MUSIC TO THE EARS – ‘WHISKEY WOOD’ HEADPHONES  

DJ Duo Elijah Wood and Zach Cowie Team Up With Bushmills^TM Irish Whiskey and Grado Labs to Turn Whiskey Barrels into Cans  

Bushmills Village, 5^th December 2013; The best and most ambitious ideas often come late at night, between friends and fuelled by a glass of amber nectar. Imagine how the conversation went down between Elijah Wood, his DJ partner Zach Cowie and the Bushmills Irish Whiskey team, following their DJ set at Bushmills Live festival. 

The question posed, born out of a shared love of music and handcraftsmanship, was of how to create the perfect sound? Their response – a limited edition line of bespoke headphones created from the barrels used to age Bushmills Irish Whiskey.

 This symphonic synergy of high fidelity audio, hand-made from authentically-aged whiskey barrel wood by Brooklyn-based Grado Labs, was inspired by generations of craftsmanship and a dedication to producing supreme sound. They are available globally from Turntable Lab here at an RRP of $395 USD. 

United by their love of music, the two friends worked together to design the headphones to fit their specific aesthetic vision. They chose to work with Grado Labs, a family-owned company that ranks as the leader in design engineering for high-end audio and recording. Owned by the same family, working out of the same Brooklyn factory for more than 50 years, Grado makes every set of headphones by hand, delivering an award-winning level of quality and authenticity that meshed perfectly with Wood and Cowie’s vision.  

Elijah Wood commented: “Working with Bushmills Irish Whiskey on this project enabled Zach and I to take our shared love of music and build upon it. We worked closely with Grado to develop a line of headphones that we’re proud to wear and to share with design and music enthusiasts. It’s been a very rewarding process to get to collaborate on the creation of these headphones with such a respected, and family owned, company – between us, Grado, and Bushmills Irish Whiskey, we each have our own aesthetic, and it is so gratifying to see it all come together.” 

Elijah Wood has a longstanding relationship with the Bushmills Irish Whiskey brand, performing with Zach at Bushmills Live* 2012, the first time the pair had performed together outside of the United States. He also appeared in its ‘Since Way Back’ initiative that celebrates the stories of influences and friendships that have led each member to success. 

Widely known for his acting, Elijah Wood is also a music lover, DJ, and record collector. Elijah’s passion for music transcends genres, and together with his good friend Zach Cowie (aka DJ Turqoise Wisdom), they often DJ together under the moniker Wooden Wisdom. 

Featuring an all-new design, these custom-made headphones include a premium leather headband and wooden bodies made from Bushmills Irish Whiskey barrels. Designed to offer greater clarity and deeper bass, these one-of-a-kind headphones must be heard to be believed. 

Notes 

*Bushmills Live is an annual music festival which hosts both iconic and emerging artists for a series of intimate gigs in age-old buildings at the historic Old Bushmills Distillery, where the art of distilling has been perfected over generations. 

Keep Up with Bushmills at:

Facebook: facebook.com/bushmills1608

Twitter: @BushmillsGlobal

About Elijah Wood

Widely regarded as one of the most gifted actors of his generation, Elijah Wood continues to challenge himself with roles spanning the spectrum of style and genre.

Wood was most recently seen in the Franck Khalfoun’s re-make of the thriller “Maniac.” The film was released limitedly by IFC in late June 2013. Additionally this summer, Wood returned for a third season of the hit FX comedy “Wilfred” which was recently picked up for a fourth and final season.  Next, Wood will be seen in thrillers such as “Grand Piano” and “Open Windows”. Announced in early October 2012, Wood, alongside Daniel Noah and Josh C. Waller formed a genre-themed production company.  SpectreVision is an independent horror film company with several current projects including “Cooties,” “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” and “Toad Road.” Wood made an indelible mark in the trilogy of films based on J.R.R. Tolkein’s “The Lord of the Rings” in the lead role of the hobbit, Frodo. Directed by Jackson, the films; “The Fellowship of the Ring,” “The Two Towers,” and “Return of the King” were all critically lauded as well as being box office record setters.   

About Zach Cowie

Zach Cowie, aka DJ Turquoise Wisdom, has worked in the record business his entire adult life, at labels including Touch & Go, Sub Pop, Drag City, and Rhino; as a Tour Manager for artists including Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, Vetiver, Vashti Bunyan; as a touring DJ for Animal Collective and Fleet Foxes; and most recently as a Music Supervisor/Consultant for films and television shows including Celeste & Jesse Forever, Public Enemies, Wilfred; and and fashion brand Rodarte. But first and foremost, Zach is an avid record collector, and has been DJ’ing internationally since 2001. He has also been featured in publications including Vanity Fair, Mojo, Spin, Venus, Nylon, Paste, Anthem, The New York Times, The LA Times, The Stranger, SF Weekly, Chicago Reader, Seattle Weekly, LA Record, Aquarium Drunkard and Arthur, just to name a few. You can sneak a peak into his musical diary of 2013 at www.playitlathes.com. 


About Bushmills Irish Whiskey


Bushmills Irish Whiskey enjoys a worldwide reputation as a uniquely authentic Irish whiskey with a heritage spanning four centuries.  Bushmills is a premium Irish whiskey, produced, aged and bottled at Ireland’s oldest working distillery in Bushmills Village, Co. Antrim. A community where whiskey has been shared among friends since 1608 when the area was first granted an official license to distil. Triple-distilled Bushmills Whiskey is made with the finest malted Irish barley and pure Irish water, and is the only Irish whiskey brand that offers a full range of blends (standard and deluxe) and single malts – all of which share the rich, mellow and distinct Bushmills characteristics: Bushmills Original, Bushmills Irish Honey Spirit Drink, Black Bush, Bushmills 10-Year-Old Single Malt, Bushmills 16-Year-Old Single Malt and the rare Bushmills 21-Year-Old Single Malt. 

About Diageo


Diageo is the world’s leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wines and beer categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Buchanan’s, Windsor and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Baileys, Captain Morgan, Tanqueray and Guinness. 

Diageo is a global company, with its products sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people and its brands, visit www.diageo.com. For Diageo’s global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit www.DRINKiQ.com.