Dub is roots music, but Scott Woodruff takes it airborne with his Stick Figure project, putting equal emphasis on bass weight and airy drift. Born in 1992, the self-taught musician grew up in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where he picked up the drums at age 12. He was soon proficient on guitar, too, and began making rudimentary multitrack recordings on a dual cassette deck. By 2006, he had graduated from four-track recorder to the 16-track home studio on which he created his debut album, The Sound of my Addiction, laying down all the parts himself. Woodruff moved to San Diego in 2009, assembling a band to bring his songs to life on stage, and over the years, Stick Figure have evolved into a live powerhouse and ubiquitous presence at clubs and reggae festivals. But in the studio, the project remains a one-man band in which Woodruff handles everything—instruments, vocals, songwriting, and production. He has steadily expanded his ambitions, progressing from the relatively unadorned sound of his early albums to the more atmospheric overtones of 2012’s Burial Ground and 2015’s Set in Stone. Woodruff’s purchase of Oakland’s Great Stone Studios, formerly owned by Green Day, gave Stick Figure’s music its next major boost. The first album he recorded in the space, 2019’s World on Fire, finds new dimensions within his familiar universe, playing games with spatial perception without losing focus on the most important element of Stick Figure’s music—the standout melodies and positive vibes.
