Patience Teenage Caveman

Cody Hoover is the permanent member of Patience Teenage Caveman.

Here we talk with him about moving from Ohio to New York, quiting his thrift store job, playing music on the rooftop of his building, and how the hell he came up with the name Patience Teenage Caveman.






Chief Magazine: How many members make up Patience Teenage Caveman?

Cody Hoover: I have a couple other members that come and go. They really just come out when I need  it.

Sounds like a lot of layers to the tracks. What kind of instruments are we listening to?

It’s me on a four track and a synthesizer—I play guitar too. And I have a friend of mine her name is Megan Moncrief. She sings on a few songs on the album. She also plays the melodica.

Describe your album.

The album’s just called PTC. We’re hand making each cd with cutout cloth. Each is made up of different fabrics and different patterns. Each one is pretty much different.

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How long you been in New York?

Since the end of September I’ve been here.

Where are you right now?

I’m on my rooftop right now. I get the best reception up here. It’s the top of the whole building. There’s a pretty good view of Brooklyn and Manhattan. And you can see the [East] river too.

Ever play tunes up there?

I have three other roommates so I come up and play here a lot.

How are the acoustics?

Not very good. It kind of floats away. But I can make as much noise as I want to.

Has anybody ever come up from the street below out of pure curiosity?

Nobody’s ever said anything. I’m not sure.

Ever done any rooftop parties?

No, I haven’t. I’d like to, but we haven’t done any yet.

Why did you move to New York City?

My friend’s girlfriend had an apartment open up. I came out here a week early. First week I was here I stayed at a youth hostel in Park Slope and 4th Ave. Different guys came and went. One day I was reading in my underwear and there were two or three Russian girls who came in thinking my room was their's and they were partying; drinking and stuff. I just kept reading.

Recall the book?

I think it was Richard Ford book of short stories.

How did you occupy your time?

I spent my days looking for jobs. Pretty much anything. Something to get established. I found a job at a thrift store in Manhattan. And I just quit there in May.

What was that like?

My boss was like a super gay Edward Norton, if you can imagine. That was the first impression I got of him. He was a cool guy. There are a lot of big egos. They thought they were really upscale, but they weren’t. That’s why I quit, because it was kind of silly. It was good experience. I met a lot of people. That’s actually where I met Meghan.

Was she working there or a shopper?

Yeah, she was working there and we quit around the same time.

Got tired of it?

I don’t mind doing anything – I just needed to make money.

Find anything afterward?

Pretty much been unemployed since then. Been playing music everyday. Recording new songs all the time. And working on songs to do live.

How do you support yourself?

I got a pretty big income tax check so that will hold me over for a while. I have this hand-made amplifier that was far too advanced for me back then and I am planning on selling it.

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How much you asking?

$1200.

What 'hood are you living in?

It’s in Greenpoint. It’s an industrial district between Greenpoint and Williamsburg. It’s not terribly cheap. It could be cheaper.

How productive have you been?

Whenever I feel like doing music, I do it. I don’t have a certain number of songs. Since I moved to New York I’ve recorded about 40 songs.

Quite the output. All they all following a certain thread or wandering all over?

They kind of vary all over the place. They have a sync and echo. They are all different kinds of songs. They all have a pop kind of feel to them, I guess. Definitely lo-fi. A little bit noisy.

Do you have a drummer?

We have percussion that we play. There’s not a designated bass player. Whatever’s best for the song, we adapt to. I kind of have to change them. I haven’t played a show with Meghan yet.

Where was your first show?

The Alphabet Lounge. It was the end of December – after Christmas. I played my four track with a delay pedal, a microcorg synthesizer. And there’s a voice-coder built into it and I use that a lot too.

You must be busy with all the duties.

I sing along with some of the songs. Some I play guitar on. I play keys too. I drop in tracks too. The technique is kind of dub. I’m always playing live instruments and singing along with it.

How did you manage to sift down to just the one-man-band?

All through high school and college... I kind of felt in a group everybody wanted to play their songs. Everybody had their agenda. And it kind of made the sound of the band muddled and convoluted. Not just in my case but in a lot of bands that’s what happens. So then I was and have been recording off a four-track since the 8th grade, and then my old four track broke and I just wanted to make my own music. Really, I don’t have to answer to anybody but myself.

And how pleased are you with the work?

It’s my favorite stuff I’ve written so far. It’s the kind of music I always wanted to do but I was relying on other people to get it done. You always have to get everybody together to practice. With just me I can pick up and do it alone. I guess it’s kind of a collective of whoever comes through. I like the idea of just being able to record just my stuff.

The name is a bit curious. How did you land on it? Is it making a statement. Telling the young caveman to be patient? Is it just something landed on when doing the laundry and you had a moment where it hit you?

I was listening to Beat Happening. I was writing something – I was at the computer. I had just written “PATIENCE” in big letters. I don’t know why I wrote that. That was the only thing on the whole page. Then the song “Teenage Cavemen" came on. I wrote “TEENAGE CAVEMAN” under “PATIENCE”. At the end of the night the last thing I saw was “PATIENCE TEENAGE CAVEMAN”. It sounded really good so I went with it.

