Singer/Songwriter Willie J Healey chats with us about his upcoming tour and what we can expect from new music
“When I got back to the UK, my managers asked me which songs I got recorded, and I couldn’t tell them because I didn’t know.” Willie J Healey has been locked away recording the follow-up to 2023’s funk-embracing ‘Bunny‘, an album which earned him widespread recognition. Ahead of some of the biggest shows of his career so far this November, the musician takes us for a dip into his creative process and hints at why this next batch of music is a turning point for him.
Can you tell us anything about the new music you’ll be debuting on your upcoming November tour?
The music I’ve been making is more in the zone of a song I put out called ‘The Apple’. It’s a continuation from that, an authentic kind of sound with acoustic guitar and drums and I suppose it’s a little more like the music I was putting out previous to ‘Bunny‘, which was a little less funky and a bit more in the Neutral Milk Hotel zone. I listen to a lot of Wilco and Neutral Milk Hotel, and I think it’s probably a bit more direct and less slick, the music I’m working on.
Speaking of slick, your music has been described as “slacker soul”, how do you feel about that description?
I’m down for whatever. I find it so difficult to put something into a genre now, because of the way musical genres work, you know, I never really know what I would put myself as, so I’m open to any suggestions. I suppose when I say slick, I guess I don’t mean a slick songwriter. I mean, I predominantly think of the recordings and the process of recording. ‘Bunny‘ has got quite a lot of bells and whistles. It’s got backing singers and quite nice vocal takes, you know, a bit of time going into getting things “right”.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still trying to get things right, but I’m also trying to leave things raw and not overwork things. It’s the opposite in thinking, like, can I do less? And still get a really good recording. So, the slacker thing is funny to me, because I’m very laid back, but I’m not very slackery, really, but I like it. I think I see it as a compliment.
What’s the approach you’re taking in recording new music. Have you recorded with anyone? Are you doing things independently at home?
A bit of both. I’ve been recording at home. I’ve got this four-track cassette recorder, and over the past year, I’ve been getting my songs down to cassette tape and performing all of the instruments, doing all the different elements myself. I think what I’ll end up doing is having a mixture of both. I just had a trip to New York to work with my friend Loren Humphrey, who also did ‘Bunny‘ and ‘Twin Heavy,‘ and we had a really nice couple of weeks where we tracked things.
On some of the tracks, it was just me and Loren, he’s a great drummer, and then I played all of the other instruments. And then we had a couple of days here and there with friends there who played a few different things. So, I think it’ll be a mix, but I feel like this next batch of music will predominantly be a solo record. I think I’ll be performing a lot of the parts on it, which feels exciting and kind of how I used to do things. It’s a fun approach, and somewhat independent in the way that I’m putting the sessions together and the way I’m funding it and putting my time into it. It feels like a bit of a turning point in a good way.
Will you be independently touring?
It’ll be with a band, with my friends, a band set up for the past 10 years, with a few exceptions here and there. I did a solo tour, and I’ve never actually done that, and I loved it. It surprised me how well it went down and how I enjoyed myself. So, I think maybe for the first time in like 10 years, I might do a section of the show where I play a few songs on my own, but predominantly it’ll be with a band.
What was your experience like of recording in New York?
It was quite refreshing because Loren works from a studio called Diamond Mine, which is a place I’m quite familiar with. I’ve done quite a lot of recordings there now, and I love it. It’s a studio that predominantly works to tape – it’s quite an old-school approach, but this time around, it was a mix.
Me and Loren did quite a lot of recording at his house. We’d wake up, set the living room up with all the different components that we’d want for that day and make a list of three songs and just try and rattle through them. When people were around, they just joined in and we did what we could while they were there, and then when people weren’t around, me and Loren just did it me and him.
It felt quite free – I took a big list of songs and just went at as many as possible and tried them in lots of different ways. If you were to compare it to some of the other trips I’ve done, I know exactly what songs I want to do, and it’s executing that plan and trying to get things down. This trip felt a little bit more experimental. We just went on for two weeks and didn’t stop. When I got back to the UK, my managers asked me which songs I got recorded, and I couldn’t tell them because I didn’t know.
Was there any idea you had that completely changed in New York?
Yeah, I think a few of them. I fall into the trap of trying to chase an original idea, which is often kind of magical for some reason. I don’t know why, but I often find my demos really hard to move past; I get stuck on them. When I went out to New York, we tried the songs in a few different ways, and a couple of the songs came out really well and were completely different to what I originally thought, but also it went the other way and a few of them really didn’t work. I suppose it comes with the territory of things. It’s not always going to work.
Do you become more aware of this process with time?
I’m usually pretty open-minded in terms of following ideas and whatever you want to call it, musical instinct, to the point where it’s probably at some different points probably been a hindrance, because I’ve ended up not necessarily making the most cohesive albums; I’m just really driven by ideas. I haven’t been so tuned into the theme or the album’s message. I’m normally just like “I like this song. I like that one.” There are little things that catch your eye, and it’s nice to be able to follow those little glimmers of ideas.
Listen to ‘The Apple’ here:
Catch Willie J Healey at the following:
Mon 10th Nov – Concorde 2, Brighton
Weds 12th Nov – Electric Ballroom, London
Thur 13th Nov – Project House, Leeds
Fri 14th Nov – New Century, Manchester
Sat 15th Nov – St Luke’s, Glasgow