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By Cindy Starr
Billy Bier is an extremely talented musician who has been
playing a variety of instruments since he was very young. He
is currently in the band “The Double Standard”,
for which he plays bass guitar. He is now branching out on
his own with his own original music, under the title: sickWILLY
and he is currently working on the debut self-titled CD.
Billy Bier wrote, recorded and performed all parts of his
first single entitled “Break You Down”, and released
it in early December 2012. The single is available for download
at iTunes, Amazon, Cdbaby, Google play and more. The video
for “Break You Down” was produced by Paul Thompson
and includes a cameo appearance, as well as artistic direction,
from “Pogo” aka “MWGacy”, Stephen
Bier, and was released shortly after the single. It can be
seen on Youtube.com.
CS: At what age did you first become
interested in music?
BB: Interesting answer because I don’t ever remember not liking music.
My mom tells me I started playing when I was 3. I don’t remember not playing;
I don’t remember not hearing music in my mind. I don’t remember not
being interested in it. I think I was around 3 or 4 years old and my parents
were playing an Ike and Tina Turner song, which is also a Credence Clearwater
song called ‘Proud Mary” and I had a little plastic guitar that had
3 or 4 strings on it and I started playing along with the song and my parents
both looked at me like “Whoa!” I just learned it by ear. I don’t
really consider myself a religious person but I can be a spiritual person, so
I do consider myself blessed. For the first ten years of my life I thought that
everyone hears what I hear, but then I realized everybody doesn’t hear
what I hear.
It was really cool because I heard it and I wanted to played and then I played
it and I don’t know how else to explain it other than it was easy for me
to hear and easy for me to duplicate and it was fun, I enjoyed it. I was also
really interested in percussion, I wanted to play drums, but I think my parents
thought, drums are too loud, let’s get him a guitar (laughter). I think
I was around 9 or 10 when I got an electric guitar with an amplifier, and I don’t
think they realized an amplifier can be turned up really loud, so, they thought
they were going to get away with me being quiet, with a guitar and it didn’t
work out that way. I just feel really lucky and blessed – when I hear music
I hear everything, I hear all the pieces. I hear it as a whole, but I also hear
it individually. I hear drums, I hear keyboard, I hear strings, whatever’s
in it, I hear. And the craziest thing is, from when I was really little, I could
be at work, I could be at school, and I’d hear music in my head. It’s
not music that I know; it’s just music that is coming to me. I have like
a soundtrack in my mind all the time. I thought everybody had it. |
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CS: When did you first join a band?
BB: When I was very young, I liked funk music. My mom always
said my interests were very ethnic. I liked the Jackson 5,
I liked James Brown, but I also liked rock music so I always
wanted to combine the two. This was long before the Red Hot
Chili Peppers and anybody else. I used to write music that
was funky but rock, even as a little kid and I’d record
it on cassettes. So the end result was, in high school
I started jamming with other people like Mark Wright, Guy
Scott and other people and putting things together.
A couple of early serious bands I had were probably Touched’ in
1999 with Julie Marie on vocals, she used to sing with Expose.
And then the hard rock project Unity Gain in 02’ with
Greg Sherman and Kevin Sciortino, these were great guys. And
that’s when I started playing bass. I had played guitar
most of my life and then I started playing bass in 2001, 2002
because I couldn’t find a good bass player.
CS: So you play drums, guitar
and bass?
BB: Yea, I’ve always been of the mindset that if you
bring me up on stage and want me to play an instrument then
I’ll give it my best shot, because with me it’s
about feelings and emotion, not technicality.
CS: Have you always planned on branching
out on your won or is this just something recent?
BB: Oh yea, but you know when you have a family, a wife and
kids; you find you can’t put the effort in that you need.
I was married for 26 years, I got married very young. I have
two beautiful kids, a boy and a girl. But to do that you have
to sacrifice certain things and one of the things I had to
sacrifice was music. I still played, but I never pushed it.
I had to give half effort and that won’t get you anywhere. I
wrote a lot of music for me and it was an outlet for me.
CS: sickWILLY is your solo music project,
which is the dream you’ve been pursuing your whole
life. How did you come up with the name?
BB: The name sickWILLY comes from WILLY (me, William) and sick,
well, people say I can be a little sick/crazy. I only have
my first single out at the moment, more to come soon, but it
is available literally everywhere. Amazon, iTunes, cdbaby,
Google play, etc.
CS: When did you
start playing in cover bands and how did that bring
you to sickWILLY, your original creation?
BB: I never played in a cover
band until about 7 years ago – I always played
my own music. I’ve been writing my own stuff since I can remember. If there
was something I wanted to learn, like Rush, I would teach myself, but most of
the time when I played it came from me. The cover band kind of started as an
accident, a way to make some money, a little jingle in the pocket. Plus it’s
a way for me to get on stage and play for people. The reason I joined this cover
band, The Double Standard, is Chuck Doty, the drummer. I used to go see him in
a band called “Frontrunner” that was amazing. The sickWILLY project
is the first thing, concerning my own music that I’m invested in completely.
This is what I want to do. In life, you try to teach your kids, find something
you love so that you can enjoy your life. It’s one thing to tell them that,
it’s another thing to show them. So I’m
trying to show them if you put your mind to it, if
you put the effort in, something can happen.
CS: So what changed that
made it possible for you to pursue your dream?
BB: My wife and I were separated;
I’m in my 40’s. Thank God for the
Internet because age doesn’t matter as much anymore. Back in the day you
had to tour, etc., and now with YouTube and Face Book so I don’t have to
be 20 years old anymore. I can be my age and fake my way through it and push
something that’s important to me. This came about because I want to show
people this is what I want to do. Through the years I’ve met so many great
players and I want to bring my family and friends with me and we’ll have
a great time and make great music and that’s really what it’s all
about. I couldn’t do it before because I had too many responsibilities
but now that I’m kind of on my own, this is something that I feel is important
to me and for my kids to see, and it’s been a dream of mine since I was
3 years old.
CS: Yea, I noticed from your
sickWILLY Face Book page
(www.facebook.com/sickWILLYmusic), that
you are on Amazon and that radio stations are playing “Break
You Down” as well. How did that come about?
BB: That has all been pretty recent. Thank God for my brother because he really
pushed it. He has a name, being from Marilyn Manson for so many years, so that
helped.
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CS: Your sickWILLY video for “Break You Down” was
amazing. I had never seen you play drums until then.
Who was the man that seemed to be singing?
BB: I was doing the singing and that was my brother (Pogo” aka “MWGacy”,
Stephen Bier) doing a cameo for me; he’s just mouthing the words.
I wanted to bring him into it, he’s very experienced,
having been with Marilyn Manson for 17 years; one of the
original members. He was gracious enough to do that for
me and it lent the video some clout. The music itself was
all me, there is no one else on there but me, but he was
nice enough to make an appearance in the video.
CS: And I see from your FB page and
iTunes, “Break You Down” is
pretty popular – congrats! What is in the future
for sickWILLY?
BB: As for future sickWILLY goes, I have so many players,
famous guys that want to play on it. Although the first
single was performed solely by Billy Bier, upcoming songs
will have guest participants and collaborations with several
other artists. These artists include “Pogo” Stephen
Bier formerly of Marilyn Manson, Michael Cry from V.A.S.T.,
Paul Thompson from Gauge, Sara Lee Lucas formerly of Marilyn
Manson, Chuck Doty from Front Runner, Brian Beauvais from
UnityGain, and many more.
CS: If you could play onstage with any performer, alive or
dead, who would it be?
BB: That question is impossible for me to answer. LOL My taste
in music is so eclectic and I love so many great musicians,
I couldn't pick one. I don't even think I could pick a band!
CS: One last question: How does
it feel to finally be pursuing what you’ve
wanted since you were a young child?
BB: I am going insane, truly, and I’m about to let it climb out of me.
I can taste this in my blood, in my core. I am ready, I don’t know if America
or the world is ready. . . . But ready or not, here I come!
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