I’ll be the first to admit that Calgary isn’t a hotbed of musical activity. While Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and even Halifax are known for feverishly catapulting local musicians to national and global stages, Calgary talent - with only rare exceptions (Hello, Tegan & Sara, Chixdiggit, and uhhh… Jan Arden) - seems to remain muted, bound, and permanently confined to a hometown setting. Yet, this might not be the case with Calgary singer/ songwriter, Wil. In a music industry where stylized teens and unmoving shoe gazers are the products of choice, Wil enters as a surprising breath of fresh air, defying the traditions of the singer/songwriter archetype.

It’s almost too easy to paraphrase the last decade of Wil’s life as an indie pub-rocker. Like many before him, Wil started as cover artist, clutching an acoustic guitar, belting out the music of others. With time, his performance and presence evolved and he rose to the occasion, releasing an independent CD of originals.

But these are only superficial details, and they only tell a fraction of the story.

Wil’s charm and brilliance is in his live performance. Yes, he was a cover artist. But the combination of a captivating voice, both tender and roaring, and the hyper-active ability to manipulate a guitar in ways which would produce both percussive and melodic sounds, in parallel, made his cover performances outshine the originals. I can recall countless times watching him perform “Better Man” in a way which would make Eddie Vedder blush, “Crash Into Me” in a way which would make Dave Matthews look like a hack, and “Little Wing” in a way which would make Hendrix rise from the grave only cheer him on.

Seriously, I’m not exaggerating.

Wil’s ability to draw in the unknowing pub patron’s interest spawned a strong local fan base, with word of mouth further promoting the excitement of his performance. Wil leveraged this interest and began sneaking his original songs into the set list. Through the right combination of introspective lyrics, catchy melodies, and lazer-fast guitar riffs, his original work took off. It wasn’t uncommon for the crowd to beg him to play something that he actually wrote in lieu of a cover. Ultimate validation came for Wil in the summer of 2002 at his CD release party at The Whiskey nightclub as he performed to a capacity audience of over 1,000 people. His debut independent release, “Both Hands”, sold in excess of 5,000 copies across Canada through touring and suit case sales alone, eventually capturing the attention of EMI Music Canada.

Wil is one of the few musicians I’ve met who’s humble enough and smart enough to realize the key to success and winning over crowds night after night is to pour countless amounts of energy into each show. Because of these sensibilities, he’s able to charm the girls and impress the boys. The energy he pours out is always instantly returned to him by the crowd’s overwhelming response. It’s unmistakable: Wil lives for this, and perhaps that’s why when he jumps on stage he is – hands down – the most thrilling Canadian musician to watch.

(Cord Magazine's questions are in blue. Artist responses are in grey.)

Tonight’s a bit of a homecoming for you. Since signing to EMI, we don’t see very much of you in Calgary. Talk about signing with a label, talk about touring. Is it what you imagined or expected?

You know, it’s never what you imagined. When you imagine things you tend to favour the better parts, and well, my imagination is pretty out-there. But, it is definitely what I expected, for sure. Having known what it’s like through stories I’ve heard from other artists, you kinda know what you’re going to be doing and what’s happening. It’s very different than being complacent and comfortable playing in your own city night after night, getting paid in cash, and getting drunk for free, just playing at random bars and pubs, doing covers for 3 hours.

(pauses)

I did that for 10 years, and I got really super comfortable doing that. And I thought, “am I going to be singing ‘Better Man’ when I’m 45 - 50 years old?”. And it scared the shit out of me! (laughs) So I went out and wrote a bunch of original songs. I had to get an album out.

And now that album is out… Does this mean you’ve moved on from the past? Will we ever see you playing again at [local Calgary pubs] Classic Jacks or Ceili’s until all hours of the night?

I’d say no. Just because I have to be convinced that I can go on and move forward as a singer/songwriter, and continue at a level where I can raise a family, through playing festivals and shows throughout my career. But you know what? Hands down, for sure, I’d love to go back to an old haunt and do a free show, and go wild like we used to. I haven’t been gone long enough to do that yet… but with a few albums under my belt and an evolved career path, I’d do that. With that said, if I get kicked out of this business for saying something stupid on stage (laughs) or whatever, then I’ll be begging to go back to playing covers at local bars full time! (laughs).

You’re now touring and playing opening spots with the likes of Joel Plaskett, Wide Mouth Mason, Matt Good etc… Prior to this, you were the headliner who had all night to perform and charm the crowd. Now you’re condensed into a 30 – 45 minute set. How has this time constraint changed your live show?

