Wesley Gonzalez
Excellent Musician
Gonzalez made a name for himself at an early age as the petulant frontman and creative force behind guitar-shredding pop-punk band Let’s Wrestle. The band, formed in 2005 when Gonzalez was only 15, was lauded for their no-fi DIY sound. Without letting go of his fascination with ‘Beatlesesque’ melodies, Gonzalez taught himself piano by learning to play Stevie Wonder and Al Green songs, “which all have chord structures I’d not paid much attention to previously. There’s also a lot of emphasis on the bass notes and rhythm of the bass”. He began writing songs harking back to mid 70’s singer-songwriters such as Emmitt Rhodes, whilst maintaining those elements of soul and funk via Sly And The Family Stone and Donny Hathaway. A summer revisiting early electronic music (White Noise, Mort Garson) encouraged Gonzalez to invest in analogue Korg synthesizers, on which he wrote Excellent Musician. For the unplanned and partly improvised recording sessions, which took place in 4 days spread out over a few months, Joe Chilton and Euan Hinshelwood (Younghusband) played driving rhythmic bass and saxophone respectively. They were joined in the Lightship45 studio by drummer extraordinaire Bobby Voltaire (Proper Ornaments, Charles Howl) and, with the help of co-producer Rory Atwell, the songs began to advance into a distinctively modern sound.
Tracklist
1. An Adult
2. I Am A Telescope
3. Just The Same
4. Still Working On It
5. Just A Piece Of Mind
6. I Spoke To Euan
7. Exhibition Song
8. Cake On Your Birthday
9. Snake In The Grass
10. In Amsterdam
11. Don't Try & Take Me Down
12. Not That Kind Of Guy
13. Quarantined River
Related Items
Girl Ray
Earl Grey
Girl Ray
Preacher
Sweet Baboo
Wild Imagination
Happyness
Write In
Alexis Taylor
Listen Without Piano
Meilyr Jones
2013