Born and bred in the idyllic English Riviera, Will really is wise beyond his years. Creating music that packs an almighty punch, his lyrics can take you through the honest gratitude of family life, to the angst and concern for the state of the political landscape. From the likes of Frank Turner and folk singer Will Varley, the sonic sounds of emotion tend to influence the recent graduate.
“I was always obsessed with [music] and not much else.” With creativity in schools often overlooked and pushed to the side-line, a career in music was a gut feeling for Will. “I just went with my instinct and everything felt kinda right, writing songs and gigging for the first time felt like I’d unlocked something inside.” Notoriously humble, Will’s sounds often can’t be categorised into the boundaries of genre and instead it’s the truthfulness of his lyrics that set to break the walls of confinement.
“For me it was pretty futile to sit at home and try to write something beautiful, hoping for some cathartic outlet like other musicians I knew were doing. Instead, I got that catharsis from just losing myself in the sound, getting through a pack of strings a week from playing the guitar like a madman!”
Studying in coastal Falmouth, the quiet and sublime vibes of living by the sea are laced with the bustling music scene; indie bars and eccentric spots opening their doors to the energy of creative talent it homes. Will’s latest collection of tracks sees him touching on the shared experiences of worldly pain. “I’m generally quite an introverted person and whilst I have a lot of opinions, I’ve always found it hard to vocalize them. [putting them] into music was the perfect solution, performing is empowering and it’s like the one moment where I don’t give a fuck about anything…”
Each considered lyric is one step further to addressing the chaotic connection that music can have to exposing universal turmoil. Speaking on his approaches to lyrical protest, Will adds that fundamentally, it’s all about laughter. “I don’t think there is any responsibility for artists to cover themes like the ones I do, art in itself is so broad and serves multiple purposes after all.” …
“The world is majorly fucked at the moment and the more I dwell on that, the worse it makes me feel, so why not take some of that negative energy and create some laughter out of it?”
‘Unoriginal Songs’, a collection of cathartically poetic tracks of that undefined Will Hawkins sound. You can often find yourself getting lost in the pool of comedy and spoken word – the darkened air of the student filled bar falling silent to the intense but engaging frustration seen in latest release, ‘Charlottesville’. “I’ve never wanted the boundaries of genre to control how I write my songs, and I accepted somewhere along the road that I’d never be a pop musician whilst singing lyrics like ‘fuck the Nazi’s of Charlottesville’.”
Watching Will end the set and leave the stage to a luke-warm pint, the vibe has changed in that alcohol-infused room. A sense of reflection hits – and Will has managed to cut through the bullshit and set records straight in a mere 20-minute set.
Now based in Bristol, Will can be found in a new job whilst still sussing out the music scene and telling a new group of people how he feels about Donnie Trump!
Will Hawkins Music | @willhawkins123