Map of the Woulds releases “The Old Songs” and connects with us to discuss their bold new single and creative evolution
- STAFF
- Aug 25
- 16 min read
By: Staff
“The Old Songs” delivers an audacious blend of nostalgia and modern chaos, showcasing Map of the Woulds' unique brilliance.
In a world where the line between creativity and chaos blurs, Map of the Woulds have just released their most daring track yet, “The Old Songs.” A blend of massive sound and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, this new single captures the essence of modern absurdity with its biting cynicism and refreshingly unique style. With retro guitar riffs and drum work that feels at once nostalgic and fiercely contemporary, the song has already begun turning heads and sparking conversations.
We recently spoke with the trio behind this bold statement, guitarist and vocalist Woody Frank, bassist Andrew Woods, and drummer Adrian Woods, about the message behind “The Old Songs.” We delved deep into the track’s genesis, exploring how it reflects their evolving approach to music and the pressures of today’s content-driven world. They revealed how their dynamic as a trio shapes their sound, their thoughts on the rise of digital platforms, and how the absurdity of life plays into their creative process.
In this interview, the band opens up about their philosophies, their struggles with the modern music landscape, and the role humor and reflection play in their art. If you’re ready to hear the story behind a band that’s as unpredictable as their music, you won’t want to miss this.
Read on to find out what makes Map of the Woulds tick.
Here’s how it went:
Begin Interview:
Hello Map of the Woulds, we’re thrilled to have you here for this interview! We've had an amazing time exploring your music and diving into your creative journey. Now, we’re even more intrigued to get a deeper look into both your brand and your personal and professional inspirations.
Q. We were absolutely blown away by “The Old Songs”. The combination of a massive sound with tongue-in-cheek lyrics made for such a powerful opener. The guitar, drum work and overall supporting music felt retro-influenced, yet the delivery and overall style were undeniably contemporary and unique. We found ourselves fully invested in the song’s message, and our favorite line was “this song is such simplistic bullshit.” Can you share more about the meaning and origins of this track, and what it represents for the band?
A. Adrian: Thank you for the kind words! Unless that’s your favorite line because you think the song is actually simplistic bullshit. In that case, touché. It's interesting that you picked that line out in particular as I think it holds the key to the song. This song could easily be misinterpreted as a simplistic screed against modern music and social media with a desire to return back to "The Old Songs" or even "the old ways". We don't want to let anyone off that easily (ourselves included).
Andrew: Adrian writes challenging lyrics. Sometimes before we’re about to play one of his songs live, one of us will joke, “Content Warning, Adrian wrote this next song.” The Old Songs in particular, it might be safe to say that zero-percent of the statements are intended to be taken as true at face value. The chorus sounds like a strong statement at first, but it’s also making fun of points of view that of course we can all relate to sometimes. “Modern music is boring and dumb” I hope comes across as both a little true and a little of a cartoon old man’s “get off my lawn, kids!” Anyway, yeah, those are Adrian lyrics. It was a blast collaborating on the music for them.
Q. Can you introduce the band members and their specific contributions to the music?
A. Andrew: Woody plays guitar and sings and writes fantastic songs. There’s both a lyrical and musical flavor to his originals that is just so thoughtful and fun at the same time. They’re definitely some of the consistent crowd favorites at our shows. I love writing backup vocals to his melodies! Adrian plays drums and sings as well and has been an increasingly prolific contributor of lyrics, arrangement ideas, and even some truly bizarre but undeniable full chord-charts. He really wrote the entirety of “The Mirror,” including those crazy chorus changes. And I play bass – or acoustic guitar when we’re doing outdoor park sessions in the summer – and write annoying fusion tunes and sing as much as possible.
Adrian: A couple of the reviews for The Old Songs have used Queen as a touch point and that is both super flattering and totally ridiculous (to even mention Queen and Map of the Woulds in the same sentence). But I do think what reviewers are touching on is the diversity of catalog that results when everyone contributes to song writing and lyrical ideas.
Q. At any point, did this song start out with a different theme or evolve into something quite different from what you initially envisioned?
A. Adrian: Not really. I wrote the lyrics and then handed them off to Andrew to write the music. So ultimately it ended up being an interesting amalgam of both visions. I think the chorus vocals were initially recorded into a phone by me while sitting on the toilet. Andrew took that mostly verbatim and tried to match music to the vocal movement (hehe). So that explains the weird rhythm on the choruses.
Andrew: It’s new for me, since I traditionally have a set of musical ideas and then spend most of forever on a set of lyrics. But I’m really enjoying the opposite direction these days. Lyrics, melody, and then writing interesting chords to it, almost like a jazz reharmonization project at the end. This is one of those, with a single simple climb-riff thrown in for a bit of interest or a breath perhaps.
