It is with the greatest of pleasure (a form of giddiness really) that I am able to write this review of Record Room. First - for the reader - an important disclosure, I am Will’s father. With all the normal ensuing apprehensions of familial bias - let me continue and thanks for your patience. As Will’s dad I have certain knowledge - that he always had an exceptional ear, that music was a part of his earliest childhood experience - but we are not a particularly musical family. Will is gregarious, sociable and most importantly a generous listener, conversationalist and true voice. You can hear that in all these episodes.
These artists are amazing like-minded souls and they share the clearest vignettes of their craft and their motivations. Whether it is monkey minded psychology, the fact that living and working on Ibeza does nothing to cure or advance one’s perspective if the internal alignments are not right - the stories of these artists are a wonderful experience. These are patient interviews. These stories, I’m thinking especially here of Anthony Mills and his ‘the bag full of potato chips’ story telling, are honest, fantastic inspirational glimpses into the music and the personalities. Anyone who has been fortunate enough to have a solid education, and appreciation for art in its multiple formats and the unrelenting pleasure of being in a metropole where you can witness human interaction and creativity. You’ll hear the cafe talk, the neighborhood bar conversations the pre and post film festival chatter. And if you are not there yet, Record Room is going to be a great path to those places if that is where you want to go.
If you never knew about these artists before (I did not) you will be happy / sad at discovering yet more great stuff to listen to and experience. Audio, visual and filmic queues are overflowing everywhere all the time - but this work deserves to be in that mix. If you typically encounter music in formats like The Take-Away Shows (highly recommended even after all these years - a kind of non narrative video appreciation that compliments this aural vibe) or NPRs Tiny Desk concerts (important, better than nothing, kind of ‘oh well’ ...), Record Room is going to be a useful discovery. I’m surprised Spotify does not publish this - because the net effect of a Record Room episode is a deeply human ‘algorithm’ - even if you don’t have actual copies of these works (and why wouldn’t you if you have the means?) - trust me, you’ll be googling, adding new SoundCloud follows and generally appreciating good art and nice people you did not know about before you listened.
At the end of each of these episodes, you feel as though you’ve been invited along after the performance. That these people are the types of artists who would linger longer after any Q+A because they sense friends ‘with that right vibe’ that moves the conversation ever forward. I knew Will when he worked in a record store in the Georgetown neighborhood of DC. The conversations you hear on this podcast would have been familiar to every customer, to the staff and to people who know hanging out in a ‘record room’ is just one of life’s most urbane pleasures. I also knew Will when he recorded music with Daoud Anthony and learned some of his craft in Santa Cruz CA.
The freshness of those experiences is evident in each of these episodes. You’ll appreciate the command of language, the close study of these artist’s projects. But the voice is not stilted - these episodes teach (that is very true) but more to the point, they focus you on really really good music, places seen through they perspective of creativity. This work is honest, accessible and surprising. Keep coming back for more ... they are delightful experiences. And that is not just a father’s opinion.
