The collaboration was one of a natural progression, as was the sound – but fining tuning the songs, that took some time. They worked with producer Ben Kerstenin in three different studios over the summer of 2007. “We wanted to mess around with as many unorthodox instruments and sounds as we could,” says Mat. Across the album’s eleven tracks, you’ll hear trombone and Flugelhorn, violin and pedal steel guitar – and some timbres trickier to identify. Slide guitars were rubbed with violin bows, cellos plucked to create bass lines. “At one point, we put a mic on a ukulele and played it through every effects pedal in the place.”

This willingness to improvise even gave birth to a new song in the studio, the instrumental ‘Breezy No Breezy,’ a curious amalgamation of rock, jazz, and dub reggae. “That one was written and recorded in about an hour,” Brooke remembers, smiling. “It was the last day of recording, and we had a little extra time left.” They took all their favourite oddball sounds featured throughout the making of The Grand Archives, and condensed their charms into a single track.

The band brings together old pals – in that they all knew each other – singer/guitarist Mat Brooke, [previously– Band of Horses, Carissa’s Wierd], drummer Curtis Hall [The Jeunes], bassist Jeff Montano [The New Mexicans], and guitarist/keyboard player Ron Lewis [Ghost Stories] and finally guitarist Thomas Wright – who graciously answered the Poll13 under the influence of absinthe, which may explain the obsession with P!nk…

The album I live my life by…
P!nk ‘I’m coming out’

The song I wish I had written…
Allstate Commercial Jingle ‘We Bring Good Things to Life’

The song I’m glad I didn’t write…
Kiss ‘Beth’

If I could stalk one celebrity rock star…
Michael Jackson

If I could resurrect one rock star it would be…
John Lennon

Celebrity Death Match Opponent…
Mickey Rouke

My best gig ever…
Working at a gas station

If I could get one band to cover one song…
Grateful Dead to cover P!nk’s ‘I’m Coming Out’

If I could wipe a music genre off the face of the earth…
Indie Rock

The first record I ever bought…
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Soundtrack

On my ipod/mp3/walkman device right now…
>no batteries<

Superpower I wish I had…
The ability to stop crying!

Does your musical style influence your underwear?
If I wore any, no!

One part mellow folk and one part indie-pop and you’re pretty much understanding the basis of this outfits outputs. They released their debut album ‘Magnolia’ [on Morr Music] earlier this year to generally harmoniously favourable reviews. Frontman Andrew Kenny provides a Q10 experience for UPFRONT Online.

1. How did you get started? 2. What ingredients do you need to mix together to produce the recipe of your sound?
When I was just getting this project started, I knew that I wanted the Wooden Birds to have some kind of ’sound’. After a 13 years with the AmAnSet, I didn’t want to drift into that dangerous singer/songwriter/solo record territory. Sure I might enjoy that kind of music, but I just didn’t want to make that kind of album.

About 5 years ago, I started pounding out beats on my guitar top instead of using a metronome or a drum machine. I made all the demos for ‘Magnolia’ that way and ended up prefering it to real drums for the recordings. I also began playing bass in a different way that helped give the new project a more percussive lean.  I tried to engineer a guitar sound that had very little carry as well. Over time, things began to sound very wooden and so the sound was born piece by piece.

As for the band, I have wanted to work with Leslie for years. She played the cello on an AmAnSet record called ‘The Golden Band’ in 1999. I’ve also recorded a few of her solo projects over the years. Chris helped me finísh the last AmAnSet full length record, ‘Set Free’, so I knew I liked working with him.  I spent a lot of time with David and his band, Ola Podrida, and so of course that was an easy call to make.

3. Did your first gig make you hungry for more?
I was a bit nervous, to be honest. I didn’t tell anyone about it, but many of my friends and former bandmates from the American Analog Set were there.

4. What’s the biggest ‘cock up’ to date?
I spent this winter putting a band together and then found out from a mutual friend that our drummer was playing with another band this spring. It was a bit like going to the dance and seeing your boyfriend with his new girlfriend that he neglected to mention. All of sudden your dress looks pretty foolish! Oh well. All’s fair in love and music I suppose. Really, it worked out for everyone. It was a lonely dance though.

5. What is it that inspires you to make your music/sound?
Heartbreak and a mild obsession with death.

6. What would be the icing on the cake?
Mmm cake. The icing on the cake is always seeing my wife’s beautiful face when I come home off tour. There is nothing sweeter.

7. How will you be remembered? (what will make you vintage?)
There is very little you can control about that. I’ll keep trying to write better songs and find my voice, whatever that means. I’ll remember myself for the love I put into every minute.

8. Describe your music as if it were a fine wine.
If we were a wine, we would be the bottle that the shop recommends when you ask for the best 12 euro bottle they have. A secret favorite. Inexpensive but easy to drink. Simple, but with layers of complexity that reveal themselves mid-glass.

9. AfterMint! Does your musical style influence your underwear?
Oddly, yes. I think my new band is awkwardly sexy. I’ve been trying to choose underwear to match.

10. Digestive! What do you know about Luxembourg?
I know Luxembourg is small. I understand that that Luxembourg is a dangerous, lawless land… much like the old west in the US. I’ve also heard that while bears are everywhere these days, all bears can trace their roots back to the area. The Adam and Eve of bears, if you will, were from Luxembourg.

More info: www.thewoodenbirds.com | www.myspace.com/thewoodenbirds

–NEXT GIGS–
All dates with Grand Archives

28 Apr – Chat Noir ,Trier [DE]
29 Apr – Vera ,Groningen [NL]
30 Apr – Bar Mondial ,Antwerpen [BE]
1 May – Bikini Test ,La Chaux-De-Fonds [CH]
2 May – d:qliq ,Luxembourg [LU]
3 May -  Albani ,Winterthur [CH]
4 May -  Cafe de la Danse ,Paris [FR]
6 May -  Wah-Wah Club ,Valencia [ES]
7 May -  Moby Dick Club ,Madrid [ES]
8 May -  Cafe Hispano ,Zaragoza [ES]
9 May -  Apolo ,Barcelona [ES]
10 May – Psilocybenea Cultural Center, Hondarribia [ES]
12 May – Orangehouse ,Munich [DE]
13 May – Wuk ,Vienna [AU]
14 May – Teatar & Td ,Zagreb [CR]
15 May – GrooveStation ,Dresden [DE]
16 May – Pop-Up Festival @ UT Connewitz Leipzig [DE]
17 May – Cafe Zapata ,Berlin [DE]