William Control

By Jay Oakley

You're in the middle of your tour now and where are you?

I'm currently in Cleveland Rock City.

How have the shows been treating you?

Oh man, they've been great. It's not the biggest tour we've ever done but with it being a headlining tour all the people coming to see it are coming to see us so it's really fucking awesome.

How have you been getting along with the acts you've chosen to open like Justin Symbol and Requiem?

Oh great, man. They're fucking great dudes. Good new bands and they're bands that have never toured. Requiem and Justin Symbol have never been on U.S. tours, they're dong pretty good.

You're also currently touring in support of your newest record, The Neuromancer, so how has everything been going playing that new music?

I can't complain. The album's been out long enough now to where people know it so there's no lull in the set when we play the new songs. People seem to be loving it so I've got no complaints.

With everything you've been doing now for so long as William Control as apposed to writing for your other projects which were more rock and punk inspire, what do you get out of it and how does it make you feel writing these songs?

It makes me feel a release. It quells the many different voices that are happening in my head. It's really not that different between Aiden and William Control. It's obviously a different songwriting process but the reason for the end result is pretty much the same. To be standing on the stage, singing these songs.

When someone comes to a William Control show who might not be familiar with you, what do you want to put across and how do you want them to feel when they leave?

I don't think I've ever given that much thought. I suppose I could give you some shitty answer and tell you, "Oh, I'd like them to feel excited!" but the real answer is I'm standing on that stage for me. I travel around the country because I like performing. It's just a bonus that some people seem to be into it. But I'm really doing it because I'm fucking selfish and I love performing.

Even though you get out on the road for you and you love performing, what do you get off the crowd and how do you feed off of them?

The excitement of seeing someone standing and standing there in the crowd that lives in another city or some other place in the world who I've never met. And, they who bought a ticket to see a show and sing songs that I wrote in my studio or on a plane or in a van or wherever I was at the time is really rewarding. Art is something that connects people on a deeper level then say fucking baseball, or working the same job or meeting at a shopping mall and commiserating over the latest fashion. It's so raw and beautiful that people listen to it and it connects in their heart and they want to come out and see that live and to see that excitement in them is really rewarding to me.

Along with your music you've also but out a few books of your writing. Is that something you've always wanted to do or is that something you discovered as another release?

I don't think it was something I always wanted to do. It's something that I accidentally did. One day I started writing and I couldn't stop and there you have it.

When you put together your tours do you have a particular design for them like the places you can go, the places that will have you or the places you've never been?

I leave that up to the booking agent. I just say, "OK, I'm ready to go on tour." and he says, "OK, you're going here." and I say, "OK, I'll rock!"

Fair enough. When it comes to this tour where are you looking to take your music? With everything that you put together, from your persona onstage, to the way you get interactive with the crowd, is there anything you aim for when it comes to making this tour better then the previous one?

I don't think so. I think I just do what I do and try to have as much fun out there as possible because I know there is going to come a day when people aren't going to want to pay to see me anymore and I'd better make use of the time that I have. That's not to say that I don't try to get better as an artist because I definitely do. I'm always striving to become better then I was a year before I don't think I put an honest amount of pressure on myself to out do it and make a tour "more exciting" we just do what we do. We have fun.

When a tour ends what do you tend to do with yourself? Do you keep it quite, spend time with family or do you go right back into the studio and continue writing?

My work as an artist is never really complete. When I get home from tour I'm definitely spending a lot of tour with the family and spending a lot of time at home. I have a studio at my house so I can go out there and do whatever I want, whenever I want. I never quit. There's never a time where I'm thinking I'm not gonna do anything now. I'm always writing and always doing something.

For fans that are familiar with your previous work, what can you tell us about what's happening with Aiden?

I have announced that I'm going to make a new Aiden record this summer, to be released in the fall. So I'll probably do some tours over the next year with Aiden and have some fun with that.

To close out with something that's not really music related what do you enjoy doing? Do you enjoy reading, going to movies and that kind of stuff?

Yeah, I'm surrounded by art, literature and film. Music really is on the back burner in my life. I'm more entertained by literature, movies and stuff like that.

Have you seen anything more recently that you really enjoyed?

I saw this movie called Ex Machina last night that was quite entertaining. I enjoyed it, it was quite interesting.

William, thanks so much for taking some time to talk about the tour and what's been going on for you.

Thanks man, thank you very much.