Will Wood (musician)

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For other people with similar names, see Willie Wood (disambiguation) and William Wood (disambiguation).
Will Wood
Will Wood performing live in 2018
Will Wood performing live in 2018
Background information
BornNew Jersey, U.S.
Genresfolk, pop, jazz, rock and roll, Avant-pop
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, filmmaker and artist
Instrumentspiano, ukulele, guitar
Years active2015 - Present
LabelsSay-10
Websitehttps://www.willwood.net

Will Wood is an American singer-songwriter,[1][2] composer,[3] filmmaker,[4] and multimedia artist.[5]

Style[]

Wood's piano-led style often changes from one song to the next, drawing influence from folk, pop, jazz, rock and roll, latin music, and klezmer. When recording in studio or performing live with a band, he is accompanied by "The Tapeworms," which since 2017 includes Mike Bottiglieri on guitar, Matt Berger on alto saxophone, Mario Conte on drums, and Vater Boris on bass.[6] The band is known for high energy live performances.[7]

Wood has released three studio albums: Everything Is A Lot, in 2015; Self-Ish (stylized as SELF-iSH), in 2016, and The Normal Album in 2020,[8] with an upcoming album with the working title In Case I Make It in the works.

Personal life[]

Wood has been described as "reclusive,"[9] and refuses to use social media. He is known to reveal little about his personal life, and early in his career would occasionally fictionalize his life in press appearances or onstage.[10] Articles and sources about Wood contain conflicting accounts of even basic information about his personal and professional life,[11][12] even without Wood contributing to any possible fictionalization.[13]

However, Wood has consistently been open about his past struggles with addiction and mental illness, having entered recovery early in his career and later being diagnosed with Bipolar disorder.[14] Wood donates portions of his income to various mental health charities, including the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, saying, "I’ve gotten a lot better. I want to try and do something to help others get there."[15]

Releases[]

Wood began releasing music under the moniker "Will Wood and the Tapeworms" in 2015. Under this name he released two studio albums: Everything is a lot in 2015 and Self-ish in 2016, and the live album The Real Will Wood in 2018, which later served as soundtrack to a mockumentary concert film of that same name in 2020.

In 2019 he started a crowdfunding campaign for The Normal Album which raised $27,631 and was released in 2020 under his own name.[16]

In September 2021, Wood released the single “Sex, Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll,” a tongue-in-cheek but emotional piano ballad. The single features Wood lamenting but criticizing his struggles with publicity and closes with self-inserted recordings of a crowd booing, and was accompanied by a music video wherein he throws rotten tomatoes at a comically exaggerated version of himself before breaking the fourth wall to reveal himself behind the camera, laughing at his own work and looking embarrassed.[17]

In an interview about the single, Wood explained “I’m not saying this song is just me saying ‘publicity is killing me’ because of course not. I’m saying it’s hard to become a better, healthier person when you’re struggling to stay a person at all... ‘Will Wood’ was wreaking a lot of havoc on real me, and I needed to do some serious re-tooling or real me would end up murdered by that walking coping mechanism.” [18]

His next studio album, slated to be titled In Case I Make It, was crowdfunded on Indiegogo in October 2021. Wood has described the collection of songs as being his most personal yet, saying in an interview, "I’ve always tried to consistently re-invent myself as an artist, I think. But this time is different, because for lack of a less dramatic phrase… I’ve reinvented myself as a person. I couldn’t be more different than I was even a year or two ago."[19] This upcoming album was originally set to be titled In Case I Die, but according to Wood, he changed it's name during the creation process. He elaborated on this in an "AMA" (ask me anything) on a fan-created subreddit, saying "...I went from saying to myself 'I need to get these songs out in case I die because I might be doomed,' to saying 'If I'm going to live this life, I need to express myself honestly.'"[20] No release date for In Case I Make It has been announced yet.

Discography[]

Studio albums

  • Everything is a Lot (as Will Wood and the Tapeworms) (2015)
  • Self-ish (as Will Wood and the Tapeworms) (2016)
  • The Normal Album (2020)
  • In Case I Make It (Q2-Q3 2022)

Soundtrack albums

  • The Real Will Wood (Music from the Award-Winning Concert Film) (as Will Wood and the Tapeworms) (2020)
  • Camp Here & There (Original Series Soundtrack) (2021)

Singles

  • "Alma Mater" (2020)
  • "Love, Me Normally" (2020)
  • "Laplace's Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!)" (2020)
  • "...Well, Better Than the Alternative" (2020)
  • "Mr. Fregoli and the Diathesis-Stress Supermodel, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Con (An Untitled Track)" (2020)
  • "Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll" (2021)

References[]

  1. ^ PalabasTayo (August 19, 2020). "Avant-pop artist Will Wood stimulates discussion on how pop culture regards mental health". PalabasTayo. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  2. ^ "Will Wood Talks Process, Funding, and New Tune "Love, Me Normally"". American Songwriter. May 28, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  3. ^ "Camp Here & There". MAYFIELD & BELOV. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  4. ^ "Dental Records Music News — Film Review: The Real Will Wood". dentalrecordsmusicnews.com. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  5. ^ "Will Wood is creating chemical reactions in your brain". Patreon. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  6. ^ "Under the Radar: Will Wood and the Tapeworms". The Smoke Signal. January 30, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  7. ^ Reilly, Erin. "Morris County musician performing at Rock Circus". Daily Record. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  8. ^ "A Perfectly "Normal" Interview With Musician Will Wood". bleedingcool.com. July 4, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  9. ^ "Bringin' it Backwards: Interview with Will Wood". American Songwriter. July 8, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  10. ^ "Interview: Who is The Real Will Wood?". thepopbreak.com. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  11. ^ Staff, Pop-Break (September 5, 2017). "Interview: Who is The Real Will Wood?". The Pop Break. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  12. ^ Makin, Bob. "Makin Waves with Will Wood & the Tapeworms". MyCentralJersey.com. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  13. ^ Reilly, Erin. "Morris County musician performing at Rock Circus". Daily Record. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  14. ^ "Bringin' it Backwards: Interview with Will Wood". American Songwriter. July 8, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  15. ^ "A Real Interview with The Real Will Wood on The Real". New Jersey Racket. January 16, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  16. ^ PalabasTayo (August 19, 2021). "WILL WOOD LAUNCHES MASSIVE INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN FOR "THE NORMAL ALBUM."". PalabasTayo. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  17. ^ "Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll" - Will Wood [OFFICIAL VIDEO], retrieved November 26, 2021
  18. ^ September 22, 2021; Louis (September 22, 2021). "WILL WOOD HATES "SEX, DRUGS, ROCK N ROLL" - exclusive interview!". The After Hours Review. Retrieved November 26, 2021.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ September 22, 2021; Louis (September 22, 2021). "WILL WOOD HATES "SEX, DRUGS, ROCK N ROLL" - exclusive interview!". The After Hours Review. Retrieved November 26, 2021.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/willwood/comments/nmhy08/is_it_true_that_will_wood_is_planning_to_change/
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