P: Hi Bill, at first thanks for sharing this interview with BigMusic. You’ve recently released your first EP, “The Nashville sessions”, really an impressive work! But what is the real starting point in your artistic life? Is there a specific starting point or were you always merged in this kind of context?

B: Yeah, I mean, my dad was playing guitar for Natalie Cole, back in the eighties. One of my earliest memories is sitting on stage with him. Actually, the drums were right next to me, and they were so loud! And what, 5 years old, I remember thinking: oh my gosh, the drums look so loud! But you know, he would have these people around the house. Natalie would come and he started to work with Edgar Winner and Pat Benatar. And these were people that would come over to the house. So I was always around it. But it was really when, he went on tour with Pat Benatar, and I was old enough for him to take me with him, on the summer tour, that I saw it every night and I said: “Wow, this is what I want to do!”

P: Fantastic!

B: Yeah, and it has kind of been all downhill or uphill – however you think about it– from there. Hehehe.

P: How was it to travel all around the States with such big rock stars, sharing the stage with such big stars?

B: Well, it definitely set a bar, you know, so many bands have to go through living in a van, playing these dingy-clubs and everything. She, you know, she was at the point in her career where there were tour buses, nice hotels... So it kind of set the bar for when I started with my own band. I had been so young and I sort of expected: oh yeah, we’re just staying at the Ritz-Carlton or at the Four Seasons. Oh wait a minute … can’t quite do that. So, you know, it was a lot of fun to see it all and to be part of it. But I definitely had to learn that; okay, that’s a certain level and there are a lot of steps that you have to take before you get to that point.
And even touring with America, I was very lucky when I got on the road with them. Because they are also on a similar level, nice hotels, everybody gets their own room. You know, these are things that not every band can do. A lot of people have to share rooms. It is a lot of close quarters. But I guess I was very lucky with that. But, I have also had a lot of very humbling experiences too, it’s not all wine and roses. And there are things that let you know not to take that for granted. So…

P: Yes. And perhaps your dad has transmitted a lot of things to you about the difficulties you could face on this path; or how to address the challenges? Was he a teacher to you, or not?

B: Yeah, definitely. He definitely taught me a lot about guitar. He never forced it on me, but he was always there if I had a question. He would always help, you know, from someone who is a working professional, he knew a lot of course, so he could always impart some knowledge. And I would always… to this day; I still pick up the phone and will ask him: “This is going on, what do I do about this?” He is always a sounding board for questions, whether it is music or dealing with the road, travelling or whatever.

P: Wow!

B: So, yeah, very much of a teacher!

P: I’ve seen that you are keen on several instruments like keyboards, I see Hammond B3 and other instruments too. So you are talented with keyboards, with strings… is there anything that you prefer especially?

B: Well, I mean, guitar is the main thing. That’s what kind of gets me up in the morning. And I’m always thinking about practicing, and I’m always trying to get better. I mean, look, I’ve got this whole shelve of music books here, and these are all things that I always try to dive into, and learn even more. But you know, I like keyboards as well, I’m good enough to play the keyboards, let’s put it that way. To play the basic parts and get by, I’m not a virtuoso on keyboard! But I can learn a part and play it.

P: Fine. And your musical path, there is a kind of evolution. In this EP there are various contributions. There are parts that are very “country”, there are some funky aspects, there is a break, a jazz piano style in “You got me”.

B: Yeah!

P: So, how do you come to include all these kinds of different contributions? Is it your choice, is it something that you accept from others in a certain kind of collaboration? Is it a research on your part, is it a kind of musical research or something like that?

B: Absolutely man! I mean, I am constantly trying to learn more, listening to more music. Jazz especially is just an endless well of, inspiration, really. And I talk about this with a lot of people. And it gets difficult sometimes when you have so many styles that you enjoy and you do; to combine them under one umbrella. But I’m just continually trying to do that, because I just like it all. I have studied it all, I enjoy it all. I mean, to me, it’s boring to hear an artist with just one type of song for every song. I mean, they may have a couple of hits and good for them and that’s great. But if I go to a show, I like hearing diversity. If I listen to an album, I like hearing diversity. So, that’s just me though, and I like putting all that stuff in there. I mean, that song “You Got Me”, was very… it is sort of inspired by Chicago, if you can believe that or not. And Chicago of course, has keyboard and stuff, so I always like having keyboards in the songs.

P: Yes yes yes.

B: And hell, quite frankly, we’d done a lot of the other songs, we’d recorded all the other songs already, and they all have guitar solos, so I figured well alright, it’s time to have something different, let’s get a keyboard-solo on there.

P: Yes, I like it very much, really! Speaking about the EP, are there some songs that are the core of the EP, or is there a specific song that was the starting point of the whole EP?

B: No, I mean, I have so much material, I honestly have the next two albums written and partially recorded already.

P: Okay.

B: I’m constantly writing, I’m constantly demoing songs, so these just happened to be the ones that we picked out there. It wasn’t just one song that started it all. What it was, because I had so many songs, I knew that I just needed some help kind of sorting through them and picking some of the more special ones and making an album. And that’s when I was on tour with America, and I was talking to Gerry and Dewey, the two main guys, talking a little bit about this. And they said: “Hey, you are out in Nashville now, you ought to get in touch with Fred Mollin? Oh yes, Freddy Mollin, yeah, give him a call, tell him we say hi!”. So I did. And you know, we sorted through a lot of material. It was originally supposed to be a full-length album. But we just didn’t quite have the budget at the time to do the full-length, but we were able to do the EP, and this is what we picked out!

P: You were speaking about Nashville. Was Nashville a choice, was it by chance? Why Nashville in this point of your lifetime?

