Read on to find out about Landon Williams’ influences, his start in music and more! Find him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and stream his latest single “See What I See” on Soundcloud.
BTS: Introduce yourself!
LW: Born and raised in Colorado, on my family’s ranch. That’s always been kind of an interesting part of my music because I don’t do country.
BTS: For any of our readers who are just starting to check out your music, how would you describe your style/sound?
LW: It’s hard because I love pop culture and pop music – especially the 80’s. But [my music] is pop but with substance. I’m always going for something memorable. I think it’s like if Foster the People and MGMT were to pick up Lana Del Rey at a club. It’s kind of like that.
BTS: What made you want to pursue music and performing? Any specific memories or experiences?
LW: I started playing guitar when I was ten but it was never this pop culture epiphany, like me wanting to be Marty McFly. There was an appeal to the guitar, I don’t know, it looked cool so one Christmas my mom got me a guitar from a pawn shop. I loved it, and I was in and out of bands all the way to high school. I was just playing lead guitar, my voice was horrible – I sounded like Kermit The Frog. But my senior year in high school, I just kind of decided to become self reliant and I started taking vocal lessons and writing my own songs and I kind of just sat on that for three or four years to let it absorb. But in the meantime I was working for this guy named Michael Martin Murphy and I would tour with him as his guitar tech and road manager. All of his players are from Nashville, so working with him, I kind of got to see this medium of success but also meet a lot of people from Nashville. Post-high school was just spent crafting everything for a few years and meeting those people on that tour. I finally sent one of my demos to one of [the player’s] son, Ryan, and he really dug it and so we set up studio time in Nashville and had session players and we knocked out an EP in one day. But my sound was more guitar led, but now it’s weird. I’ve completely changed, I went on Spotify and Pandora seven months ago and erased all that stuff. And it was good stuff, but I’ve evolved. I kind of pulled a Lana Del Rey and scratched everything and then came back.
BTS: Who/what are your biggest musical influences?
LW: I’m definitely inspired by R&B, but I really do love pop music. I love Billy Ocean, I love Marvin Gaye. But I also love Bruce Springsteen.
BTS: What’s your favorite part of making music? (Writing, recording, performing, etc.)
LW: I would have to say performing, but also recording. I produce all of my own tracks, I build up all of my own demos and then bring it to the mix level. But there’s something about performing. I played a lot of sports in middle school and high school and I think I have a certain drive with that energy so for me playing guitar and singing live, I’m able to use that expression on stage. And I know how music affects me so I try to offer that to other people.
BTS: You just released a music video for your single “Tonight”, which has a pretty unique plot. What was the inspiration for that?
LW: I was really enthralled by a lot of images, like Bruce Springsteen just had certain things, and I think that can be such a big part of the artist. I’ve always wanted to create this graphic existence where it was artistic but playful at the same time. Essentially it was kind of poking fun at the fact that you can take any artist and have a pretty good song, but if you have the resources, you can make anybody look like a celebrity. We just wanted to paint an image – you can view me however you want to but there’s definitely a specific picture painted [by the media]. It’s just poking fun at pop culture.
BTS: What was the creative process like for making a music video?
LW: It [the video] was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had, just because the group of people. It was a great experience making it but I met a lot of great people along the way. It was really fun coming up with this idea and seeing it come to life. I’ve never been a part of film or acting so that was cool. But everything I do we try to do it to the max.
BTS: Who is your dream collaboration with?
LW: I would love to work with Max Martin. I have a very curious mind and when I listen to records, I just need to know what goes on behind the scenes. I want there to be a spot at the round table for me – whether it’s as an artist or songwriter or producer. I just want be able to work with the best and I think Max Martin is kind of the epitome of that. Either Max Martin or Mark Ronson, that would be dope.
BTS: If you had a time machine and could go back to any live performance, concert, etc. where would you go/who would you see?
LW: I would love to see Jimi Hendrix playing before he ever really made it. I’m always trying to find that path and create a blueprint and so someone like Hendrix, someone who’s had it forever, I just want to see where he was at when he was like 23 or 24.
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