The Kingston-based band Hush Woods deepens and expands their signature dreamy, lush indie rock sound with their second album Cardinal, released on August 22nd. Since releasing their first album Understories back in January 2024, the then-three-piece ensemble has added new members and instruments, creating a fuller and more robust wall of sound on this ambitious record. I had a chance to speak with singer/multi-instrumentalist Dylan Johanson more in-depth about the band and their new release. For anyone who doesn’t know, Dylan and I are bandmates in A Whole Nother. It was nice to take the time to become more acquainted with his passion project and their latest LP. Enjoy the interview and make sure you buy a ticket to DIY Kingston Fest (11/21) to see Hush Woods live!
JK: Your first album Understories seems rather minimalistic in contrast to the new album Cardinal. While I wouldn’t describe the latest record as “maximalist,” I would challenge the common adage that “less is more,” because this record, in my opinion, proves that, sometimes, more is more. Would you agree with this assessment? How would you describe the band’s approach to the new album?
DJ: I can definitely understand that perspective on the two albums when compared side-by-side, especially since Cardinal features a good amount of saxophone parts (shout-out to the inimitable Alden Slack for that), as well as a string section on the song “Ghost.” There was definitely a slightly more ambitious goal in terms of those types of orchestrations, so in that way, definitely. But also, on all our songs, we are always looking to either add or subtract a layer or texture as it occurs to us in the songwriting process, striving to sculpt whatever serves the song best. In fact, it might be true that there is more variation within each album than between them; both are pretty eclectic, I’d say, and I personally love when albums have that type of musical and emotional landscape, rather than just one sound or vibe the whole way through. You can take a track like “Surrender Song” off the new album–it is about as stripped down as we get–then compare it to a track like “Findaway” from the first album, which becomes a layered wall-of-sound type of thing as the track progresses, so both albums have variation I’d say, which I personally love.
JK: What’s the songwriting process like for you guys? You all tend to swap instruments from song to song, so how do you determine who’s playing what for each song? Do you all contribute somewhat equally when writing, or is it more so your project that everyone else builds and embellishes upon? And what comes first for you, the music or the lyrics?
DJ: The songwriting nucleus of Hush Woods has always been myself and Will Olsen. We began writing together for this band in early 2017 and our different approaches and strengths keep the process interesting and dynamic for us. Between the two of us there are always multiple new ideas to explore and possibly turn into songs. I write all the vocal melodies and lyrics, so the process is either I come to the band with anything from one idea to a complete composition with lyrics and we go from there, or Will will come up with the part or composition and then I incorporate a vocal melody and lyrics to that. Having said that, the songs are never complete until they go through the Hush Woods treatment, with all members contributing and modifying ideas until we are satisfied as a group. Between music and lyrics, for me the music almost always comes first; I mainly start with the sounds and then find words with meaning to superimpose over the desired sounds retroactively, most of the time. The music is primary, lyrical content secondary for me–although I enjoy the puzzle of trying to match the sounds/phonemes I want but writing lyrics that actually make sense and are hopefully evocative. As far as who plays what instrument on any given song, mainly if it was Will’s initial idea, he will be playing guitar and I will be on drums and vice versa, so there is always a clue as to who wrote what based on what we are playing.
JK: I know you all took your time with this record, and it shows. Recently Joey Walker, of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, was asked about their creative process about their new album, and he said, “A record is never finished, it’s only abandoned.” Given the ever-evolving nature of music and songwriting, at what point did you know that the album was finally “done” and ready to be set free?
DJ: I like that quote–in my opinion it’s so true. At a certain point you have to just call it done and put it out there, but with both albums there are little details I notice where I think maybe I should’ve changed this or that, or I will think of a cool vocal harmony for a song a year after it was already released. At least we can incorporate the new ideas into the live versions so in that way the songs continue evolving even after the “official” versions are released. With this one, we all had our own punch lists at each round of mixing edits; at a certain point there are no more glaring issues, or you start to reach a point of diminishing marginal returns on the new mixes. At that point it’s probably time to call it done. I also heard an interesting quote–can’t remember who said it–but it was basically that the minute you are excited to show some of your friends the track, it’s basically done at that point. You can agonize over it for months more, but once it’s over the threshold where you want to show anyone, you are pretty close to being at a point where you should just release it.
JK: Given our songwriting partnership and friendship, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask: How would you compare/contrast your roles in and approaches to each of your bands, Hush Woods and A Whole Nother? I, for one, find it creatively liberating to be involved with multiple projects so that you can compartmentalize and determine which songs should go to which band. For those who have the capacity and ability to be in more than one band, what would you say is the value in having multiple bands to work with?
DJ: Yes, I love being involved in more than one band, and especially since my roles are so different in the two. In Hush Woods, in addition to songwriting, I do a lot of the organizing/herding cats to keep things moving forward. In A Whole Nother, you have that roll and I just need to show up with my drums more or less, which is very freeing. If I had to be quarterbacking both, it might get tiresome. Having said that, I’m happy that the dynamic in AWN is such that I feel I have many opportunities to contribute to the music/creative process generally, even though I’m “just the drummer” in that band, whether it’s contributing a new song here or there, or tossing out ideas for other people’s tunes.
JK: What’s on the horizon for Hush Woods? I’m a big fan of the denser, more complex compositions, and I’m loving the band’s current direction. Do you plan on touring the new album for a while? Is LP 3 in the works? What’s next for you guys?
Thank you so much. I’ve been loving the new direction as well. I’d say that since we were woodshedding the new lineup (as you mentioned, we went from a 3-piece to a 5-piece recently) for a while, and taking a break from gigs during that time, I think we want to play some more shows and support the album that way, as you say. Our recent album release show was at our bassist’s house he built and it’s an amazing space for house shows–it was a truly incredible night. I think for one thing we want to do a show there every few months with a different opener and change up our set each time, so that is an exciting prospect. Also excited to play DIY Kingston Fest on 11/21! As far as new material, we already have over 50% of the 3rd album written and we incorporated some of those songs into our recent set, so I’m sure we won’t wait too long before recording again.
Hush Woods’s social and streaming links:
Buy the album on Bandcamp
-Interview conducted by James Kwapisz
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