B: Well, I think there is so much going on here. And I think all around the country people are starting to hear more about this place called Nashville, and all the music that is coming out of there. And so I had to check it out, and I came to visit it once and I liked it a lot. And decided, alright well, maybe I oughta move here, let’s try it out. And sure enough, what is great about it, it is very centralized. I mean, you can walk into the coffee shop and you meet a publicist. You go walk into the grocery store and you meet a marketing specialist. You know, there are all these people in a small area, I mean that’s what you want as a musician.

P: It’s fantastic, the seat of music really!

B: Yeah!

P: So your plans are to remain in Nashville? For the moment?

B: Well, you never know. You know, I love it here. I could. Who knows what the future holds?

P: What about the influence of your producer? I’ve seen that he is present in some tracks too.

B: Yeah, of course, I have a pretty strong vision for each of my songs, what I want in them. But sometimes it’s nice to have someone to work with... someone to bounce ideas off… someone who is not ‘you’ that can give you an outsider perspective on it.

P: Of course, you are not alone.

B: Yeah, exactly. I mean, here at home I can do a lot of things. I can record drums, I can record bass, you know, even keyboards and guitar and even vocals. But sometimes you need that guiding person that says: “Maybe you shouldn’t record keyboards on this, maybe this isn’t a keyboard song”. And can present it in a different light that makes you go “Oh, that’s so much better, I didn’t even think of that!” So that’s what I really like to lean on in a producer. And you know, yeah, as far as Fred goes, he was great as far as that went. We’d done all the tracks, we’d done bass, drum, guitar, vocals. And we basically met up at his studio and we were sitting back and we just decided to throw in a couple of extra textures, maybe it was percussion, like a shaker, or his little banjo on there, he added a little acoustic guitar… so just those final little elements help, are just the salt and pepper on the song. And he is very good at that sort of thing… Fred. That was his… so far as him playing on there, that’s what he was doing.

P: So if I understand correctly, in a sense he helps to guide you, but he leaves you the needed freedom to create?

B: Fred was very good about that. Yeah, making his suggestions, saying I think we should do this... but also letting me… be me. And letting me be a guitar player, especially. Not dumbing me down as a player, saying “I don’t think you should go that fast of a solo.” yeah, he is very good at that.

P: And I’ve seen that you had some great collaborations for the EP, from Toto, Pat Coil, not so easy to reach those guys.

B: No, and I’m a big Toto fan too. You know, they have an album - that not as many people know about - but it’s called “Mindfields”. And it came out, I think in the late nineties I wanna say. And it is one of my favorite albums of all time, I mean, talk about great songs, great playing and I can put that record on repeat. I mean, of course Toto has got all the classic songs: Africa, Rosanna, I’ll Be Over You. I loved… their first album was great too! Anyway, I’m a huge fan of theirs. So at the prospect of having Shannon Forest, who’s been their drummer for I think a few years now, playing on this record; it was perfect! I knew I wanted more than just the bare bone drums, I wanted someone who is really gonna play some fills, play some intricate parts. And he was the guy to do that!

P: So it is a great collaboration that is inspiring you, at some level?

B: Oh yeah! Well it definitely makes me rise to the challenge, hehe! You know, it’s one thing to kind of play in your studio here, and write all the stuff and record it, you know, in the Pro Tools, but playing with great musicians, definitely makes you raise your own bar and holds you to a standard. So yeah that was great!

P: Yes, and playing with those musicians, you do not have the idea to form a group on your own?

B: Well, you know, basically, I have the freedom to do that. That is exactly what I’ve done and am always doing. Where I’m now at a point where I am doing shows of my own, working on a tour. And I can form a band, such as that. I’ve got some great people I’m working with right now and it is always fun to cross paths with someone like a Shannon Forest. Because you never know, if you need a drummer, he may be available, that would be a blast, sure!

P: Is there anything concerning the social aspects of your music, perhaps?

B: Yes, hehe! You know, I’ve got my songs about love, and those are important to me and others. There are certain people in my life who I’ve written songs about, sure. But I definitely have been one to observe the world – the good things and the bad things- I have a song and I’m hoping that it will be a single very soon here, that is definitely a social commentary. And it is called “Time to Change”. You know, with what is going on in the world, I think for a lot of people it can really affect you. And I definitely have more than one song about… basically social commentary, yeah. You will have to hear the song to fully understand what I am talking about, but in a nutshell: yes, it is social commentary. And I’m hoping more of my songs that I have written like that will be coming out very soon. I think the next album will have quite a bit of that.

P: Great! So we will wait for your next album!

B: Yeah!

P: And speaking about your EP, “The Nashville sessions”, how do you see it as a whole? How do you consider it as regards your future artistic evolution?

B: It’s a fire-starter, man! This album has really opened some doors for me. From the people that were on it, to everybody who has contributed to it, I mean this album is largely fan-funded. It’s been a really big jumping point, for me. I mean, I’m doing a live TV-show, on Thursday. I was able to get my publicist through this album, you know, she’s just got me the TV-show, she’s able to get me some radio interviews. We are able to break beyond the initial America fans. I mean, the America audience has been to my mind the most loyal fans, and I’m so thankful for them. They continue to support me, they continue to buy the albums, they’re always leaving positive comments on Facebook… and other social media gigs too. But now we are at the point where we need to break beyond that – and so this album… and anybody who’d seen the America shows, I think, saw and felt that: Okay Bill can play guitar! Hehe, you know? So I already kind of had them in my camp there. So now again, we’re at the point where we’re breaking beyond that; to the people who don’t really know me. And that’s what this album I think, has allowed me to do.
 

Weblinks:

Bill Worrell publicist: Elizabeth (Liz) Motley at +1(615) 574-3398 or LizMotley@me.com.