Will Varley, 'Advert Soundtracks' album artwork. Photo courtesy of Smugglers Records
Will Varley, a name that should be associated with his crowd-pleasing brand of acoustic folk, is releasing his debut album, Advert Soundtracks on 20 February.
After putting in countless hours of work touring around south-east England’s acoustic and open mic nights – on foot, no less, Varley was picked up by Smugglers Records. They will be supporting his tour to promote the album, which will also be carried out on foot. Let’s hope he has some hard-wearing sensible shoes…
You’ve been described as ‘the antithesis of all that Simon Cowell creates’ by Contact Music, is that a label – or lack thereof – something you actively try to steer clear from?
Well, what Simon Cowell or anyone else does really does not concern me. I am in the business of writing songs. Simon Cowell is in the business of bubblegum and that’s fine.
Let’s be clear though, some of his first records included The Teletubbies Single and The Mightymorphin’ Power Rangers. This guy is making stuff for children, like a clown. He essentially is a very famous clown. I like some clowns, but as for Simon Cowell, I’d like to see him with a bloody nose.
You’ve been trying to get yourself noticed from open mic nights and the like for years – was there ever a point when you were tempted to give up?
It depends what you mean. I would never give up making music and writing/playing songs. If you’re referring to the music industry as such, then I gave up trying to get noticed a long time ago. The ‘music industry’ is essentially a whole group of gatekeepers and I’d rather they didn’t notice me.
I play with a small group of dropouts called Smugglers Records. I think I probably noticed them more than they noticed me. The problem is that a lot of people still believe in the concept of ‘getting noticed’. It doesn’t exist, it’s like an old 1980s model that died away years ago. Write a song and go and play it somewhere. People will notice you. That’s enough.
What was your experience like of touring Kent on foot last summer?
That was beautiful. We walked through the most glorious countryside and met some of the most excellent people in the world. People fed us and put us up and let us play in their pubs or front rooms. A lot of people go travelling in Thailand or someplace and end up in a McDonald’s with an ‘I Love Vietnam’ T-Shirt on.
Anyone can go travelling if they walk out onto their own doorstep one day and go and meet the people you walk past all the time and never speak to. By the time we got home I felt like the whole world was mine. Like every rock was mine to keep and no-one else could claim it. It wore off after a few days when I re-adjusted to living within the confines of my own space but I’ll never forget it.
Do you think the current music climate of embracing all that is folk has helped propel you, or is it more a case that all the practice has paid off?
Ah, shit comes and goes like the plague. Doesn’t bother me. It’ll be out of fashion again before long, I think I prefer it that way. As for propelling me, I’m nowhere. The electric went on the meter earlier and I had to borrow a fiver to turn the lights back on.
What made you come up with the title Advert Soundtracks? A really gripping Nescafe advert?!
The best thing a band can hope for these days is to get their song on an advert. I think that shits on what most people think about music and the power it has to change things or bring people together.
If all goes well with the first album, do you think you’d invest in a car, or even just a micro scooter for the next tour?
No, I want a gold-plated limousine. With twenty hookers and shit loads of cocaine.
As a little pre-album exclusive, you can have a listen to Will Varley’s The Sound Of The Markets Crashing, along with a single from Cocos Lovers who will be accompanying him on tour.
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