Q. In the context of your new single “The Old Songs,” you describe it as a "cynical and absurdist" reflection on the creative process. Can you elaborate on how this perspective has shaped your approach to music, especially in an age dominated by social media and constant content production?
A. Adrian: Honestly, we just try to create music that we love, that is fun to play and that hopefully says something meaningful. We've never taken commercial considerations into account and we couldn't care less what the "industry" thinks of our music. Social media is a necessary evil for a band these days, but we definitely don't dedicate ourselves to producing content. We'd rather be focusing on writing new music than producing a reel for Instagram. If people find us, then they find us. If they don't, well it's not like this was ever going to be a viable career anyways, especially not with our attitude. :D
Q. You’ve mentioned that your music feels like “a dialogue between impulse and contemplation.” Can you walk us through how this dialogue manifests in your songwriting process? Do certain themes or ideas start as impulsive moments that are later refined, or vice versa?
A. Adrian: We actually approach most of our music almost like a jazz band. We have some parts and riffs and obviously relatively fixed lyrics, but a lot of what we do is effectively spontaneous improvisation within a set of chord changes that define a song. When we play live, the tempos will often shift dramatically and the songs are constantly evolving. Take our first single “Plague.” We have two recorded versions of that, one on our first EP and one on our live-in-studio EP. The first version is really slow and missing the whole middle section breakdown that we do live now. This songwriting approach leads to impulse taking us places in the moment, but it is informed by the contemplation that created the song in the first place.
Q. As a trio, Map of the Woulds embraces a lot of flexibility in its format. How does this three-person setup inform your songwriting? Are there any unique challenges or advantages to working within such a tight-knit configuration?
A. Andrew: With all the other things going on in our lives these days, it’s helpful that we’re all full of too many ideas. In the early days, most of our tunes were complete pieces from Woody or me, with a few old compositions lifted from Adrian’s and my old duo, or one of Woody’s many bands over the years. But with just three of us, and each really loving the other’s musical ideas, we could really arrange them for our particular groove on the fly, adjusting parts and inserting and/or removing jams and overly ornate prog sections. Recently, we’ve been ramping up the amount of time together in the same room, so that process has deepened, and we’ve managed to collaborate from an earlier point in the birth of a song. I look forward to more of the process that produced “Wait to Die,” where the song started as a series of focused groove-finding exercises, and Adrian wrote the lyrics later. (BTW, Woody’s solo in that recording – and live really – is one of my favorite free-flowing guitar solos of all time … the studio version is all from one take, and if you see it live, you’ll hear a completely different arc each time, but you’ll get a sense of how that recording might happen. Still, it was one of those magic moments.) Adrian’s also got a bunch of completed lyrics on deck, so stay tuned for more of that kind of energy as we start getting together this fall to write music for those together. Oh geez.
Adrian: (Laughs maniacally).
Woody: There are definitely advantages of flexibility as well as limitations with the 3-piece format. It compels me to bring tunes with a strong rhythmic pulse so that the energy stays up. But having just the 3 of us allows us each to play a lot without it getting too busy, so we can do snaky interweaving lines as well as tight unison riffs, and we try to lean into that while songwriting.
Q. You’ve been described as a band that embraces “reflective, dynamic rock.” Can you explain how reflection plays a role in your sound? Does it influence your instrumental choices, or is it more about the lyrical themes?
A. Andrew: I love this description! I think it came from a recent single review, but it definitely resonated for me. I’m guessing the “reflective” part had to do with the lyrics of the tune (“Banter” I think…?). But the “dynamic” part feels like an incredible compliment to the varied sound and spirit of our music. I probably shouldn’t speculate too much, I’m guessing it’s something about the result of our background in improvisation, and the way that informs our approach to engaging with composed material?
Q. Having been a part of Seattle's music scene for so long, what shifts have you observed in how local artists approach creativity, particularly with the rise of digital platforms and social media?
A. Adrian: It’s been really interesting to watch. During the 90s explosion in Seattle, there was a really amazing underground no-boundaries freak scene that evolved here and stayed. It revolved around a bunch of players who didn’t care about labels or genres. Creativity was key with almost no concern for commercial viability. People like Wayne Horvitz and Bill Frisell and Skerik and Jessica Lurie and Amy Denio and Reggie Watts and Brad Mowen and Matt Chamberlain and Mike Peterson and Tim Young and Keith Lowe and the list literally could go on for another three pages. Andrew and I were kind of on the very fringes of that scene with HeeND and Neon Brown. Since then, that attitude is still very much alive in Seattle. Bands like Zookraught and Anthers and Black Ends and Car Seat Headrest / Will Toledo and some of the players from the earlier era are still doing really interesting stuff here. The biggest difference in terms of digital platforms and social media is you get a little closer look into the artist’s lives. Which can be interesting or super cringe. Honestly I preferred the mystique of watching someone play music and knowing literally nothing about them as a person.
