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Why don’t we start off by introducing yourselves to our readers?
Don’t let the name fool you, it’s almost sarcastic, we’re a rock show first and foremost. With the Villebillies your getting five instrumentalists and four vocalists going to town on stage hitting everything from rock rap a little bluegrass and everything in between.
Now is music something you’ve always wanted to do? What do you think you would be doing if you weren’t in the Villebillies?
I have wanted to do music for as long as I can remember. If I weren’t in the Villebillies I’d probably still be moving pianos which is what I was doing before the music started to take off. Pianos are heavy. My back is much happier in this profession.
How would you describe your music?
I would call it rock and rap with a tinge of country. That sounds like a lot to take in, and it is, but we don’t force these genres together, it somehow is the natural way we write songs. Our music is closer to rock then anything else, at least the mood of it feels like rock/ southern rock. We do a lot of rapping but we don’t do much of the typical rap themes. We’re not hustlers or anything, we’re just a bunch of guys that love to play music and that’s it.
How did you guys all come together and how did you come up with the name Villebillies?
We all basically grew up running in the same circles. Half of the band was in a rock group called Plan of Man, the rest of us we’re doing various rap projects, we all started jamming together and before long we were one big band.
My personal favorite song is “Burning down the House”. What is your personal favorite and why?
If I had to pick a favorite it would be the last track on the record, Greatest Moment. It started out about a friend of mine who took his own life, and I wrote my verse and the chorus when I was dealing with the anger and pain of that loss. The other guys heard it and dropped verses about similar things that they went through, and it all tied together really well. When we play it live it’s kind of cathartic for us. And the audience responds to it because everyone can relate to the topic.
Where do you get your inspiration for the songs you write? What is the writing process like?
We really don’t have a formula for how we write, sometimes it starts with a guitar riff, sometimes a beat, and sometimes with lyrics. A lot of stuff is taken from real life, case in point, Greatest Moment, and Grass Roots is about being homesick on the road. Then a lot of it just comes from our imagination and what we see around us.
I know you guys have been through a lot in your personal lives—especially Demi fighting cancer. Do you think those life experiences made you stronger as a band?
I think that stuff made us stronger as people. It also gives us something we can relate too in each other, so it definitely has made us a stronger band.
People always say it’s harder to be in a band than being a solo artist. Do you agree with that especially since your group is especially bigger than most bands?
If you go at it with the right attitude it’s easier to be in a band. You have to check your ego at the door, once you do that, you see how much you can learn from other people, and you begin to feed off of each other creatively.
BandNation.com gets a lot of aspiring bands and singers on our site. What advice would you give them?
Trust your instincts, every time we did something that didn’t feel right it backfired on us. Don’t be afraid to stick to your guns, no one else can tell you what good music is, or what your music is supposed to sound like. And lastly, keep challenging yourself, keep evolving, the beautiful thing about music is there is always more to learn and more room to grow.
I know that you guys are doing some shows throughout this New Year. What other plans do you have this year as a band?
We’re actually going to be shooting a video here in the next few weeks, so we’re pretty excited about that. Other than that we’re going to stay on the road, and keep spreading the word. Meanwhile, we never stop writing, and we just bought some gear to record on the road, so we’re pretty heavy into creating the next album.
What has been the most memorable moment in you career so far?
That’s hard to say, but when our album came out we did a midnight in-store performance with about 300 of our friends, family and fans. That was a great night.
What message would you like to give your fans reading this?
Thanks for the support, we’re going to keep writing and performing and growing, and I hope you guys stay along for the ride.
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