Trey: So who are you, where do you hail from, and what’s going on in your hometown with the local hip hop scene?
BillyBo: William Robert is my first and middle. I’m a husband and a father. Hip hop is my creative outlet. I just hope people “get it” when it’s performed.
I’m originally from Lewistown, PA, but now reside near York, PA. I moved there about five years ago when I met my wife. It’s weird, but sometimes I still feel lost living a few hours from where I grew up. I still need to Google directions to half the shows I do.
The local hip hop scene? It’s hit or miss. Maybe it’s the area. Maybe it’s the genre. Maybe it’s everywhere else too. I’ve had several discussions with other local artists and we all seem to agree that people don’t want to really listen; they just want to feel good. The catch is that my music actually needs to be listened to, not just heard. It makes it harder when the music made speaks of life and hope and not blunts and coke. But I don’t hate it. I’ve done shows with well-known touring artists and no more than a dozen people showed up. I’ve done solo shows where 600 people showed up. It is what it is, and I’ll continue trying to reach others through hip hop until God says to stop – no matter how many people come to the show.
Trey: Your new album is called “A Little Piece of Home,” and it has a very different sound, a little country, a little funk, a little classic rock, a little bit of everything in terms of its influences. Can you discuss this with the Sphere audience?
BillyBo: I was looking for “that” sound for a while. I didn’t know exactly what it was, how to get it, where to find it, or even how to tell Johnny Bishop how to create it. By the way – Bishop is my producer/friend from Chicago. But after about 40 beats were sent my way, I began to hear it. “It” just so happened to be a fusion of classic rock, folk, and blues melodies. And since Bishop loves his old school funk and soul so much, we took some really nice breaks and used those as the pacemakers for each track. I feel really bad for pulling Bishop through the mud and asking for 12 revisions of each beat, but he really came through with the production and made the album so much better than the first drafts. I also wanted the album to flow from start to finish so I kept him as the only producer, save for four tracks of my own.
There were definitely some influences though. I enjoy the different production aspects of Dust, Maker, and Listener. I really like acoustic folk music too. Not the Irish folk of yesteryear (good in its own right), but fun coffeehouse folk music. One man and one guitar telling stories of life and love type of folk music. If I were to place a defining blend on my music, those would all be parts of the mix along with some secret ingredients and some stuff Bishop added when I wasn’t looking.
Trey: When you were looking to make this album, from where did you draw your inspiration and what themes do you discuss on this album that would be of interest to a conscientious listener?
BillyBo: The same life written on paper is interpreted so dramatically different based on whose eyes are reading it. I took stories from my life, your life, and everyone else’s life and created a book for you to audibly read. At least that was my goal.
I was searching for myself in the making of this album too. I always had some stories to tell, but no idea how to tell them. I felt like I needed the right backdrop to help the emotions get through to the listener too. I decided to embrace the fact that so many lives either have or had so much loss, pain, and confusion and wrote stories of despair, struggle, and hardships. Some songs are met with bitter endings, but others unfold to reveal redemption and true hope. The project as a whole is meant to point to Christ as the only one who is able to bring us through these “pieces of home.”
A lot of the songs have a specific topic, like how “Daddy” is a true story of the events and feelings that transpired when my parents divorced. But other songs like “My Lonely Room” are more abstract to allow the listener to take from it what they will.
Trey: Who did you collaborate with on this album and tell us how that collaboration came about?
BillyBo: Of course the production work was done with Johnny Bishop. I’ve known him for a few years and we’ve been building in and out of music. He’s a great guy and makes some nasty beats so it wasn’t hard to team up with him. I also made sure Unit 13 tore up the vinyl for the album. It was really great to get to work with him after hearing his work as Phynite’s DJ. He lives close, had a humble attitude, and was willing to build, so that was that.
It’s hard to perform your album when you have to constantly dodge others’ verses, so I didn’t want to have too many other emcees on the project. I don’t think this was the type of album to team up with someone else on every track either. But, I definitely wanted to work with a few individuals.
“Chains & Things” features Aaron Paul. That choice was a no-brainer since we’ve been working together on different projects for a while, including our “Inner Sessions – Inner Seed” album that’s in the mixing stage (plug). And reSEARCH was more than willing to jump on that track as well. I like his delivery.
Manchild of Mars ILL and Phynite were on “My Lonely Room.” I’ve always wanted to work with Manchild since I first saw Mars ILL perform in PA. I met Phynite a few years ago and always liked his work, so I asked, he said “yes,” then came to my place to record his verse. Little did I know at the time, but the second time I saw Mars ILL – at York College – it was Phynite who was the only other guy but me who actually knew the lyrics. It almost had to be these two on the same track.
The last two were CAS METAH and Change on a track called “The Records That Changed My Life.” This track was meant to emulate how we all felt and still feel about the records and moments that changed our lives. I sort of hope that this project would be a part in changing someone’s life. Along with the others on the album, CAS was one of those guys who I respected as an artist and a person. I was really glad I used brute force to get him to record a verse for me…joke. Like Phynite, when you hear CAS’s voice, you just kind of know it’s him, and I wanted that recognition on my album, because, let’s face it, BillyBo isn’t exactly a household name. Change is just nice. Nice voice, nice lyrics, nice skill, and a nice guy. He was on my last album and has helped me with music in so many ways. I almost felt like I owed him something to show for my growth as an artist and engineer and I feel “Records” was the track to do it. I feel it’s one of the best tracks on the album.
Trey: What song on the album speaks to you or has the most significant meaning to you and why?
BillyBo: Honestly, I’m in each and every song somewhere. Even if it’s just one line, I’m there. “Today” is my testimony. “One More Mile” is the father I don’t want to become. “Daddy” was my relationship with my dad. “Finding My Way” is the changing process of finding or returning “home” – each track is just as important and personal as the next whether it’s straight forward or abstract. I guess you can tell I don’t want to give too much away with this one. As much as I want others to see me in the stories, I want them to find themselves. Even more, I want them to find hope in Christ – no matter how cliché that may sound.
Trey: Tell us how your faith plays a role in the kind of music you make?
BillyBo: It’s not difficult to weave your morals and beliefs into your music as long as you are true to yourself. A line on my album says “being transparent is something we all fear,” but hopefully as Christians we can become more and more transparent as we grow and become confident in our faith. Maybe another set of lyrics best answers this question: “He’ll perform for strangers. He’s an artist. He paints with a voice so you can see where his heart is – a soft spot hidden behind a scarred frame – a wishing well overflow reminiscent of hard rain.”
Trey: What’s going on in the near future for BillyBo? Will you be out on tour, staying local, and do you have a website or a way listeners can keep up close and personal with you?
BillyBo: I just got back from a weekend tour in Oakland, CA the other week and I’ve got a few local spots lined up, but I’m pretty busy during the summer months with things other than music. I’ll be at Creation East at the end of June – I wish I was performing, on a mission trip to Metlakatla, AK at the end of July, and just enjoying the outdoors. But I’m always willing to perform anywhere people are willing to listen. I’m my own booking agent, so feel free to hit me up.
You can also find me on the Internet at all the wonderful social spots. Sometimes I update regularly, sometimes it’s a few weeks. The record is available at the Sphere of Hip-Hop store.
www.myspace.com/BillyBoMusic
www.myspace.com/InnerSessions
www.facebook.com – Bill Womer
www.twitter.com/BillyBoMusic
pieceofhome.blogspot.com
