{"id":17755,"date":"2013-08-20T07:30:55","date_gmt":"2013-08-19T21:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=17755"},"modified":"2013-08-21T09:53:54","modified_gmt":"2013-08-20T23:53:54","slug":"william-beckett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2013\/08\/william-beckett\/","title":{"rendered":"William Beckett"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\n<\/a>\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be pretty evident on the album for people to see how I\u2019ve grown as a writer and a performer and just I think overall freeness of the song writing and the lyric, not that I wasn\u2019t able to accomplish that before which was the end of the band, I think that certain pressures and outside elements were hindering my ability to write most effectively and most honestly\u201d<\/p>\n

William Beckett you may know from his time fronting US Rockers The Academy Is\u2026 but after a few albums, the band split and William has taken the step out as a solo artist. With a few EP\u2019s under his belt and a number of solo shows, he is finally about to release his debut solo album entitled \u2018Genuine & Counterfeit\u2019 and it\u2019s a great record and perfect reintroduction!<\/p>\n

Ahead of his return to Australia, this time as a solo artist, we chatted to William Beckett about the new solo album, stepping out as a solo artist, touring and whenever a chance arises, we\u2019ll always throw in a Butch Walker mention\u2026<\/p>\n

Your debut solo album \u2018Genuine & Counterfeit\u2019 is out this month, so this may be hard, but it\u2019s your first, so can you give us one word that you think describes it perfectly?<\/strong>
\nOoh, I would say, that\u2019s a tough one, you do realise that you\u2019re asking a lyricist to use one word, when I usually write many words *laughs* but dynamic is probably what I would say if I had to pick one word.<\/p>\n

Had there been any concerns or nerves of not having a band to in a way back you up when making the album?<\/strong>
\nNot really, from a writing standpoint nothing really changed, with the band I wrote all the songs with my guitar player and on this record I\u2019m writing all the songs with my producer or with my friends or on my own, so from a writing standpoint there\u2019s really no difference. In the studio though it was challenging because I always relied on my band to play well in the studio, and on this album my producer and I, we played everything except for drums, so in the meantime as well I\u2019ve improved greatly as a musician, not just as a singer, I\u2019ve definitely improved as a singer but as a musician as well, I was challenged to push it to the next level and hone the craft and make sure the parts are like they\u2019re supposed to be, not just in a flashy way but in a way that\u2019s good for the song, so that was a bit of a difference, that was probably the biggest difference in the recording process, I mean it\u2019s one of the most organic albums that I\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n

The title of the album \u2018Genuine & Counterfeit\u2019 is quite interesting, is there a story behind it you can share with us?<\/strong>
\nSure, well I have really amazing fans that make me interesting and practical gifts and stuff and there\u2019s this one girl from Chicago, apparently she buys old books and guts them and rebinds them into journals, and she gave me one and there was a picture of a screenshot that I took from an Instagram post that I took that\u2019s a Hawthorne quote and she said \u2018this quote made me think about this title and made me think about you\u2019 so it was like an amazing, awesome present. So I basically wrote the whole record in that journal and then I ended up writing an album about what is real, what is genuine and what is counterfeit in a relationship, and in the way that you treat each other and the way that you deal with struggles both internal and external. So that was essentially it, so I just felt like it was the perfect title so I ended up writing about that juxtaposition for that contrast, and I hate it when people use that word juxtaposition but in this case it\u2019s actually appropriate.<\/p>\n

Have you seen that girl since to let her know the above?<\/strong>
\nYeah, well *laughs* not really actually, but I shouted her out on Instagram and Twitter and stuff but she doesn\u2019t seem to be the kind of girl that likes attention.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>You\u2019re of course heading back to Australia with Anberlin and The Maine next month, what can fans expect to hear during your set?<\/strong>
\nWell, I\u2019m going to be playing the new songs obviously and since I\u2019m going there on my own, I will have the band in a box, I\u2019ve been touring with for the past year and I just did all of Warped Tour with band in a box, but to know what that is you\u2019ll have to wait. It\u2019s not your traditional singer songwriter, it\u2019s fun, it\u2019s engaging and a little unorthodox, so I hope people dig it.<\/p>\n

Any chance of some The Academy Is\u2026 songs?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s always possible *laughs* I think I\u2019ll just kind of see how it feels. I\u2019ve been playing one song here and there during the set, well it\u2019s a shorter set so I\u2019m going to play less songs overall and if I have an option at this point I\u2019m going to be playing my new material, however I\u2019m not one of those writers or singers that hate to play their old stuff or ignores where they come from as I don\u2019t at all, and for me I\u2019m proud of what we accomplished. The last time I was in Australia was with the academy I and was actually a co-headliner with Anberlin so it\u2019s going to be cool to be back in Australia with them and to play some new material and maybe I\u2019ll bust out an Academy Is song here and there.<\/p>\n

You have been here prior with The Academy Is\u2026 and we actually shared a flight back from LA once, interesting tid bit there, but how excited are you to be coming back?<\/strong>
\nOh yeah I\u2019m extremely excited, I\u2019ve always loved Australia and it\u2019s actually one of the last foreign countries for me to go back to since I\u2019ve been solo, ever since I\u2019ve been to Japan and south East Asia and countries I\u2019ve never been before with the band even, I\u2019ve been to Canada, I\u2019ve been to the UK, so Australia has always been one of those places, especially being in the band with an Australian as well as a lot of our crew was Australian, so yeah I\u2019ve got a close connection with Australia, so to finally be going back I\u2019m pretty happy about it.<\/p>\n

