Q&A with The Widest Smiling Faces

Aviv Cohn - aka The Widest Smiling Faces - is an incredibly talented singer songwriter from Brooklyn and has recently released his new album Me And My Ribcage, which is available as a free download over on his Bandcamp page. The album is a crushingly beautiful collection of melancholy and subdued acoustic tracks that perfectly showcase Aviv's enormous aptitude as a composer and musician. I was lucky enough to catch up with Aviv and had the chance to ask him a few questions about the new record.


SKIES ARE RARE: Hi Aviv, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us. What are you up to today?

THE WIDEST SMILING FACES: Celebrating a birthday, and the same old, also I got a new delay pedal, so working on arranging some songs for that.

SAR: Happy birthday! And congratulations on the release of Me and My Ribcage last month. Has it been a challenging project to wrap up or did things fall in to place pretty easily?

TWSF: It's been a fascinating twisty kind of bizarre experience, somehow things fell into place and I found myself in an ideal situation and was able to record the album in a fitting way. I was very fortunate in that regard however, so I can't help but feel grateful that things worked out.

SAR: It sounds like a very isolated record. Are other people involved in any stage of your writing, recording or production; or is it very much a solo effort?

TWSF: One of the things I'm really grateful for is that I was able to record the album with Chris Wojdak, who's a great friend and musician. He performed all of the piano and accordion parts on the album, as well as contributing some guitar layers and producing the entire affair. Also Daniel Spenser did an incredible job of capturing the esoteric symbolism of the album with his visual artwork as well. I tend to do a lot by myself in general however.

SAR: Was it a hard decision to distribute the digital release for free?

TWSF: My feeling was that anyone who wanted to get the album for free could do so with little difficulty. The only reason to pay for music these days is to support the artist(s) and/or to own a physical copy/collectible. CDs can just be burned from the digital files, and so selling them doesn't really offer a unique experience. So for people who would like to support me by getting a physical copy, I'd rather thank them by providing something more worthwhile and "real." So that's what I've been working on.

SAR: I really love the textures that you achieve through the different instrumentation. Do you just strip it back for live shows or do you have a band?

TWSF: The sound during live shows is quite a bit different than on the album. It's a good deal more shoegazy. I use a looper to create many layers simultaneously, so i wouldn't say it's stripped down, it's more of a sidewards jaunt.

SAR: What guitars and pedals do you use?

TWSF: On the album we used a Gibson ES-339 and a Fender Stratocaster into a Deluxe Reverb. Live I use a Gibson ES-339 and either a Deluxe Reverb or a Vox Pathfinder 15R depending on the venue. For pedals I use a Boss TU-2 and DD-2, MXR Carbon Copy, Diamond Vibrato and a Roland RC-20XL.

SAR: Some of the guitar technique on the album is seriously impressive. Have you always preferred playing with finger picking?

TWSF: I really enjoy the tactile sensation of writing and performing music with my fingers and the organic sound that results from physical contact with the strings. It also lets one play multiple notes at the same time, which suits me personally, as I've always been drawn to polyphony.

SAR: What's your favourite film that you've seen recently?

TWSF: Probably Tree of Life by Terrance Malick.

SAR: As ever, there are some really great bands playing out of Brooklyn. Who's your favourite local artist that a visiting tourist would never have heard of?

TWSF: This is really tough as there are so many incredible artists here. While I can't presume to know who anyone would or would not have heard of, Phone Home, Albert Goold and Liam Kirby are all really amazing. Chris Wojdak, who produced the album, has a lot of beautiful songs as well, and I hope he'll put them out some time.

SAR: What are the chances of you making over to the UK soon?

TWSF: I really want to, I haven't had the opportunity yet, but I'm hopeful that it will happen soon.