Spencer William
Photo credit: Graham
Spencer William has just released his debut single titled “Villain” and it’s one of the coolest releases of the month. Hearing it for the first time was a great surprise. It is very promising, authentic and refreshing. The production automatically catches your ear, along with his incredible vocals.
“Villain” has a lot of potential and I really cannot wait to hear more. Spencer William is definitely a name you want to remember.
“Villain” is now available worldwide :)
Introduce yourself - what's your story?
My name’s Spencer William, and I’m a left-of-center pop artist, songwriter, and producer. I grew up in North Carolina, but I’ve been living in Brooklyn for about a year and a half, pre-COVID. My musical story started with 10+ years of classical piano lessons and an obsession with Top 40 radio. I honestly can’t remember a time that I wasn’t a voracious consumer of music; I’ve always wanted to find new songs and artists and producers that I like. I studied songwriting in college, and then moved to New York afterward, and I’ve been writing and producing in the scene there ever since.
When did you start writing songs? What made you want to write in the first place?
I started writing songs almost exactly six years ago. I was living in North Carolina at the time, working full time in food service, and not really sure what I wanted to do with my life. I think songwriting/singing had always silently been a “pie in the sky” career aspiration in my life, but fear had always kept me from trying it (because, you know, debilitating perfectionism). Realizing that I was going to have to work hard to make a living regardless of what I was doing, I figured I might as well try working at something I thought I might enjoy. So, I bought a cheap MIDI keyboard, an SM58, turned my closet into a makeshift vocal booth, and started making terrible demos in GarageBand.
You studied at Berklee College of Music - what major things Berklee teach you as an artist?
Aside from technical knowledge, I think Berklee taught me a couple of main things. First, to have staying power as an artist you need to be genuine, vulnerable, and honest, because that’s your surest way of providing something that no one else can. Also, being capable and knowledgable in multiple different roles of the creative and promotional process is more and more necessary these days. Not to say that you need to be a master of everything, but the more you’re capable of in a session (writing, producing, singing), and the more you know about the business and promotional side of things, the better off you are. Lastly, I think one of the most valuable lessons I learned at Berklee is to be kind to everybody you work with and meet in the industry, because you never know where they’ll end up working and who they could recommend you to (or bad mouth you to). Being nice doesn’t cost anything, but being the opposite definitely could.
At what point did you know you had to become an artist and release your original music?
I’ve always had some level of interest in releasing music under my own artist project, but found it easier and more comfortable writing for other artists and being behind the scenes. Pre-COVID, I was in writing sessions five or six days out of the week, most of which were rooms with artists and producers. It was easy in those rooms, because as a writer I could stay in the background and didn’t have to produce, perform, or promote/release those songs. COVID quarantine provided an opportunity to consider what other things I could be doing with my time, in addition to writing songs. This led me to finally finish the EP I’d tentatively been working on. I’d already had a little experience in terms of seeing how people responded to the music I was helping to create for other people, and I was honestly just curious to see what the reaction would be if I put out my own.
Who was the first person to ever believe in you?
Definitely my parents, they’ve always been so supportive of me pursuing anything I was passionate about, and music has been no exception.
How would you define Spencer William, the artist?
I’m still figuring that out, I think. So far, the artist Spencer William is pretty much the same as the person Spencer Mijanovich, and I think I’d like for it to stay that way. I don’t really have much desire to create any sort of stage character or alternate persona; I think my strength comes from my honesty and willingness to be vulnerable. This single and the rest of the songs on my upcoming EP are all about moments from my life and the things I struggle with, and there’s really not much more to them than being genuine and open.
"Villain" is your debut single - how does it feel like to release your first single?
I didn’t realize that I would be as excited as I am. Creating and releasing this single and body of work started almost as an experiment, and it’s evolved into something I’m much more attached to than I expected. I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of response it gets, and seeing how people find themselves in it.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process?
