| Beyond the jungle: Matt Willis |
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| "I was really shitting myself before that gig – my tour manager found me locked in my dressing room hiding under a table" |
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CMU ALBUMS OF 2006: 'Don't Let It Go To Waste'
released 20 Nov on Mercury Records
When we wrote our review of 2005 this time last year we expressed some concern for the then AWOL Matt Willis (formerly Jay) who we hadn't heard from since the sudden demise of Busted eleven months earlier (except for occasional tabloid reports involving alcohol). A year on, and it's pretty hard to miss Matt at the moment, he being on our screens all the time, eating a crocodile's genitals one minute, dropping giant snakes the next. If anything it's now James Bourne and those Sons Of Dork who should be on the side of our milk cartons. Of course, his victory in the jungle has secured Willis his particularly high media profile, but the jungle isn't really that important because he's been busy doing much more important things in the last year, ie recording and releasing one of the best pop albums of 2006. CMU's love of all things Busted is no secret, but to be honest, we found it hard to get overly passionate about either of the two bands that came out of the defunct boy band - Charlie Simpson's Fightstar or the aforementioned Son Of Dork, even though that was led by Busted's chief songwriter, James Bourne. But 'Don't Let It Go To Waste', the result of a songwriting collaboration between Willis and former A frontman Jason Perry, is an album we can really get excited about. A more mature brand of pop than anything Busted ever created, but at the same time just as infectious, lyrically and musically, it's a great example of guitar-centric pop done right. And Willis is a great performer who, like a certain other former boy band member turned premier league solo pop star, may not have the most brilliant singing voice, but who possesses the kind of charm that means it really it doesn't matter. Given a soft release during his jungle adventure, 'Don't Let It Go To Waste' is yet to make a huge impact on the pop market in terms of album sales, but it deserves to because, like the debut solo album of that aforementioned other-former-boy-band-member-turned-solo-star' (an album which also took a while to gain momentum), give Willis' debut a few listens and you'll find some of the best rock pop songs of the moment on there. Let's hope Matt can use his current media profile to launch a long solo career - with this kind of album, he deserves it. |
I can honestly say I really have no interest whatsoever in what kangaroo anus or crocodile penis tastes like, but I get the impression I’m very much in the minority because, chatting to former Busted boy Matt Willis at the end of a packed day of post-jungle interviews, I get the impression that’s been the main topic of conversation so far. Still, winning ITV’s annual celeb TV extravaganza has put Willis back in the media limelight for a few weeks which, given the show conveniently coincided with the release of his debut solo album, will hopefully make the jungle adventure worthwhile by providing a boost to record sales.
“I’m not going to lie,” he says, “that’s obviously the reason I did it. It certainly wasn’t for the food! I thought to myself, there’s the risk I’ll look naff, but I’ve got an album coming out and this way I’ll be on prime time TV every night for a couple of weeks. Friends kept saying ‘why are you doing this?’ and ‘do it in two years time when everything fucks up’. But that just seemed ridiculous to me. Why do it in two years time when you’ve nothing going on? Do it now while you’ve got something to sell”.
Of course reality TV does sometimes provide genuine career boosts, though other times the media become so obsessed with aspects of the show itself – the kangaroo anus and crocodile penis and all that that crap – that the public don’t get to hear about what it is the celebrity participant is selling. But I’m really hoping Willis’ current profile boost will persuade a wider audience to sample his debut album ‘Don't Let It Go To Waste’ and that, despite a relatively slow start sales wise, it will start to shift serious units in the new year, because it is a really good pop album, and for me proves that musically Matt is the Busted alumni with genuine potential as a credible solo pop performer.
“When Busted came to an end my initial plan was to do another band” Matt says, explaining how he got from that tearful ‘Charlie’s quitting Busted’ press conference in January 2005 to his debut solo showcase at London’s Scala back in March this year. “I was going to call it Willis, and had great ideas of it being like this Bon Jovi kind of thing, it would have been awesome. So I started writing some songs, but before I knew it I’d written a whole album. So I was like, ‘oh shit, I need to get a band together’. But then the thought of going through that whole audition process – you know, ‘yeah he plays good but he doesn’t look right’, all of that – I just couldn’t face the thought of doing it. So it just seemed easier to go solo”.
