Greg and Jessica Weeks

"I'd rather be in Philadelphia"
-attributed to W.C. Fields

The local Philadelphia music scene has been very good to the Terrascope/Terrastock community. Greg Weeks performed with Espers at Terrastock and many other artists we’ve championed have been in or performed with Philadelphia-area musicians: Fursaxa, The Valerie Project that both Greg and Jessica contributed to, the Weeks’s frequent bassist Jesse Sparhawk, Fern Knight, Bardo Pond, Azusa Plane, et. al.

Greg recently released his first solo album in two decades, If The Sun Dies and Jessica’s 2007 collaboration with Gillian Chadwick of Rusalnaia, Woodwose was released earlier this year. And Jessica and Greg also recently released the debut album from their new project Magus.

We begin our conversation with Jessica and Greg by asking how the fertile Philly scene came together and how they met and fell in with all these wonderful, talented musicians?

Greg: Philadelphia, like any big city, is a magnet for creative individuals. The time was right for this kind of music to make a resurgence due to the fact that CD labels were finally re-issuing classic records that had been far out of reach for the average individual. I think that the particular scene in which Espers came up in were a bunch of music heads who were interested in rediscovering these kinds of esoteric releases. Most of the coming together you reference was the direct result of [Espers’ guitarist] Brooke Sietinsons’ salon series: a series of curated performances she hosted in the loft space she was living in on 2nd St. in Northern Liberties [aka “NoLibs”, a Philadelphia neighbourhood Forbes magazine named one of the “20 Hippest Hipster Neighborhoods” in America!]

The Valerie Project comes up a lot in my research about the local Philly scene. Many of the artists that you’ve worked with contributed to the project, including members of Espers and Fern Knight. Tell us how it all came about and do you foresee another opportunity on the horizon for a similar project?

Greg: Valerie has its origins in horror, actually. We used to go to a theater in Pittman, NJ where Exhumed Cinema would hold double and triple features and show archival prints of classic horror films. One of the Exhumed folks was Joseph Gervasi, a true mover and shaker on the Philly scene. Being an Espers fan, when I introduced myself  we very quickly fell to discussing a possible project that could incorporate music and cinema. A galvanising psychedelic folk movie at the time was the Czech New Wave film Valerie and Her Weeks of Wonders. So that was pretty much a no-brainer. Fast forward to a gig with Woodwose and Fern Knight at the Greenline Cafe (put on by another Philly mover and shaker, Rich Wexler). I had a crazy idea to form a band in the mold of Magma. I had a riff that I ran by Margie [Wienk] from Fern Knight, and we riffed on the riff at that show. That became the opening riff for The Valerie Project.

As for future projects, it seems unlikely, but I am still pursuing doing one for the film about Vali Myers. Unfortunately, the prints are lost, and it seems to only exist on VHS.

Greg, you’ve reissued several of your previous solo albums. Are these available on your Language of Stone imprint or only through your Bandcamp site?

I actually haven’t reissued any past releases. However, we do have plans on doing just that, including an expanded edition of the “Slightly West” EP [originally released on Spanish imprint Acuarela in 2002] with a “lost” EP and bonus tracks from the original session.

The Hive seems to be a tough one to locate, particularly in the US. Is that on your wish list for a reissue or are there other issues to work out with the label (Wichita)?

We were contracted with Wichita for a five year period, so the release is free and clear and will certainly be re-issued in the not too distant future.

Tell us a little about Language Of Stone. What prompted you to get into the label business and what type of music or artists were you looking to sign and work with? And what was behind the decision to suspend it? Was that your choice or Drag City’s, your parent label?

Greg: I’ve always been a champion of other musicians. When recording, my intention was to work with emerging artists in order to help them gain a footing and a feel for the process. The label was a natural extension of that. When the financial crisis hit, it hit in a major way. It sent shockwaves through the music industry, which was already reeling from the impact of illegal file-sharing. Drag City closed ranks, and Language of Stone was a victim of that. Without the means to keep on keeping on, we went dormant. All of our artists still benefited from our distribution through Revolver, but no new releases were possible.

You recently revived the label to release Jessica and Gillian (Chadwick)’s Woodwose album which had been in the vaults for nearly 20 years. What prompted the revival at this particular time and is this essentially the album we would have heard when it was recorded or did you revisit any of the tracks - redo a vocal or re-record a musical segment?

The album is exactly as we recorded it (on 2” tape) and mixed it (on ¼” tape) in 2007. It sat unmastered until last year. We did have to bake the tapes which was a bit nerve-wracking, but thankfully they came through beautifully. The photography (Courtney Hall) is also of the period, so it is a true time capsule.

As far as the label revival, we just decided that we wanted to release our own material and own our own narrative completely. We exist now not as an imprint of Drag City (that relationship met an unfortunate end as discussed earlier ) but as our own entity, which feels quite freeing and wonderful.

After you recorded the Woodwose album, were you unhappy with the results? Why did you decide to shelve it?

