We're already well aware that West Coast indie mainstays Said the Whale are folks of many talents. (I mean, just look at co-frontperson Ben Worcester's work behind the mic and on the floor of the Vancouver store he sells hammocks at as a day job.) The band's frequent drummer Spencer Schoening is the latest to prove his chops away from the band with the release of a new solo EP called Weigh the Windblows.
The five-track collection finds Schoening operating in a more country-twanged folk vein than the pop-rock Said the Whale operate in while maintaining those melodic sensibilities — think something like a pared-down acoustic set from a bands like Slaughter Beach, Dog or Pinegrove.
"I wrote a number of songs this year, and while none of them are on this EP of slightly older tunes," Schoening explained in an email, "it got me back into playing and singing, so I finally sat down to do a nice recording of these ones which have been kicking around for a little while."
From the spritely melancholy of "Nothin But" to the winding road of "Cuppa Suds," Weigh the Windblows sees the shapeshifting musician stretch his hands across various countrified finger-picking patterns and his vocal range from top to bottom.
This isn't Schoening's first solo venture, either: he also makes ambient music under the moniker Air Creature, jazz with Ducksback and arty folk as Fir. He also put out multiple tracks in 2023 with free jazz collective, how to survive a high rise hotel fire.
Listen to Weigh the Windblows below.
The five-track collection finds Schoening operating in a more country-twanged folk vein than the pop-rock Said the Whale operate in while maintaining those melodic sensibilities — think something like a pared-down acoustic set from a bands like Slaughter Beach, Dog or Pinegrove.
"I wrote a number of songs this year, and while none of them are on this EP of slightly older tunes," Schoening explained in an email, "it got me back into playing and singing, so I finally sat down to do a nice recording of these ones which have been kicking around for a little while."
From the spritely melancholy of "Nothin But" to the winding road of "Cuppa Suds," Weigh the Windblows sees the shapeshifting musician stretch his hands across various countrified finger-picking patterns and his vocal range from top to bottom.
This isn't Schoening's first solo venture, either: he also makes ambient music under the moniker Air Creature, jazz with Ducksback and arty folk as Fir. He also put out multiple tracks in 2023 with free jazz collective, how to survive a high rise hotel fire.
Listen to Weigh the Windblows below.