This Friday, January 8th at Verboten in Brooklyn, NY, the one and only Elijah Wood, along with his friend and record label owner Zach Cowie, are coming to spin an all vinyl set as their duo Wooden Wisdom. Joining them on this will be Orchard Lounge’s own Ben Silver, and a slew of NYC favorites like Callie Reiff, Tucci, and Wyllys. Tickets to the show are available here.

Elijah and Zach recently took some time out of their busy schedules to speak to show promoted Harrison Waxenberg about their musical influences, favorite venues, and more.

L4LM: Who was the first DJ you ever saw live that inspired you to want to learn how to mix?

EW: That’s a great question. The first time I ever saw a DJ live that really inspired me would probably be Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow.

ZC: For me I think seeing Cut & Shadow would be it, but even a stronger impact would be listening to the early Cherrystones mixtapes and kind of hear someone that was taking music and re-contextualizing it. Using music that isn’t dance music and making it danceable, that opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities.

L4LM: As of right now, who are the most interesting producers that you’re listening to?

EW: Floating Points and Four Tet.

ZC: Burial and Suzanne Kraft.

L4LM: Your tour consists of five dates: Miami, Brooklyn, Denver, San Francisco, and Chicago. Have either of you ever been to Verboten in Brooklyn? Is there anything that’s making you particularly excited for the New York stop?

ZC: Neither one of us have been to Verboten, but we’ve played in Brooklyn before. We love playing in New York, we’re big fans of A1 Records so any chance to go to town and do some shopping is always a big thumbs up for us. How’s the sound at Verboten, what system is it?

L4LM: It has incredible sound, they use Martin Audio there.

EW: Awesome, we’re really excited to try it out! We love playing audiophile systems.

L4LM: You just did a couple of overseas dates. What venues or locations stuck out to you? Was there a particular show where you really hit a stride and people put down their phones and just got lost in the music with you?

ZC: Yeah I would have to say Brilliant Corners in London, nobody had their phones out there. It was awesome.

EW: Yeah it was pretty revelatory. It’s one of those things too you know, we play all different kinds of shows and venues and we always have an incredible time… but often times after 2-3 hours we feel we’re done for the night. There was something so magical about playing there that we just did not want the night to end. We collectively played for like 4-5 hours it was just such a good time. At the end, as it was emptying out we just started playing some of our favorite jazz records, and it was one of the more fun times that we’ve ever had playing for people.

L4LM: What live music event left the most lasting imprint on your soul?

EW: Wow.

ZC: Daft Punk’s Pyramid.

EW: That’s incredible, the most lasting imprint on your soul… that’s so specific.. Hmm.. I’ve been fortunate enough to see some incredible shows that left that kind of impression. I’ve seen Prince a couple of times and each one impacted me more than the last. The Yeezus concert is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. That transcended a rap concert or music show.. it was something all together different.

ZC: Yeah I saw Yeezus three times… Yeezus is up there, that’s weird to think about isn’t it? For some fucking reason my answer is Daft Punk’s Pyramid, Yeezus, and then the Grateful Dead Farewell shows.

EW: There’s something about when a band totally takes control the environment of a stage and you end up having tunnel vision… no one else is there and all you could sort of experience is what they’re doing.

ZC: I guess the common thread is that when you’re in the moment where someone is inventing something and you all know it.

EW: Yeah it’s transcendence versus simply playing music for a crowd of people (which is fine), but yeah transcendence I think is the key.

ZC: I used to tour with Animal Collective and I was the DJ for a lot of their shows. The first time they played “My Girls” at Merriweather was kind of crazy because we all secretly knew it was a hit.

EW: Man, I could extrapolate on this for a good long while. Seeing a band in a really tiny space like a basement or living room is always a special experience. I love when there’s barely any separation between the band and audience, and you’re just immersed in their show is the best. Cowie, we saw that really special D’Angelo show too.

ZC: Yeah that was crazy, we got to see him play for like 50 people about a week before his record came out and that was awesome.

L4LM: Does he still have the body?

ZC: Now that you mention it, I’ve never seen somebody with such charisma. It must be what it was like to see the Rolling Stones, he just ate everybody up with a glance.

The doors and music start at 10PM this Friday at Verboten and music will be going until 6AM! Don’t miss out!