Let discover the singer/musician/composer William Weswater, involved in VOODOO BIBLE, FEAR INCORPORATED, EXIT STRATEGY and PHANTOM CRUX !
Links:
Facebook : Fear Incorporated
Hello William and first of all, thank you for giving me your time to answer questions about you and
your incredible musical career !
1. I try to follow your work since about 2 years and it is really surprising to see how many things
you are doing … So Can you tell us what are the projects/bands you are involved now ? Who
are your partners in each projects/bands ? What are you doing in each projects/bands
(composing, singing, writing and playing the music ?) ?
There are several projects I am involved with-Fear Incorporated being the most prominent and consistent for album releases and having been around for eight years now.
This was formed originally by myself and Cam Campbell from the Sex Gang Children and since then there have been a few line up changes and three albums released and a forth to be released this summer.
At present the band consists of two members-myself and Berwyn Waddon who I collaborate with also on our dark avant garde industrial project Voodoo Bible and our band Exit Strategy which blends many styles including what some may call Gothic and post punk (if we are to label it) both of which have had album releases through record labels these past few years.
Myself and Berwyn have been working together for around 3 years now and have a very good connection when it comes to writing music together with with very little problems or hurdles straight from the basics of the writing process all the way to the release and promotion of our albums.
Berwyn is an excellent guitarist and partner in crime to work with amongst his other musical skills and a reliable and creative key member.
The projects I mentioned above are the most prominent at present but a debut album is nearly finished for Phantom Crux (a project blending many dark styles of music) to be released later in 2016 which involves myself and Derek McNeil who I have worked on and off with for 25 years and is possibly the most surreal musical artist I have ever collaborated with and he is very quirky but creative and focused in his approach to writing songs.
Other musical ventures include Infra Red-a minimalist electronica band I formed with the owner of Plastic Frog Records Klaus Weinrich and Dark Sinfonia-a medieval Gothic folk band with Stephen Curran-both of these projects have released a debut album on record labels over the past few years.
Stephen also works with me in Sensory Savage-a dark alternative cyberpunk project that has been ongoing since the late 90's and has released an album and EP's.
I am also currently working on other ventures on and off too-one of which is with Grey Malkin from the spook folk band Hare Of the Moon and also with Bobbi Style
in a new project-He has been releasing alternative music since the eighties and I look forward to to working with him when we both have free time in future.
Both of these artists make great music I particularly enjoy and I play often.
Lastly a project which is currently on the back burner is an album I have written tracks for with Dave ID Busaras from the Virgin Prunes.
Hopefully this will be finished over the next year or two-distance and time again are hurdles but I am sure it will sound good when its completed.
The Virgin Prunes are one of my favourite bands and have always been a positive influence and inspiration to me.
It is a busy time writing and releasing music and it has its ups and downs with the reliable and not so reliable contacts and people you encounter along the journey but I find the creative process is the most enjoyable part of it next to seeing the your work being released for an audience to hear and enjoy.
**** Click on images to open facebook's pages of the bands ****
2. When and how did you start with music ? What was your firsts bands/projects ?
I was terrible at music at school-possibly as in these days a guitar or keyboard was shared by a dozen pupils and this kind of environment I never found to be inspirational in the least-however I am sure some did.
So I am home grown as you might say when it comes to musical training and consider myself to be a vocalist and musical experimentalist rather than anything else.
My first main band I formed with Derek McNeil was Amun Ra in 1990-Phantom Crux is an off shoot and continuation of this project-there were over 50 tracks recorded in about 3 years for Amun Ra-some of which were released on cassette and vinyl in the nineties-we were also known for our avant garde live shows.
There were other fleeting projects until I formed Sensory Savage with Stephen in 1999 and then Fear Incorporated with Cam and other members of the
Sex Gang Children in 2008.
Since then other projects have developed as mentioned earlier-in particular the other main bands being Voodoo Bible and Exit Strategy.
3. What was your first influences in music ? Did it come from your parents, family , friends ?
My first main influences came from what my older brother was playing on his stereo-I was brought up in an old farmhouse-this was a tied building for accommodation with my fathers job at the time which was head gardener of the surrounding area and estate.
It was a great place to live and you could play music as loud as you pleased without disturbing many others.
I seem to remember Bowie,Eno,Talking Heads,Kraftwerk,The Residents,Devo,Virgin Prunes and The Cramps having the biggest influence on my life and gave me the initial drive and inspiration to be artistic and musically creative.
4. Your music has also a visual and literary dimension … What are your favorits books, authors
and movies ?
My favourite books would include Vladimir Nabakov's Invitation To A Beheading,Ray Bradbury's October Country and Edward Gorey's Evil Garden.
Non fiction would include Drunvalo Melchizedek's The Ancient Secret Of The Flower Of Life and Jaap Haddinga's The Vision.
Movies I am very fond of are Altered States,Requiem For A Dream,Cabaret and Closet Land-there are many other books,films and works of art I have found inspirational and these are just a few.
Avant garde tends to be a style I am drawn too especially in music and when writing songs-quirky,surreal and atmospheric are elements that often feature in projects and albums that I work upon.
5. You always purpose great videoclips with your songs … Can you tell us who makes it ?
I gather footage that is offered to me by film makers and students and also clips taken from visual material that catches my eye online.
Videos are expensive to make but I usually make these for our projects on a budget whilst still maintaining a professional look in style and appearance.
Due to health issues,time and distance between band members in the projects playing live and rehearsing is difficult so a video sometimes is made for nearly every track on an album to compensate for this and we always we receive a good audience for these and positive feedback so far.
6. You have recently released a new album with FEAR INCORPORATED and soon will come a
new album with VOODOO BIBLE and EXIT STRATEGY … lots of work ! What informations
could you give us about these 3 new releases ?
The Voodoo Bible 'Black Tarot' release is our current album released on Venus Aeon Records and you can buy this on CD our official website which is listed below or from the record label directly on CD or digital download.
Our forth Fear Incorporated album 'Cloak And Dagger' is primed for release via Bleak,an Austrian label in mid summer.
Most likely towards August on CD and download.
The new Exit Strategy EP is currently a work in progress and a track 'Dead Zone' from this release has been recorded and a video is currently online to promote this.
We are hoping to release this on CD and download towards the end of 2016 and are in-between labels with this project.
I would like to thank you Karo for putting these questions together and for your continued support both online and with playing several of our projects on your
fantastic Loneliest Hour Show-it is much appreciated.
Please see below for links to Fear Incorporated,Voodoo Bible and Exit Strategy official websites for current info on releases and for videos,tracks and info on the bands.
Fear Incorporated Website:
Voodoo Bible Website:
Exit Strategy Website:
