Plankton Wat began as a home studio recording project by Portland, OR musician Dewey Mahood in the early 2000's. The playful band name was inspired by Popol Vuh; and combines the names of Krautrock producer Conny Plank and bassist Mike Watt.
Mahood made several low key albums on various formats for obscure underground labels, and played occasional solo guitar gigs around the West Coast. Due to the popularity of his experimental psych rock band Eternal Tapestry, Plankton Wat signed to legendary Chicago label Thrill Jockey in 2011.
The album “Spirits” came out the following year, and this began the ongoing musical partnership with fellow Portland musician Dustin Dybvig aka Brass Clouds. Mahood and Dybvig also did the funk dub band Edibles, the short lived psych punk band Spectrum Control, and most recently were the rhythm section for Ripley Johnson's Rose City Band. It was while on tour in the UK with RCB that Mahood started revisiting early 1980s post punk such as New Order, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Cocteau Twins, a sound and attitude that became the foundation for the new album “Corridors”.
Mahood played guitar and bass, and added a touch of synth and drum machine, and Dybvig played several beautiful solos using synth and piano. The songs are a continuation of ideas first heard on “Future Times” (Thrill Jockey, 2021), but are further refined into concise, compact musical statements reflecting on climate change (ice storms, record high temps, the changing coastline, the impact on trees, the importance of water, etc).
Mahood made several low key albums on various formats for obscure underground labels, and played occasional solo guitar gigs around the West Coast. Due to the popularity of his experimental psych rock band Eternal Tapestry, Plankton Wat signed to legendary Chicago label Thrill Jockey in 2011.
The album “Spirits” came out the following year, and this began the ongoing musical partnership with fellow Portland musician Dustin Dybvig aka Brass Clouds. Mahood and Dybvig also did the funk dub band Edibles, the short lived psych punk band Spectrum Control, and most recently were the rhythm section for Ripley Johnson's Rose City Band. It was while on tour in the UK with RCB that Mahood started revisiting early 1980s post punk such as New Order, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Cocteau Twins, a sound and attitude that became the foundation for the new album “Corridors”.
Mahood played guitar and bass, and added a touch of synth and drum machine, and Dybvig played several beautiful solos using synth and piano. The songs are a continuation of ideas first heard on “Future Times” (Thrill Jockey, 2021), but are further refined into concise, compact musical statements reflecting on climate change (ice storms, record high temps, the changing coastline, the impact on trees, the importance of water, etc).