While being solo removes the stresses and politics of recruiting and working with a band, it also means you don’t have anyone to share the pressure that comes with releasing and performing music. And when you’re an artist at the start of your solo career, but with the profile and expectations that come with being an ex-member of one of the biggest teen bands of recent years, that can be a lot of pressure. “I can honestly say I’ve never been so nervous before in my life”, Willis admits, referring to that Scala showcase where I, like the rest of the pop media, first got to witness Matt’s post-Busted work. “Generally before Busted gigs I was pretty chilled, I never had a problem with it. But I was really shitting myself before that gig. My tour manager found me locked in my dressing room hiding under a table, I was this close to having an all out panic attack. But once I was on stage it all went away, and it was all fine. I think I said a few unpolitically correct things – but I seemed to get away with it – and all was good”.
Willis’ solo material is certainly as accessible as the Busted catalogue, and is still fundamentally guitar-centric pop. But at the same time ‘Don't Let It Go To Waste’ is quite different from Busted’s two albums which were, after all, generally driven by his then bandmate James Bourne. Willis’ solo material, on the other hand, is driven primarily through a partnership between Willis and Jason Perry, formerly frontman of late nineties British rock band A. And the songs they have created are much more mature than the average Busted track. And not just lyrically. The guitars, in particular, really rock, making for a heavier sound; but not in the way of Willis’ other former bandmate Charlie Simpson’s new band Fightstar. Willis’ solo music really rocks, but it is still pop music. Which is why we love it.
“I wanted Busted fans to like my solo stuff,” Matt says, “but I didn’t just want to do another rip off of the America pop punk scene. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Busted stuff, but I wanted to do something a bit different. And it all really came together when I got to work with Jason. I was a massive fan of A, and when met we really hit it off straight away. And I’m really really pleased with what we’ve created”.
Willis’ solo career formally launched in May with the release of debut single ‘Up All Night’, followed by a single release of my personal favourite track ‘Hey Kid’ in August. Coming nearly eighteen months after the end of Busted, and with his bandmates having long since launched their subsequent projects, in this fickle world of ours having a damn good album was never going to be enough to ensure popular attention. Fortunately for Matt, the general consensus in the pop media is that out of all of Busted he was the genuinely nice guy, and so they have been generally willing to give his solo material some air time and column inches. And of course his decision to do the jungle show has ensured a place in the mainstream consciousness, for a short time at least. That said, in terms of record sales ‘Don't Let It Go To Waste’ hasn’t been an overnight success, but then again that’s often the case with some of the best pop albums, and Matt seems committed to using the post-jungle momentum to the best of his abilities to properly launch his solo career.
“It’s been crazy,” he says of the last six weeks, “I really haven’t had chance for my feet to touch the ground. So I’m really looking forward to Christmas and New Year, the plan is to just chill and have a good time. Get a little head space. Then I’m going on tour in February. From there? I’m not sure. I guess the plan is to sell enough of this record so I can make another one. I don’t tend to think too far ahead, so who knows? If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be on ‘I’m A Celebrity’ in twelve months time I’d have said ‘get fucked, no way’. So, I wouldn’t like to predict what I’ll be doing this time next year”.
Which is fair enough. Either way, I really hope that in the next twelve months that Matt is able to use his post-jungle platform to show the world just what a great pop talent he is, because while ‘Don't Let It Go To Waste’ is one of our favourite albums of this year, it also deserves to be one of the albums of 2007.
Matt Willis’ favourite artists of 2006:
“Just Jack definitely, and Razorlight. And Kanye West. Oh, and Pendulum, that album was great”.
Matt Willis’ New Year’s resolutions:
“I never set any, because I never stick to them”.
chris@unlimitedmedia.co.uk - published dec 2006
