I’m a little late to the table on this one, but it turns out that actor Elijah Wood and famed DJ Zach Cowie have a unique all-vinyl DJ project together under the moniker Wooden Wisdom. The pair met at a party in 2011, and after discovering that they had really similar tastes, began working together. Both dedicated record collectors, a new video from The Vinyl Factory takes us through some of their favourites.
The video introduces us to their mammoth record collection, towering well above them and no doubt counting into the thousands – a collection they have proudly built up from all corners of the world.
The pair gleefully nerd out about their favourite records, ‘guilty pleasures’ and more. They both giggle away when asked about what music they choose for “love making,” with Cowie noting that it depends on the “style.” It’s all about jazz, according to Wood, who selects a Coltane and Ellington record, as well as Sade, but joking that, “I’m not one of those people who puts music one, as like, a ‘now it’s this time'”. Coltrane and Ellington, interestingly, also come up when talking about what music they’d play at their funeral, as do rare B-sides – the kind that “only Questlove knows about.”
Obviously some will find it challenging to dispel any skepticism you may have about Wood’s DJing skills. Addressing the elephant in the room, he notes that “I get why people would feel a certain way if they know me for movies… It’s interesting how we tend to compartmentalise people in a simple way and the preconceptions that come with that.”
“Like a Trojan horse, if people are coming for the wrong reasons, it can be kind of great, because they might walk away with an appreciation they never knew they had.”
No stranger to music himself (plus here’s some of his favourite tracks courtesy of The Quietus), having founded his own record label back in 2005, and has no doubt learnt a great deal from the masterful Cowie, a renowned DJ and crate digger who has toured with Animal Collective and Fleet Foxes, managed tours for Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom, supervised the the soundtrack to Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, and much more.
Considering how extensive and intricate their love and knowledge of so much music is, it’s no surprise that magic happens when they’re brought together behind. Maybe they’ll head out for an Australian tour some time soon. Check out their mix for TVF:
Image: Kenneth Bachor