Anberlin pretty much live here, so you could always come back with them all the time\u2026<\/strong>
\n*laughs* yeah that\u2019s a possibility I guess.<\/p>\n

So what do you feel you\u2019ve been able to do now as a solo artist that you weren\u2019t able to do previously?<\/strong>
\nI think it\u2019s going to be pretty evident on the album for people to see how I\u2019ve grown as a writer and a performer and just I think overall freeness of the song writing and the lyric, not that I wasn\u2019t able to accomplish that before which was the end of the band, I think that certain pressures and outside elements were hindering my ability to write most effectively and most honestly, and a lot of that I think is exposed and is extinguished, that negative stifled approach has since been extinguished, is able to be myself and look over my shoulder every two seconds, or wonder what A&R person A thinks about a song versus A&R person B, versus my manager versus my band who hates me *laughs*.\u00a0 All that stuff can really weigh on you when you\u2019re trying to be creative and write inspirational music, so I guess the best way to put it is I\u2019ve sort of been liberated.<\/p>\n

You need to take a lesson from Butch Walker, he does it all himself and just do what he does\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah well he\u2019s definitely one of my idols, he\u2019s sort of a role model of how to do it right and I think that just seeing how he\u2019s expanded as an artist and a producer and a writer over the years, he\u2019s been able to adapt to what\u2019s changing as well as be really unique and it\u2019s always real with him. I figured I would take one out of his playbook and just do my stuff.<\/p>\n

Now, you were just out on the Vans Warped run\u2026<\/strong>
\nYep, the whole thing.<\/p>\n

How has the new material been received so far?<\/strong>
\nHonestly my new single \u2018Benny & Joon\u2019 went over the best every day, and it was a huge sing along and my crowds were amazing. I was shocked honestly I didn\u2019t know what to expect at a place like Warped Tour, and the stage I was playing was such a smaller stage and it was like a word of mouth stage, so to see the overwhelming responses every day, like everywhere across the country was really refreshing and to be able to play all my songs from the EP and my new songs and then an Academy Is song, I feel like it was just a really great time for not only myself but for all the fans that came out. I was really happy with it. I got sort of a tan, but I\u2019m very, very Anglo Saxon, so it\u2019s sort of like a normal persons tan I guess, but for me it\u2019s considerable.<\/p>\n

After Australia, what are your plans for the rest of the year?<\/strong>
\nSo after Australia I\u2019m going to be coming to The States and going on tour with Johnny Craig, then I\u2019ll do another tour with The Almost and then in the winter I\u2019ll relax and do some University shows, but it\u2019s really all about pushing this record and supporting this record and I\u2019ll probably do another video when I come home and do some radio promo and just really just gearing up after the Fall to get back on the road in early 2014 and hopefully we just keep building this.<\/p>\n

Well I look forward to seeing you here soon as it\u2019s really a great bill\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah, it\u2019s a real pleasure to be a part of this bill, I\u2019ve toured with both of those bands before, well the new band that\u2019s just been announced I\u2019ve never heard but I\u2019ve toured with both Anberlin and The Maine before so it\u2019ll be really cool to come back with like-minded musicians that push the boundaries and don\u2019t do the same thing over and over again.<\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Chicago, USA<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>William Beckett<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/thewilliambeckettblog.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Genuine & Counterfeit (August 23 \u2013 Equal Vision Records)<\/p>\n

Catch William Beckett <\/strong>on tour in Australia this <\/strong>September with The Maine and Anberlin<\/strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Wednesday 4 September \u2013 The HiFi, Brisbane \u2013 18+<\/strong>
\nTickets from\u00a0thehifi.com.au<\/a>\u00a0or 1300 843 443<\/p>\n

Thursday 5 September \u2013 The Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast \u2013 18+<\/strong>
\nTickets from\u00a0destroyalllines.oztix.com.au<\/a>\u00a0or 1300 438 849<\/p>\n

Friday 6 September \u2013 Panthers, Newcastle \u2013 Lic AA<\/strong>
\nTickets from\u00a0destroyalllines.oztix.com.au<\/a>, Moshtix outlets, The Venue or\u00a002 4926 620<\/p>\n

Saturday 7 September \u2013 The Hifi, Sydney –\u00a0Lic AA<\/strong>
\nTickets from\u00a0thehifi.com.au<\/a>\u00a0or 1300 843 443<\/p>\n

Sunday 8 September \u2013 The Palace, Melbourne \u2013 18+<\/strong>
\nTickets from\u00a0destroyalllines.oztix.com.au<\/a>,\u00a0Ticketek.com.au<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a013 28 49<\/p>\n

Tuesday 10 September June \u2013 The Gov, Adelaide \u2013 Lic AA<\/strong>
\nTickets from\u00a0moshtix.com.au<\/a>,\u00a0venuetix.com.au<\/a>, The Venue or\u00a08340 0744<\/p>\n

Wednesday 11 September \u2013 Metro, Fremantle \u2013 18+<\/strong>
\nTickets from\u00a0destroyalllines.oztix.com.au<\/a>,\u00a0Heatseeker outlets or\u00a01300 762 545<\/p>\n

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