Jessica: Not at all! We were thrilled with it then. It really came down to timing, like so many things. Between recording/mixing and our planned release, me and Gillian’s lives suddenly veered in very different directions and we existed in separate worlds for some years before reconnecting about 10 years ago. Once Greg and I decided to revive LoS, we knew we wanted this record to be amongst the first of our new releases.

How did you meet Gillian and what was the inspiration behind the name? I notice both you and Greg contributed to her Ex Reverie album and released it on Language Of Stone and Greg, you helped out with Gillian’s Rusalnaia project with Terrastock performer Sharron Kraus. Is that where it all began?

Jessica: Gil and I met at a Halloween party in Philly in 2003 which was actually the very same night Greg and I met! We connected instantly. She was one of those rare folks that immediately felt like an old friend. It wasn’t until winter 2004/2005 that we started playing music together, and we came up with the band name very early on. It hit the nail on the head in terms of our shared aesthetic and what we wanted to explore musically, plus we thought it was a little tongue in cheek as two women  to call ourselves a term for a man of the woods. Gillian had already been releasing stuff independently under the Ex Reverie name, and the Rusalnaia project came a bit later on along with the Ex Reverie record The Door Into Summer which we released on Language of Stone.

There are several projects trading under the Woodwose name. Was that always the name you intended to release the album under? Even though your material dates back nearly two decades, was there a concern about possible name confusion, even though some of these recent acts are in a totally different musical universe? Did you ever consider changing the name?

No, we never considered changing it, and consider it ours. Based on what I have seen, the couple of other projects that use the name clearly post-date our formation. If any lawyers ever send us scary letters, we have flyers from old shows that clearly establish us as Woodwose- ha!

Along with your three new releases, are you looking for new talent (or old friends) to sign up or is it just for your own music at this time?

Greg: At this point, everything seems to be a labour of love. It is extremely hard to sell records and even harder to break through the sheer immensity of albums being released on a daily basis. As such, we are starting off releasing projects tangential to ourselves. It would be lovely to cast a wider net, but, at this point, it isn’t financially feasible (unless the artist was willing to tour constantly).

Around the time of the Woodwose recording you both contributed to several projects: the Chadwick’s Golden Ball project, Noa Babayof’s debut, The Valerie Project, Espers, Ex Reverie, Rusalnaia…, all in a fertile 2007-2009 time period. It seems you also had a busy schedule releasing a dozen albums with your new label Language Of Stone. But then things got relatively quiet. Did you take a break from music? What occupied your time? Greg, it was almost 20 years between The Hive and your new album If The Sun Dies and I haven’t seen anything recent from you Jessica?

Greg: It was a depressing time for music. At least, I thought so. But, aside from that, we started a family, and that required me to sell everything I owned as far as the studio in order to generate income to go back to school to become a teacher to pay the bills. So, for almost 15 years I didn’t even pick up an instrument, really. The inspiration wasn’t there. The time wasn’t there. The energy wasn’t there. It just wasn’t optimal, and I wasn’t in the right headspace. It was almost like a P.T.S.D. kind of thing. I couldn’t think about music. Now, I am full force, 100% ensconced in creativity. And, it feels incredible. Jess was in a similar headspace. Raising babies is a massive commitment. It is all-consuming. I don’t know how other artists find time to create AND effectively raise their kids. Jess and I felt very strongly that we needed to be present for our two daughters. But Jess, like me,  is experiencing a creative renaissance. We are aligned and very much in it.

Greg, you’ve done a lot of recording and producing for many of the artists we’ve mentioned. How do those projects come about? Do artists typically contact you or do you reach out to artists whose material you’ve heard and enjoyed and offer to work on their next album?

Things have certainly changed since we moved out of Philadelphia. Folks aren’t too keen to travel outside of the city to record. So, again, most of the recording I’ve done has revolved around our own projects, which keeps me at capacity, to be honest. I’d love to work with emerging artists again, but I’m not sure that I’m much of a draw in that regard. Plus, everyone records to Pro Tools and has their own economical way to push forward. And who can argue against that approach?

Greg, you and drummer Ben McConnell contribute to the Woodwose album. The album you recorded with Ben (and your Espers/Valerie Project bandmate Brooke Sietensons) in Grass was also recently exhumed from its 20-year sleep. And of course Ben and Jesse Sparhawk (Valerie Project) form the potent rhythm section on your new solo album If The Sun Dies as well as your Magus project with Jessica. So you both obviously have a wonderful working relationship with Ben and Jesse. How did you originally meet and are they full-fledge members of Magus or do they appear in a supplemental capacity?

They are both lovely people, excellent musicians, essential aspects of our music, and we consider them both family. However, they are hired guns. Ben lives in Paris, so that is that. Jesse lives a good two hours away. Neither situation lends itself to coalescing as a band, as much as we would love to have that be the case. Living in a rural area is divine, but it does come with its drawbacks.

Music For Mandrax, your debut release under the Magus [i.e., May-jus] moniker flows like a concept album, entering ‘Through Darkened Glass’, encountering ‘The Magus’, proceeding though an ‘Exodus’ and finally ‘Return To Earth.’ Is that a misreading or overestimation or did you have that in mind as you wrote and sequenced the album?