Late night?

Kind of hanging out and brainstorming. Two different ideas came together on their own.

But there was a deeper meaning there, perhaps. Something going on beneath?

I was not trying. It’s kind of what I took from it – the whole time I was growing up – I was playing guitar and learning other songs alone in my room. I kind of felt like I was a teenage caveman myself. I was just in my room all the time playing music. Then playing with bands I wasn’t satisfied with. It’s me telling my teenage caveman self that someday the things are going to work out. That the music will come out the way I want it to.
 
Though you just landed here for the most part, do you feel like you’ve become a New Yorker?

I guess so. I definitely feel at home. I can’t imagine living anywhere else right now. I can definitely feel like I feel apart of it. I ride my bike everywhere. I like the conveniences.

My roommate – he was already here before I moved in. Maybe he was there two weeks before I moved in. He also helps me out sometimes. in the coming live shows he will play with me. Jesse’s his name.

Where’d you go to school?

Kent State University... yeah, the May 4th massacre.

I wasn’t going to go there given the obvious but yeah that’s what came to mind for me too. What did you study?

I majored in English and Sociology. I did a lot of video editing. I was there three years and dropped out. I dropped out last spring. I just didn’t come back. All I did was play music all the time, anyway. I just wasn’t really into it.

How did family take it?

They were cool about it. When they saw me coming here they were very supportive. They weren’t saying, "you have to finish" or anything. They’re pretty lenient.

And how is our fair city treating you thus far?

I like it. The first time I came here my car got broken into. I got $150 dollars worth of stuff stolen from my car. We had this station wagon. And somebody smashed the window. We had a video camera and this drum machine. I guess when I was there, then I was down on it. But it came back to me. But when I was kid I was very fascinated by New York. Watching Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles helped a lot.

Was New York the only place you set your sights?

It was either here, Seattle, or San Francisco.

How did you narrow it down?

It was the most accessible. It was only seven hours from Ohio where I grew up and where I went to school. Also, my girlfriend at the time lived on Long Island. She broke up with me right before I moved here. Other than that, I knew a couple people from school.
 
Who influences your tunes?

I like Bruce Springsteen a lot. He’s a big inspiration. The way he describes places and telling stories is what I like. He describes feelings and certain situations well. I like how his lyrics go with the music emotionally. Guided By Voices also. They’re from Dayton, Ohio. I guess you could call it an Ohio pride thing. They’re lo-fi thing was cool. Once they went into studio I didn’t like them as much. And the band Slow Dive, from Shoe Days genre also are one of my favorites.

What are you listening to today?

I was listening to a lot of REM today. I also got this record with a flamenco guitar player, Carlos Montoya.

What kind of elements go into making Patience Teenage Caveman music? What do you want people to take away?

I don’t want anybody too completely understand it. I don’t want to understand it all myself. I just want to convey a feeling. A musical dream. My ideal place. That specific kind of feeling—my feeling. I guess if people can kind of relate to that then that’s what I’d hope for. I always kind of think stuff will just come out. Even if you’re not thinking about it. Certain perceptions I have about it, they just come to the surface without trying to push them up there.

What can we expect from a PTC show? Any covers on the set?

It’s kind of a combination. I have a plan but I’ll improvise over parts. I covered a Leonard Cohen song. “One of cannot be wrong." I recorded just the guitar. I played it on the four-track and put a little delay on it. I shifted the vocals and echo noises.

In the track "All the Dancing In..." what is the device you use to alter your voice? Kind of throws you off because that device seems to be used in faster songs.

That’s the voice coder. That’s what I used on that song. I use that a lot. It’s usually used for electro funk or dancy sort of stuff. I took inspiration from Italic disco. It’s disco from the Sixties. They use a lot of voicecoder on the songs. That’s where most of my inspiration comes from. It’s usually faster and upbeat sort of stuff where it’s used.  
 
When you're not playing or practicing... what are you doing?  

I ride my bike all the time. I ride my bike to the beach. Rockaway Beach. I go over the bridge there. The boardwalk and ride over to the Jacob Riis Park.

What type of bike you pedaling?

I had a BMX GT. I went to see a movie at Union Square and left it unlocked. Somebody just took it. Now I’m riding a track bike. My old bike was a lot better. This one is a girl’s bike. It’s a ten speed. I like my old bike better. The one I have now is burgundy and has yellow and orange pinstripes.

Rock the headphones while you ride?

I used to but thought that it was pretty dangerous because I couldn’t hear anybody.

What about eats. You cook or do the takeout thing?

I never cook my own food. I make many trips to Palace Fried Chicken. It’s a bunch of deep fried food. I usually take out.

Maybe you could play a show there for some free grub or something?

I’d love to do something like that. Play for fried chicken.


Downloads
01 Track 1.mp3
07 Track 7.mp3

Website

www.myspace.com/patienceteenagecaveman

Photos

Victoria Jacob

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