Chords for Exclusive: Roddy Woomble on 'Before the Ruin'

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_ _ [B] _ [G] We met up at John's flat and we were just kind of working on songs intermittently [G#] throughout
that year [N] until we kind of assembled a collection of enough for a record really.
And we had no real idea how it was going to sound or the way it was going to go, but I
think the freshness about that appealed to the three of us because we've all worked with
different bands and different people over the years so there was something quite new about it.
And I [D#] think the record is very much a debut and after it was released we pretty much toured
it on and off for about a year, this is kind of the last few shows for it, and it's changed
completely, [G#]
the songs and the [F#] dynamic between us, which we obviously just didn't know beforehand
you know, so I think the next [C#] record we do will be quite different.
[G] On a drunken boat I weave my way through the lanes where I used to lay
Yeah well I mean John and [Fm] Chris are traditional folk musicians so [N] it's always going to be
kind of, and they're the ones writing the music, I'm writing the words really and the
melodies, and the melodies can be kind of, bring it into a slightly different territory,
but I love folk music too so, I mean it's a Scottish folk record really and that's the
kind of record we'll probably make, although I think that just by virtue of the fact that
everyone's kind of freed up a bit from what they do normally, we can kind of take it anywhere,
if you see what [C#] I mean, like people aren't, like with [B] Idlewell people expect the record
to sound, certainly with Chris's band Loud it's the same sort of thing.
I know [G] this street [Em] _
has a dream [C] of its own
It really [A] depends on how much money we have, _ [G] what the fee's like in terms of how many people
we bring.
[F] Sometimes if it's just a modest fee, it's just the three of us, and it's quite
a [B] different dynamic to when we can get like an accordion player [D] and a bass player and
stuff, but that all costs money so it's got to be a kind of a, so the festivals that [F#] we
did do over the year were quite, they varied quite a lot [G#] because sometimes it would just
be the three [E] of us, sometimes it would be five people and eight, but they're always
good, you know, folk [Gm] festivals have got great [Dm] atmospheres.
Have [C#] songs changed at the [C] side of venues?
Yeah, I think [F#] certainly certain songs, it's the same with Idlewell, certain songs lend
themselves better to [Fm] small clubs and you know, certain rooms [C#m] sound better [C] and songs sound
better in bigger places too.
[Bm] Your eyes, they [D] lie, they lie [G] about what they've been [F#m] told
[F#] It goes in waves doesn't it, I mean some people are interested in, one year everyone's interested
in acoustic [D#] guitars and the next year everyone wants distortion [Fm] pedals, I think with my attitude
it's [F#] always been you kind of do [D#] what you think is good and [F#] other people are bound to like
[N] it, maybe not millions of them but there'll be a certain amount of, if you're convinced
of what you're doing as quality songs and you're playing good concerts, people will
respond to it, and I don't mean that, it might be on a huge scale or a small scale, but whatever
scale I think that_
Yeah, [D#] I suppose you need to set up Idlewell as well, they've chosen years to touch it as [A] well.
Yeah, but at the same time there's always been people interested in the band and that
all gives us confidence to carry on, that you know [G] we're doing things at a [F#m] certain standard
that people really do like good, they react to it.
_ [Bm] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ [F#] I really like the Dylans new record, _ and I also like the Vetiver's album, [G] and the Van
Harps, and I enjoy the XX [D#] as well, I listen to a lot of music so [G#] yeah.
You just have to listen to music you know actually.
Oh [G] yeah of course, I listen to music all the time, it's my passion really.
[D] _ _ [Em] _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _
[F#] _ Just being at home, [G#m] doing anything [B] really, we're not playing this year which [N] is good.
Yeah, you're right, you're taking up another record. _
I think John, Chris and I are going to work on an album next year, [F] but I don't think it
will come [B] out until the fall.
_ _ Doing some shows with Idlewell, [C] and I think we're going [F#] to do some concerts again, the
three of us, so next year's going to be more concerts [E] than we have concerts