get jaded by going to shows and meeting other musicians, and I don’t want to be jaded. I want to be excited and still look at everything like a student. I always want to learn and be excited.
How did you go from being in a heavy metal band to folk-pop?
There seems to be some sort of trend with people that are so deep into a genre that they sometimes get pushed far into the contrasting side. I had been in heavy metal for such a long time and I knew that was not the music that I wanted to create. It was fun at the time in my life, and I was glad to be with those people, and it showed me a lot and I owe most of my musical success to heavy metal, but that’s not who I was. We’d get off stage and I’d put on my iPod and I found myself listening to the latest folk records or something, and I just knew that at some point the heavy metal thing had pushed me so far since it was all I heard every day. I just had to basically kill it off and walk away or else I would have still been in the same place. But I got out at the right time.
What has been your favorite part about recording this album?
My favorite part would be, honestly not even recording it but hearing what the mixes are when they come back to me. I recorded everything but I sent the album to a studio in Nashville, Tennessee to mix everything and play with the levels and adjust the tones of everything. Hearing those back was like Christmas morning.
At this point in the interview, Joe’s ex, who he had not seen or spoken to in over year, the same girl that this upcoming album was inspired by, just so happen to walk into the coffee shop we were in. Funny enough, she works at the shop. We left right away after he realized it was her.
So how do you feel right now?
I feel flustered. I feel very confused. i haven’t been asked for her in a very long time, never in an interview and it just so happened that this happened today. I don’t necessarily think that it’s a sign, I mean there’s always in the back of my mind that I might run into her in LA. My heart is jumping right now, I don’t know what to say. I just feel very confused.
What are you looking forward to next with this album?
Well I anticipate a little bit of attention. I feel like I have a very good team working with me right now as far as getting it out there. I’m working on doing a tour in April and I contemplated over it a lot for the past few weeks to either go with a band, but I think I’m going out completely by myself and just sort of road trip it rather than treating it like a tour. I feel like if I had a band it would be very work oriented, but if I went by myself then I’d be able to enjoy it and play more intimate shows. A lot of the shows are in cool cities, especially in the Pacific Northwest, and I have a lot of friends in those areas. I just want to play really intimate, acoustic guitar shows for that. I’m just excited to see what happens. I don’t really care if people care about the message of the album; there really is no message. It’s just a breakup album, but I feel like the music is good even if you don’t listen to the lyrical content. Even if they just listen to it once and say its “okay,” that’s a success in my mind. I don’t really need it to change lives or break new ground.
With everything you’ve done in your career so far, is there any advice you’d give to people aspiring to do similar things?
I don’t want to be cliché, but love what you’re doing now and be present in it. Just being present in what you’re doing. I’ve just been thinking about people that are at work and then they check their phones, or if they’re at movie and they’re checking their phones just being distracted. I do a lot of different things and I think that’s a good place to be. I was very overwhelmed and overworked for the past few years, and I’ve just learned to manage my time better. And having your hand in a lot of different projects is very important because you really do learn more about yourself and art and creation. Doing many things and really giving it a fair chance and not being distracted is very important. Be present, love what you’re doing, and try new things. I don’t even know what my day job is – I do photography, music, graphic design, and basically freelancing everything, but I love everything and I’m present. I’m not a master but I’m trying to be a jack of everything.
BABELAND comes out on April 15th and Joe will be performing in Los Angeles on April 30th! Check out the poster for the list of tour dates and stay tuned for more from The Woodsman’s Babe.
