In The Middle with Will Joseph Cook

Posted on by The Gryphon Web Editor

It’s been a successful year for genre bending Will Joseph Cook. Touring with Topman/NME and releasing a debut album, it’s been non-stop for the quirky musician. Arts Editor Tash Lyons caught up with him along his headline tour to chat inspirations, dream collaborators and future plans in general.

TL: You’re returning to Brudenell Social Club on the 23rd October- what can fans expect at one of your gigs? Can you describe the general vibe in three words?

WJC: Singing, Moves and Cans

How was the festival season for you? Did you have any favourites?

Reading was a definite highlight and the most hardcore crowd of the summer. It’s as close as I get to playing a home crowd at a festival because it’s so popular with people from my home town.

Who inspires you at the moment? Either musically, or otherwise.

I’ve been watching a lot of music documentaries recently, and re-watching the ones the inspired me at the start. Blur’s ‘No Distance Left To Run’ is a really good one.

 

HONNE made a stomping remix of your song ‘Beach (I Wanna Make You Mine)’. Do you see more collaboration with them in the future?

I’d love to work with HONNE. The idea of doing a show together has come up but nothing is set in stone. They’re a sick band.

You said in an interview that you loathe the term singer-songwriter. Would you prefer your music to be described as pop or do you resist labels altogether?

It was more labels that I was getting at. I definitely am a singer-songwriter by definition, but that label comes with a sound that isn’t applicable to what I’m doing. I’m definitely part of the ‘genres are dead’ crowd.

Lots of your music videos are quite surreal. Where do you get all your offbeat ideas from?

I’m not sure really, sometimes there’s an explicit link to the lyrics, other times it’s just the imagery that comes into my head. I struggle to write songs without imagining a video.

Some of your music and videos play with the idea of gender in a subtle and ambiguous way. For example, cross-dressing in your video for Girls Like This. Is this an idea you want to explore more?

I don’t think so. All the costumes in the videos were pretty light-hearted and for character effect. It’s cool that other people have taken different things from it though.

 

You recently tweeted saying, “I think I was permanently stoned until I released Girls Like Me and my life started.” Can you describe the moment you realised producing music was going to be your future?

Haha, not really. I guess it was when everyone was applying for University and my A-levels were taking a lot of time away from me to record and write. I knew then that it was the only thing I really cared about or got me excited.

From your music videos and Instagram, you seem like a pretty style-conscious person. Have you always had clear ideas about the image of your music?

I’ve always really liked clothes, most of which I can’t afford. I think the aesthetic of things is more important now than it ever has been. That said, I am, like most other artists, on a quest to really nail what I’m doing.

What do you have planned for album number two? 

I have a lot of different ideas; I won’t really know until I’ve had a bit more space from Sweet Dreamer [Cook’s debut album] and my new ‘If You Want To Make Money’ EP. That said, I’m really excited about some the projects I’ve been working on. I definitely don’t want to make the same record twice.

Tash Lyons

[Feature Image: Dork Magazine]