Q. With the phrase "Stop creating content," do you believe the modern obsession with content creation is damaging to genuine creativity? If so, how do you avoid falling into that trap with your music?
A. Adrian: Absolutely. Although it's hard to talk about this without sounding (and being) super pretentious. On the one hand, it's really easy to say something like "great art is unconcerned with financial concerns and the opinions of the people who are going to view that art." At the same time, most "great art" has been created by people who are mostly concerned with finances and the opinions of the people around them. I think the big difference between "Content" (with a capital C) and other forms of expression is the transactional nature of social media. Most people on social media are either looking to promote something or looking for the dopamine hit of likes. A simplistic way of looking at it is that Content is throwaway work with the hopes of somehow going viral and becoming something more. But then again isn't that what most music is?
We're a six-year-old band with over 3 hours of original music (36-ish songs), most of which have never been recorded. And we've got three to four new songs we're working on now. So we're really churning out a lot of Content... um... music… errr… art?
Maybe we’re not avoiding that trap at all.
Q. The cynicism in your new single is pretty pronounced. Do you view cynicism as an essential element of artistic expression in today's world, or do you think it’s a response to a specific cultural moment?
A. Andrew: Dispositionally, moment by moment, I think we’re all pretty upbeat and present, but it’s maybe a way of grappling with certain big picture things that are just relentless and sometimes feel like they need a bit of distance or perspective.
Adrian: It's really hard to look at the human race as a whole and not be cynical. We're incapable of functioning in an environment in a way that doesn't destroy everything around us. And we've been this way for a very long time. Maybe for as long as we’ve existed. Shakespeare talks about holding a mirror up to human nature, which is really hard to do in a positive light if you're paying attention. Although Brecht said “Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it” which may be a more interesting way to think about it.
Andrew: It’s a lens that does some good work in this set of lyrics. And we use other lenses for different topics. We just integrated a tune of mine (“I Don’t Mind”) that’s borderline painfully earnest, so it’s certainly not the only lens we use. But yeah, as a whole, humanity has some challenges currently that are sometimes best viewed as tragic, and sometimes ridiculous. But just because they’re of our own making doesn’t mean we can overcome them. It’s a lot to grapple with as an individual thinker. Laughter helps us let go a bit.
Q. Absurdity is a key theme in “The Old Songs.” Where do you draw inspiration from when exploring the more absurd aspects of life? Is it based on personal experience, societal observations, or something else?
A. Adrian: Yes? All of the above? One of the primary inspirations for this song came from watching social media feeds where the post stream goes something like this: Hey everyone, we've got a show coming up next week! Have you thought about the genocide in Palestine recently? Here's a picture of my food from breakfast! This is my dog! America is descending into fascism! I like potatoes! The orange cheeto has a tiny penis! My dog died! Hey everyone, we've got a show coming up tomorrow!
The reality is this is life, this is how life is and how it works. Everything is mashed together and happy and sad and thrilling and difficult and entertaining and boring. But there's something really absurd about seeing it play out on social media that makes it all feel so hilarious and awful at the same time.
Woody: I would generally consider myself an Absurdist…. I mean here we are on this incredible planet, and for some reason humanity seems hell bent on destroying itself. So I’m looking for the beauty and silliness in everything. Absurdity abounds, and social media provides a window to many things both self-aware and intentional in their absurdity, and accidentally absurd.
Q. Since Map of the Woulds formed in 2019, how has your sound evolved? What elements from your earlier music still inform your approach to songwriting today?
A. Woody: I think we’ve really fleshed out our approach to writing and performing through our time together as a 3-piece. Andrew and I used to switch off on bass and guitar, which was fun, but ultimately proved too burdensome and time-consuming to be practical.
Andrew: There was just a crazy amount of inertia in the mid-set switchover, not only the gear, where even though we would share amps and effects, we still had to bring left and right handed versions of everything! But also the mindset switch. It was an interesting experiment, but I think we immediately noticed how things really took off when we stopped doing it.
Woody: So now everyone is focused on just one instrument, but we have an ear for each other’s parts. Some of our songs are written by an individual and introduced to the group, while others are fully collaborative, and that helps us to keep our material varied.