The show is a lot more professional now… but I mean that in a good way! To watch a band on stage in front of 1,500 people that know one in the crowd knows “wank-off” just isn’t good. I’ve seen earlier video footage of myself, where I’ll open for a band and I’ll go off into my “bar-wank”. And with a big audience, it translates into something totally unprofessional. People in the audience will be like “Who the fuck are these guys, and what are they doing here?” So yeah, the show has purposefully become tight. But because it’s just myself and [drummer] Michael [Bressanutti] we can do whatever we want, but we have to do it in 45 minutes, and do it really well. We’ve realized that elongated 8 minute solos - which are so easy to do in a bar full of screaming people – don’t work. When you’re in a more professional environment, so to speak, like a theatre, you have to not get so introspective and self indulgent. It might sound not as fun, but it’s actually better.But you know what, even though the show has grown up, I’m still putting in the same intensity into each performance. I’m sweatin’ bullets, I’m spittin’, I’m screaming, and the whole bit. I don’t reserve the energetic performances - I make sure it’s all out there every night.

I’ve watched you play live countless times, my instinct tells me you’re an artist who has strong singer/songwriter sensibilities. Even more noticeable is your sturdy grasp of blues guitar fundamentals, which lets you really show off on stage. Your bio counters this by stating that you have an “electro-acoustic songwriting style” – a far cry from the blues. Are your live performances and your studio work split into two completely separate approaches?

For sure, that’s the live show compared to the album. EMI wants to represent the sound of artist based on the album, because it’s their main interest. When you sit down and listen to the album, and hear how slick and well-produced it is for the radio, you’ll never ever, ever, ever get a sense of what it’s like live. And when [EMI] picked [the “Both Hands” CD] up, we were worried about this. I tried to explain to them that there was a huge difference between the studio and the stage, and they were like “Look, don’t worry about it. We’ve seen your live show, and it’s so different and energetic, that even if people come see you based on the album, they’re not gonna stand in the audience screaming ‘What the fuck?!? I feel robbed!’” The first night [EMI Music Canada President] Dean Cameron saw me perform he asked me if I was in a punk rock band before I decided to play acoustic and blues. He actually said “I thought you were a serial killer up there.” (laughs)

Well you do murder the guitar…

Oh, I know… and I don’t ever wanna stop doing that, the whole “eyes in rolling in the back of the head” idea. Because when you stop thinking about [your performance], that’s when all the freaky-deaky stuff comes out. When you over-analyze it, you tend to stand still more, and worry about how things sound or this or that. I remember hearing the “electro-acoustic” phrase, I think the guy actually made up the term. People would ask me, “what does that mean?” And I’d always say “Ha! I don’t know. Ask the guy who wrote it”. It’s kinda weird for [EMI] too, because I’m 33, and I have 12 years experience playing live. The label likes what I’m about, and what I represent, and they’re not too keen on moulding or changing much. They’re dealing with a mature artist, as opposed to a 21 year old who’s still searching for direction.

The CD, Both Hands, has been out unofficially for almost 2 years. What’s next for Wil?

Prior to label interest, we were just going to continue selling Both Hands through suitcase sales, and develop new material to record another album. Then in comes EMI and they want to distribute the album that we figured nobody had any interest in at all. But they were happy to take it as is, and now we have more time to get the material to the level where it needs to be before hitting the recording studio. So I think we’re gonna start recording in the summer.

Do you have songs already written?

Oh yeah!

And are you sticking with the same style for the next album?

No, not at all! The one example I’ve been using lately is an album called Demolition by Ryan Adams. Were gonna take that as an example. I mean, look at Cry On Demand as a song… I think if they had done it any other way it would have been a little too poufy. But they way it’s composed and arranged, with the suspended piano part and stuff… It’s brilliant. So overall the next album will be this very heavy, drenched, wet, My Morning Jacket sort of vibe, where one instrument will live in this one song really predominantly, creating almost a featured melodic part from a slow picked banjo, or something. You know, a Bonnie “Prince” Billy minimalist little movement. We’ll make it as simple as we can, with it still being appealing and interesting.

Fantastic. Now to close the interview, would you consider telling us how the hell you learned to strum your guitar so damned fast? Seriously, what gives? It’s not humanly possible.

It just happened, ‘cause I’m hyper! Playing alone for so long, I tried to milk the acoustic guitar, filling the gaps. And now, I’m trying to learn to control it. (laughs) Maybe I shouldn’t.

Elsewhere

By Rob Anand
Photos : Wil website
Published : November 15, 2004.