Interview... The Willowz

The Willowz

Interview with The Willowz

Words: Ashley Marie Sansotta

Photos: Ashley Marie Sansotta

Dubbed “the most hated band out of Anaheim,” The Willowz are a sight to see. But as leadman Richie James Follin says, that quote came from a guy in a band he was in before The Willowz; who had told that to a small weekly California magazine. And just like the game of telephone – the word travels all the way up to Rolling Stone and Spin Magazine. “They all write that,” he says. “And it just got taken from one little write-up.”

Hmmm… I wonder why? So, wow. The Willowz. What can I say? These kids are pure rock and roll. They know how to party hard... and play even harder. We started drinking together before the interview. Quite a few drinks and smoking sessions later, the real show began. They don’t have a specific set-list for their live-sets; they just go with it. And that they did. Guitarist Arin Bohn was so wasted, in fact, that in-between his chugs of vodka and guitar riffs, he choked back on what would have been a serious staged puking moment, from what I noticed - and he later confirmed. But The Willowz played like crazy, as they always do – completely jamming out during their bridges and elaborate song endings while stumbling all over the stage with their instruments.

They told me stories of being blacklisted from Montreal, and their van’s window being busted out at their last show in Tennessee. Yes, The Willowz have more than many stories to tell... and of course, I was oh-so eager to listen...

REAX: So, who influences you guys these days?

Arin Bohn: I think our sound’s changing. It changes so much depending on what we’re listening to... This record is completely different than the last record... The real core of what we like, that really hasn’t changed... .just like you know, ’65 through ’75...

REAX: What does your song writing process look like?

Bohn: Basically, we just hear a sound and then we go off that note.

(A Tampa trolley goes by and blares it’s horn, as if on cue.)

Bohn: Just like that... like a trolley horn... it just comes when it comes... and then it comes...

Richie James Follin: And when it rains it pours.

Bohn: That’s right. And right now, we brought our studio on the road. We actually have like 2 studios in our van.

Loren Shane Humphrey: Yeah, I make sounds for Camel Cigarettes. It has nothing to do with the band, but I had to bring the studio anyway.

REAX: Do you smoke Camel Cigarettes?

Humphrey: Nah-uh.

Bohn: I think he does... he just cant tell his mom.

REAX: And, Chautauqua? (the name of their record)

Bohn: As soon as he told me the word, everyone liked it. It made a lot of sense with the record. All the sounds sound really different. We recorded it in upstate new york, deep in the country.

Follin: Right next to one of George Washington’s houses.

Bohn: It’s just the most american thing is: Chautauqua. We’re all so american, and its like a traveling carnival... and thats kinda what we are. When he told me the name, I was like “thats such a rad name.” And everyone liked it.

REAX: What are you guys listening to lately?

Humphrey: I’ve been listening to a lot of African shit lately.

Bohn: Yeah, we’re really gonna try out some African beats next. I don’t know what it’s gonna sound like, but we’re just getting ideas down now. But, you know what? (laughs) I didn’t know what the last record was gonna sound like either...

Humphrey: And Richie’s grown so much as a singer and guitar player. And now that he’s in the band (points to Humphrey), its a whole other world.

REAX: And how did you get in the band? (to Humphrey)

Humphrey: I was butt-naked.

Bohn: (laughs) No, I knew who he was... We all did... He’s actually the best drummer I’ve ever seen in my life. We tried him out, and we were like, this is our guy. You know, he’s 22, and he’s been playing drums for like twenty years. That’s what sucks too, I wish he drummed on our last record. The cover just had the three of us on it. And we were like, “No, we have to put him on it.”

Follin: You know, like peaking out from the rocks on the cover.

Bohn: And we get along great. We live together, too... Its weird, you go on tour for like 2 months, and you come home and you’re like, “Hey what’s up, man… you’re still here?”

Humphrey: The first day I met him (Bohn) was the first day I auditioned for the band. The rest of his band was standing still, and he was all over the place, like in the crowd… doing all this weird shit.

Follin: He was drinking a coke, actually.

Bohn: Drinking coke... and doing soooo much coke.

Humphrey: The Willowz cleaned up his life.

Bohn: They really have.

(everyone laughs)

Bohn: And we’ve been best pals ever since… you know, like that fairy tale story.

REAX: Oh that’s so cute…

Photos courtesy of Ashley Marie Sansotta.

Video of an 11 year old Loren Shane Humphrey covering a Dead Kennedys song: