Will Risbourg from “Will and the Won’ts” Talks with Tonight

Folk – Rock trio “Will and the Won’ts” talk with Tonight to explain a little more about their band.

 

Based in Los Angeles, Will Risbourg, Andrew Bilotti, and Gui Bodi formed their group in an interesting way. Will explains…

 “We met at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles in 2010. We were all in anywhere from five to ten bands at a time, and we ended up working on a lot of projects together and hanging out as friends. I started writing my own songs due to dissatisfaction with a lot of the other songwriters that I was playing guitar for, and decided to put together my own group. After about 3-4 versions of the band not working out, I asked Andrew and Gui if they would be interested in playing with me for a quarterly competition held at our school. They accepted, and we eventually won. None of us ended up finishing our degrees at MI, but we started playing the LA club circuit, raising money by playing on the streets, and working on developing our sound in the studio.

My 2nd bass player, Eric Alexander Moore, came up with our band’s name. He is now working as a comedian.”

Performing mainly in Cafés around Los Angeles, Risbourg explains the performance process.

“Well, these kinds of shows are a double-edged sword. If the right people are in the room, and you can grab their attention, you can get a wonderful sense of connection and unity with a small crowd. Making eye-contact, individually interacting with audience members, and encouraging participation in the music is easiest to pull off in small settings. Those can be some of the most joyous moments for performers.

However, it is equally easy to feel like a nuisance, as some audiences would rather do their own thing (whether it be talking amongst themselves, watching TV, or being on their phones) than be a part of a performance.”

Even so, Will and the Won’ts do not let their musical creativity get dragged down.

“I’m inspired by the music that I love first and foremost. The lyrical content itself is pretty wide-ranging, so there isn’t anything specific that inspires everything I do. I just try to talk about the world around me in a way that I think people can relate to. This can manifest as an interpretation of something that happened in my personal life, or simply from observations of society as a whole. I’m always trying to walk the line of lyrical complexity and accessibility.”

With meaningful lyrics, the band wants their listeners to feel the truth behind the lyrics.

“I mostly hope that [the audience] relate to the lyrics. The music serves to accentuate and support the message of each song, so I feel successful as a performer if people are able to empathize with whatever it is that I’m talking about.”

Currently in the process of releasing their music video for “Apparition,” Will explains the vision for the video.

“We worked with Omeed, Keyan and Adam from Blu Collar Entertainment to create a relatively high-minded concept for this video. It’s supposed to illustrate the feeling of isolation that is presented in the song. Half of it shows us feeling socially disconnected in various settings, and the other half takes place in an isolated alternate reality inside of our minds.”

To stay up to date on everything “Will and the Won’ts,” follow the band on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Don’t forget to get a closer look at the band through Tonight’s Photo Session HERE.