“Villain” actually started with a production loop I made. I’m pretty sure I also had the chorus couplet lyric in a note in my phone, and wrote probably 75% of the song to that loop before I got stuck, and left it alone for a while. When I started considering finishing up the EP, I asked my friend and co-writer Emily Terran if she’d be interested in helping me finish writing “Villain”, and she was kind enough to say yes. I spent two or three months this summer finishing the productions for the whole EP, and most of the process was just chipping away and figuring things out little by little: making edits/additions that I could hear at each step, bouncing the track, listening for new possibilities, and repeating the cycle.
What do you like the most about this single?
I like the thing I like most about this song is the same thing that I’m most self-conscious about: “Villain” is unabashedly angry. This song is about being villainized for setting boundaries and telling the truth, and I’m thankful that I get to turn the tables and not have to mince words or edit my emotions.
What can you tell us about the artwork?
Creating this artwork has been such a fantastic example of creating something unique with limited resources. The photo in the artwork was actually taken right down the street from my parents’ house in North Carolina, because my lease in New York ended earlier this summer, and I’ve been quarantining with them and my boyfriend for the past couple of months. We played with the exposure time of the camera at night, and were able to create this really interesting effect that’s present across the artwork for the whole project, where there are multiple, blurred doubles of me in each photo. Specifically, I really liked the idea of the artwork for “Villain” being a backlit photo of me, because I think it fits the sinister nature of the song.
What is your goal for this debut single?
I think a big goal for me is just to have people hear what my voice sounds like, both figuratively and literally, and to show what I’m capable of as a creator. This whole process has also been a huge educational experience for me, in terms of learning what my abilities are as a producer, and learning the specifics of releasing and promoting music, which I’m very grateful for.
You produce your own music and you also produce for other artists. What do you like the most about being a producer?
Honestly, producing is a hard-earned love for me. I never enjoyed producing as much as I enjoyed writing, but I’m thankful for the experience of producing this song and EP myself, because it’s something I never thought I would be able to do. This experience has given me confidence that my voice and style as a producer is valid.
In your opinion, what makes a "good" production?
That’s tricky, because I love lots of different styles of production: anything from super simplistic, minimal, tight pop productions, to huge, multi-dimensional, Imogen Heap-esque soundscapes. I love tracks that don’t feel overworked or overthought, anything that surprises me or does something unexpected, and I love productions that I can hear new things in each time I listen to them.
What does it mean for you to be an artist?
Right now, it means getting to say what I want to say, in the way I want to say it, and proving to myself that I have the capability to put that out into the world in a form I’m proud of. I think part of being an artist for me is also being vulnerable, talking about the uncomfortable things in life, and using music as a form of therapy and catharsis, so that I don’t have to constantly be plagued by whatever thoughts I’m having on that day.
What do you want to accomplish, personally and professionally?
It might be crass, but I think my main goal career wise right now is to get to a point where I can financially support myself through music. Awards and songs I’ve helped create being on the radio/charts would be really cool too, but if I get to the point where I can support myself doing what I love, I don’t think there’s much more I could ask for. Ideally, I’d love to be able to release my own music and also continue working on other artists’ projects as well. Personally, I want to continue to be vulnerable and honest, to be humble and open to learning new things.
What major life lesson have you learned so far?
That I’m capable of much more than I thought I was, and that pretty much any big-picture project that seems terrifying all together is possible when you take it a day at a time.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
More empathy and humility, hands down. I think the current president and the events of the past couple of years (and especially during 2020) have done nothing if not put a glaring spotlight on the lack of empathy and plague of self-centeredness in the culture of this country. Somehow we need to shift the perspective of Americans so that we actually care about our fellow citizens and their wellbeing. Understanding and being compassionate toward the life and struggles of someone who has completely different experiences is paramount to being able to help everybody gain equal opportunity and equal treatment in this country.
What message do you want to deliver to the world?
I think it’s important to be kind, to be honest, and to be humble. Nobody knows everything, almost everyone is struggling (especially in times like these), and I think that vulnerability and empathy are some of the main keys to living a productive and happy life, and to being of service to others who need your help. And for god’s sake, VOTE!
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