Greg: Yes, it is a bit of a misread…though who knows what the subconscious mind yields! Perhaps you are on to something. However, we certainly worked with recurring themes and motifs, both lyrically and sonically. So, the album should feel cohesive. Though I believe that all albums should, otherwise what’s the point? Just release singles.

Magus feels like a bit of a change of direction from previous releases. A little harder, gloomier, maybe a touch of goth seeping in. What prompted you to put the Magus project together? Is this a direction you’ve always wanted to explore or has it always been there, perhaps under the surface on previous albums?

Greg: The two of us had never worked on a project exclusively together, so that was certainly part of the motivation. The ease of it came from our relative isolation out here in the country. Both of us wanted to explore the side of us that loves krautrock, Flower Travellin’ Band, Black Sabbath, et al. It was a natural shift, to say the least, and Jess’s earlier work with Woodwose tended towards the darker side for sure. As for gothicism, I’ve always thought that our projects were heavily gothic, but the audience seems to elude us.

‘Wet Skull’ has such a familiar melody, but I’ve wracked my brain and can’t pinpoint it - care to share any influences on that one?

Greg: That one, for my part, was heavily impacted lyrically by [Lucy McKnight Hardy’s book] Water Shall Refuse Them. My headspace at the time was the world of that story, a claustrophobic tale of a teenage girl who appears to dabble in the dark arts. But the music was Jess and I in the studio doing our thing, starting with Jess playing that riff on the Rhodes. If you know the band Egg, the groove is somewhat similar to the opening strains of The Polite Force album. I just thought of that, actually, so there was no intentional lifting of riffs there.

Greg, my mind reaches out with several perceived influences (which I mentioned in my review) for some of the material on If The Sun Dies. Whether I’m on target or way off base is obviously a personal reaction but does music you’ve listened to, either recently or in the past seep into your songs intentionally or not and does it bother you if reviews suggest a song sounds like a certain artist, particularly if you’re not familiar with (or, worse, not a fan of) that artist’s work?

I think reviewers can get a bit lazy and opt to string a series of comparisons together (something I’ve been guilty of in the past!), but, in the case of my music, it makes sense because I hide easter eggs all over the place. I also wear many of my influences on my sleeve, so it stands to reason that others pick up on that. For instance, Music for Mandrax contains multiple Leonard Cohen references. I will say that many of our references are cinematic or oblique lyrical shout outs rather than cribbed riffs or musical allusions.

The album’s title is taken from a novel by Oriana Fallaci. How did that choice come about? Have you read the book and are you a fan of her writing or did that title have a conscious connection to the material. Would reading the novel after listening to the album offer some answers or explanations to the lyrics and story lines?

I’m a huge fan of her book Interview with History, but I’ve yet to read If the Sun Dies. Honestly, the novel’s spine stares at me constantly from the bookshelf in our bedroom, and the lyric made perfect sense in the context of the song. People shouldn’t view it as a Rosetta Stone by any means.

What’s next on your plates? Greg, are you still hesitant to tour and Jessica, will we get to see Woodwose live or do you both feel more comfortable in the studio?

Greg: There’s a lot cooking. I just finished overseeing the mix for Black Orchid Sect, a project with Alison O’Donnell (of Mellow Candle fame), which is a folk-rock/psychedelic folk album that I’m very excited about. Then there’s a project I’ve been working on for quite a while called Wyrd Way, which is a folk-horror novella with an accompanying psych-folk soundtrack. It has a bunch of guest vocalists: the ladies from Woodwose, Marissa Nadler, Lavinia Blackwall, Fursaxa, and Jason Merritt from Timesbold. I just finished mixing my next solo album, a double album called Time the Ghost. Jess and I are hard at work recording the next Magus album and writing the third, and Jess is working with Gillian to complete the Woodwose follow-up. Lastly (phew), Language of Stone is putting out a compilation record with an amazing line-up of artists. Proceeds will go to a music-based charity here in Philadelphia.

Jessica: As far as touring goes, I would love to, but with kids at home and day jobs (not to mention that whole “our drummer lives in Paris” snag), it seems somewhat impossible. I definitely enjoy performing much more than Greg, who I think would be happy just living in the studio. Gillian and I played one show in June as a three piece (with Greg sitting in) at a local festival called Strawberry Moon, and Greg played a solo set, too, which was wonderful, but not many of our tunes work well with minimal instrumentation. Woodwose, and even more so Magus, really needs a full band for a worthwhile live experience.

Thanks to Jessica and Greg for their time. Do check out their recent releases, Greg’s If The Sun Dies, Jessica’s Woodwose and their Magus debut Music For Mandrax, all on their Language of Stone imprint.

Interview by Jeff Penczak, September 2026. 

Woodwose and Magus photography by Courtney Brooke Hall; The Valerie Project painting by Tracy Nakayama; Music For Mandrax art by Hogan McLaughlin; If The Sun Dies artwork by Robert Beatty.

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