Q. You’ve talked about the freedom that comes with being in a trio, but has this made it harder to define or categorize your sound? How do you feel about being described as “genre-less,” especially in an era where genres are so prevalent?
A. Adrian: We love it! We've got an “anything goes” policy when it comes to making music. We've got songs that are "jazz," with a head and changes and solos and songs that "rock" as well as whatever the fuck “The Mirror” is. The chorus for that song is openly hostile to western music theory and the middle section is in 35/8 (basically). I love that moment where I hear something that doesn't sound like anything I’ve heard before. Naked City, Grails, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, The Books, Negativland, Phish, Dead Rider. I think about the first time I heard Battles and had that sense of "I don't know what this is but it's freaking awesome." We would love to be in that conversation somewhere. We've had different people tell us we sound like George Harrison and Don Caballero. That’s a crazy cross-section of music. It does make it a little hard to find other bands to play with sometimes, but we're always on the lookout for other weirdos who want to play shows together.
Woody: I think in part we’re so hard to categorize because each of the three of us brings songs into the mix, and from different points over the last 20-30 years of songwriting, so it’s varied material. I think of us generally as a rock band with any number of qualifiers depending on the song - psychedelic, prog, funk, experimental jazz or whatever.
Q. What do you want people to remember most about you after hearing this song and reading this interview?
A. Woody: That we are a band that makes decent music, and when you play a new Map of the Woulds track, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to hear.
Q. Despite the dark and cynical undertones of your music, there’s often a layer of humor embedded within. How important is humor in your music?
A. Adrian: It's extremely important. It's both how we survive and how we undercut the worst instincts in humanity. Laughter is unifying. It is also incredibly healing and therapeutic and can be equally destructive to power systems that are abusive. We take humor and laughter very seriously!
Q. With the abundance of technology available today, many artists have mentioned feeling overwhelmed by the tools at their disposal. Computers are now integral to both music creation and correction. Do you feel that this technological evolution has had a positive or negative impact on the final product in music?
A. Adrian: It's been both positive and negative. On the one hand, it's so much easier to record and create music and get it out to a much wider audience. On the other hand is Spotify and AI music. I’ve been using computers (and other bizarre techniques) in my music since the 90s, so ultimately it's just another tool to use. We try to use it for good. Not sure if we're actually doing that (laughs).
Q. We’d love to dive deeper into the story behind your band name, Map of the Woulds. Now that we’ve had a chance to experience your music, it’s clear that your fans will be equally curious about the meaning behind the name that accompanies your sound. How does Map of the Woulds connect to the music you create, what significance does it hold for you personally, and what is the origin or backstory behind the name?
A. Adrian: Well, we’ve got Andrew Woods, Adrian Woods and Woody Frank. So we knew we needed a name with “wood” in it. And there are obvious double-entendre jokey names that we could have settled on. The name Map of the Woods came up and we all liked it reasonably well, but it turns out there was another band with that name somewhere in Pennsylvania, so we put it aside. At some point later on one of us joked, “What if we called it Map of the Woulds, w-o-u-l-d-s?” We all laughed and then about 10 minutes later, were all really into the idea. The concept of a “map of would” is really interesting and unusual, so we kept it.
Andrew: These are all of the people who “would” play this music, or this is an exploration of what we “would” be willing to do or experience. I like some of the unexpected interpretations. I like that our listeners often think about what it might mean. And of course eventually, especially over time, it’s just us. So it’s nice that it doesn’t have toooo much of a stamp from a primary meaning.
Q. As you prepare for the release of “The Old Songs,” how do you envision the next phase of Map of the Woulds? What are you excited to explore musically, and are there any directions or experiments you’re eager to try in the future?
A. Woody: We would love to expand our reach a bit and play out of town more. Mostly nearby in Washington, with the possibility of a more distant mini-tour. Musically, we have a couple new recordings we’re working on that I’m very excited about ~ one psychedelic rock song and another that’s sort of Latin jazzy. I’m also interested in more collaboration with others, especially horn players, as I love the energy they bring.
Andrew: We’re a bit woven into some of the freakier threads of the Seattle music scene after all these years, and we’re always meeting new musicians. We’ve had good friends join us for shows on sax, keys … full-on pedal steel. These are great musicians who’ve written fantastic extensions to our arrangements. I love our 3-piece, turn-on-a-dime core, but we’ve also discussed prepping a live in-studio with a larger ensemble.
Adrian: I would love to find other weirdo bands to play shows with. We’ve got our core freaky community here, but expanding that in and outside of Seattle would be really cool.
Map of the Woulds, thank you so much, we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us!
End Interview
We’re happy to have shared Map of the Woulds’s exciting journey with you and uncovered such inspiring insights about their creative process.
