Soul-folk hybrid Willis Earl Beal has led an extraordinary life already at such a young age, but now he is finally looking towards the future.
Beal’s charming, and at times brutal, honesty is clear to see from the outset of our conversation, but it is his energy and unabashed enthusiasm for the future that shines through.
The Chicago-based guitarist and soulful singer’s past has constantly been the focus of reviews and write-ups, and it is undeniably fascinating.
At 27 years old, Beal joined the army, but was soon discharged due to a medical condition. Following this, he spent some time living on the streets of Albuquerque, New Mexico, beginning to write music to cope with the difficult times.
After finding work as a night porter in a motel, Beal distributed hand-drawn flyers around the city, encouraging people to call him and let him sing for them.
The flyers were eventually picked up by Found Magazine, who ran a cover story on the musician, who later signed a recording contract with Hot Charity, an imprint of XL Recordings.“I can’t wait to get some real, actual music reviews, rather than just reviews on my persona”
An attention-grabbing backstory, yes, but it’s something that Willis Earl Beal wants to put behind him, preferring to let the music speak for itself.
“I really get tired of answering questions about my background. They ask me that stuff all the time, and I just get so tired of [it],” he says. “I’m not a big shot or anything like that, but people are saying that my backstory is way more interesting than my music anyway, and I feel like my backstory is old news – I was in the army, I was homeless, it’s over.”
With the ability to now put his history behind him, Beal is also ready to leave behind his first album, Acousmatic Sorcery, released earlier in 2012. “I don’t even consider it to be my first album,” he states bluntly.
“My first record was just the skeleton of some things that I wanted to flesh out in the future, I never really intended for that to be released widely like it has been,” he elaborates.
“Some people enjoy my live performance,” Beal continues. “Then I have to tell them to go pay 15 bucks for something that I’m not proud of, it’s kind of frustrating.”
It’s easy to feel the excitement and anticipation that Beal feels for the release of his sophomore album, Nobody Knows.
“I’ve already finished recording my new record,” he reveals. “I just wish it were out so I wouldn’t have to keep talking about my backstory the whole time, but my current record sucks so I have to keep talking about it.”
This sort of brutal honesty is in many ways refreshing from an artist. Beal is obviously unafraid to speak his mind, and he firmly believes that this forthcoming album is a more accurate representation of his previous struggles than his debut effort.
“If you’re going to match my backstory up with something I think it’s more accurately matched with this, because I feel like from start to finish I’m telling a story,” he explains. “I talk about the full spectrum of my emotions and feelings, and I create this heightened version of myself.”
“It’s the record that I would have made at first, if I had given myself proper time,” he declares.
Beal came to Australia for the very first time to play Falls Festival over the new year, but playing such big music festivals can be daunting for the performer.
“I feel like the kind of music listeners that attend festivals usually want something that’s big and the only thing big about my performances is the emotion and possibly my voice, but I’m not cranking out the jam,” he explains. “I’m never too happy about festivals, but on the flipside, it’s always nice to be invited and to be wanted, so hopefully it won’t be a disaster.”
While in the country, Beal also played two headline solo shows, the type of shows where he feels infinitely more comfortable. “I like the intimate shows much better,” he admits. “If it were my choice, and I was a rich man, I wouldn’t do festivals because I’m an intimate performer and I’m only one person at the moment, I haven’t assembled my band yet. I work much better in small quarters, festivals really creep me out.”
Beal’s live performances have been heralded for their emotions and his minimal approach and fans of the genre-defying troubadour can expect what he calls an “assimilation of drunken lunacy.” Then there’s the taste of Beal’s upcoming second record, Nobody Knows, that came at the Australian shows.
“They’re not nearly finished or anything,” Beal reveals. “I want to try them out on people and see what they think.”
Following the release of his first album, Beal also released Principles Of A Protagonist, an EP that also served as the soundtrack to an animated film, featuring illustrations from the man himself. He chose to release the EP for free from his own website, as well as on file-sharing website BitTorrent.
“It’s the same way that I did with the songs from Acousmatic Sorcery,” Beal says on why he chose to give away his work for free. “I felt like the first official record was crap, and not the way I wanted it to be. This EP is a good chance to continue to give away music and to also show what I can do vocally, recording wise. That’s why I did that.”
Songs from his first album were also released for free, mainly through the distributed flyers, where individuals could call Beal and have him sing for them.“I work much better in small quarters, festivals really creep me out.”
“At the time when I made those songs I was just getting involved in music,” he continues. “I was just doing some shit at my apartment and I wanted some feedback. At best I wanted to become like a little local cult entity, an underground entity. I didn’t really take myself too seriously. I gave it away for free back then and I just wanted to do something to link that experience with my experience now.”
Willis Earl Beal’s rapid rise to fame also led to a recent tour with Cat Power, something that was “really surreal” for the performer.
“I was on tour with Cat Power, and that might seem like a casual thing maybe to people on the outside, but for me, it was like a dream come true,” Beal says enthusiastically.
“If you can imagine how it feels to look at someone on television or admire their music so much, and then fast forward three or four years later and you’re on tour with them, standing on stage with them and they’re looking at you and you’re singing a song with them… for me it was sort of a confirmation that I’m on the right path.”
This path holds nothing but promise for Willis Earl Beal, with his much-anticipated second album to hopefully steal focus away from his eye-catching backstory, and direct it towards his experimental and engrossing music.
“The concentration is on the music now. I can’t wait to get some real, actual music reviews, rather than just reviews on my persona,” Beal states definitively.
“All I ever wanted to do was express myself.”
Acousmatic Sounds and Principles Of A Protagonist are both out now.
