Willie J. Healey — Fashun
I love to discover new music through what my favourite bands are listening to. This is how I came across Willie J Healey. I loved him instantly for his way of doing things a little bit differently: his music videos, the way he recorded his album Twin Heavy and his background in boxing.
Authenticity in music is hard to find these days so this week so let me tell you some stories about Willie J Healey’s Fashun.
It was tough to choose which track from Healey’s second album Twin Heavy to write about. The album was released in August 2020 and is a concept in itself, very cohesive, and filled with great tracks. But I went with Fashun because it is a song that instantly puts me in a good mood. And during the pandemic I’ve been massively relying on those type songs to keep me sane — check out my post on another brilliant feel-good track The Avalanches’ The Divine Chord.
The video for Fashun is very telling of what you can expect from Healey. It was filmed during lockdown and this actually allowed him to go a bit wild with it:
“(…) Lockdown meant that we couldn’t plan what we were going to do, we couldn’t film anywhere amazing, it was just in a studio and it was so fun. Going into it, me and Joe Wheatley, the director, had just sent each other bullet points like “OK, terrible fashion shoot, air guitar”. They were just ridiculous. I get on really well with Joe and I feel really comfortable around him and it’s nice to be able to say “I know this idea is really stupid but what do you reckon?” That video was just that on turbo mode. “And then we do this! And then we do this view of you topless!” Hell yeah!” — Source: The Forty Five
He explained how they shot the video and it reminded me of an Instagram live post he did the other day. He told the viewers that his phone was dying and when a fan suggested he should charge it, he refused and said “it’s fine, it’ll be nice to just let it have a natural ending.”
Unlike my analysis of Vienna by Billy Joel, I couldn’t find much about the lyrics. But there’s a lot behind the recording of Twin Heavy. The 12-track album was recorded in only 9 days and to tape. Producer/drummer Loren Humphrey (Tame Impala, Lana Del Rey, The Last Shadow Puppets, to name a few) also worked on the album:
“ We all tracked it together live in a room, which I hadn’t previously done. Loren, the producer on board, really gets down to every detail as to what microphone was used on the Beatles sessions. (…) We did it all to tape as well, which was a massive push in that classic direction, not just sonically. The way we felt when tracking was totally different. It takes five minutes to rewind the tape if you didn’t get a good take. In the end I was so sick of waiting around I was thinking we better get this one!” — Source: Daily Star
Perhaps knowing that he’d have to nail each take otherwise he’d be waiting around added an extra something to this album. With everything being so easily editable these days — and not only music, but photos, blog posts, etc — I feel like creativity has lost a lot of its spontaneity. Without trying to sound like a whiny old lady (and hypocritical because I’m writing on a digital platform as we speak), I sometimes miss the feeling of “we’ve only got one shot to get this right” and having to really put the time and effort into creating things.
And Willie J Healey knows a thing or two about dedication. With a 6-year long boxing career under his belt, he seems to have taken a lot of lessons from the ring onto his music career:
“I’d say I can’t really apply any of the physical skills of boxing to music but the commitment that it asks of you and the life lessons like trying your best or practicing until you can achieve something, were really drilled into me from the age of ten. I like to think I’ve carried on that attitude through, it’s very rare that I feel like giving up on stuff. If it’s something I want to do then I’ll keep going until the wheels fall off.” — Source: The Forty Five
If you liked this track and the stories behind it, definitely go check out the album. If you’re still not convinced, check out the track below:
