WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/JOHNWILLC
hey everyone, my name is john. i am really just trying to get my music out there for people to hear. i know it's not something for everyone, but if you do enjoy my stuff, then, thank you very much :). i got a CD out it's free of charge if you want one let me know. it's a ten track album recorded in my condo so quality is not the greatest but it's okay i suppose. i usually play open mics around the area (NoVA) but i would love to open for anyone at a real venue for exposure purposes i guess. yeah that's right i'm whoring myself out. if you or your band could help me out let me know!
below is a video of me playing for the first time in front of people back in march ('08) took place in my condo. i am obviously very nervous and sounded a little rough, but i don't care. i'll post more videos in the future. :)
digging a hole
crystal city
pretty young girl
st ides heaven (elliott smith cover)
harvest moon (neil young cover)
1. cop out
2. many moons away
3. pretty young girl
4. window shopping
5. confused
6. hard to get
7. room 102
8. here she comes
9. play it cool
10. dreams
i've been writing since i was about 14 or 15 but never really put the words into song until i was about 18 or so. the first band i was in was called Genna. i guess you could say it was a mix of indie/punk rock/hardcore shit. yes, confusing and awkward mix of genres, i know. we all had separate minds when it came to music, that's probably why it didn't last too long. so, the project didn't really go anywhere and we usually just played in the basement of brad's uncles house, on genna st. hence the name. to be directed to brad or jawanns myspace click on their picture.
genna was:
john collier - guitar/vocals
brad campbell - bass/vocals
jawann carter - drums
you can't find the recorded stuff we did anywhere unless you ask brad i think he has some of the songs. the guys and i aren't too close anymore doesn't have anything to do with the break up. it's just we kinda grew up our separate ways i suppose. brad campbell can be found on my friends list under the name "skinny" he's an incredible bassist and very original, but is busy pursuing his career, so i am not sure if he is available for a full time band but he's a great jam bassist. if interested in a drummer jawann carter can be found on myspace. he's also great at his respected instrument. i hope to reunite with these guys and play shows in the future.
in 2005-2006 i started recording acoustic stuff and it was absolutely horrible. i deleted pretty much all of the 40 something tracks from my computers awhile ago so i can feel like they never existed. i think one CD exist somewhere maybe brad has it or maybe it's stuffed somewhere in my closet, away from the living. some of the songs were okay and i regret deleting a few of them but, oh well. after a while i decided to give up on recording because i didn't find my voice or my style and it just felt uncomfortable.
in mid 2007 i started recording again because i felt like i found my style and decided just to let things comes natural and not force things. i also started taking things a bit more serious as far as the music and lyrics go. everything you hear on this page is written from the heart and every song i write truly mean a lot to me. since i am becoming a little bored with just acoustic music i am going to start writing full instrumentation songs with a bit of, i guess an "indie rock" sound to it. but to me it's just called "music." i can play a little drums and piano and a lot of bass it's just the fact that i do not have all of these instruments in my possession as of right now. so you might not here the "full sound" for a while. as for now, my open mics or shows are just acoustic and i usually cover a few of my influences (beatles, young, smith, harrison, etc.) so if you like those artists maybe you'll like my covers? come out and check it out sometime. :)
so that leads to present day. i'm here, healthy, and enjoy making music for myself and others who like it. i try to play an open mic at least once a week and i am bad at posting shows on myspace in advance but i am going to try and fix that problem of mine.
as for personal life; i have a dog named bailey, i love music, i am very much a "mamas boy" i love my dad just as much. sucks they aren't together anymore. i love my family they come first. mike thomas is my best friend he's the shit and gets all the ladies somehow and macks them to death, it's pretty bad. one of the biggest and possibly main influence was my ex-girlfriend now good friend, amberly. she was really supportive in the beginning and still and was pretty much my first fan and i appreciate her for that. if it wasn't for her support i probably would have gave this up a long time ago. and i have a lovely girlfriend, we just started dating but she's pretty cool. so i think that's about all you would care about. if not ask me a question i'll be glad to answer.
have a nice day:)
