R.G. WILLIAMSON Interview for Museboat Live channel
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03/19/2023 / TEXT CREDITS: R.G. WILLIAMSON, Museboat; PHOTO CREDITS: R.G. WILLIAMSON
Taunjua: Hi R.G. Welcome to Museboat Live channel !
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Hello T.J. and Museboat and thank you for having me here, I am very very excited to be here today!
Taunjua: I'm really glad that we managed to have this interview. Now, tell us: What or who inspired you to become a musician?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Ah, that's a tough one to answer...um. Music has been a part of my life since my earliest memories. When I was four years old I used to rock back and forth on the couch and hum these melodies that I had made up in my head. When my parents got concerned they brought me to the doctors. The Doctors told my parents it was just a natural way to relieve stress. So I guess you could say stress was my first inspiration (laughs) to write songs. But when I was like fourteen I was exposed to the guitar playing of Tony Iommi and that was when I, that was when I knew I wanted to play guitar. When I heard him play and what he could do with it and it just spoke to me and so to this day his playing continues to inspire me.
Taunjua: What genre of music would you say describes your music?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Ah, the genre question. I'd say I'm rock, I think it pretty much speaks for itself. There's a little country mixed in with blues and... but I think it's all relevant to rock. So I mean I mean if you wanted to really break it down I guess I straddle a line between classic 70's rock and 90's alternative rock but you know I don't like boundaries I guess, where music is concerned. There are way too many styles that influence my writing. And honestly I'd get bored if I had to stick to one genre (laughs). Ultimately I'd say my music is rock but my next album might be a disco album and the one after that might be a country rock album I don't know. I just kinda leave the doors open I guess.
Taunjua: Where do you most often get inspiration for your songs and what is the writing process?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: You know, the process of songwriting always seems to vary for me from song to song. Lyrically inspiration can come from anywhere. It could be a film I watched, a memory I had, a current event or just an imagined story that I made up in my mind. But I almost always write and record the music first, or at least a rough version of what the song will be. That could start with a drum beat or a gutar riff. Sometimes I come up with a bass line first and then build the song from there. Then I try to find a lyrical melody that will fit the music. Um.. no special words just nonsense stuff but more or less the melody of what the vocal line will do. And then I come up with the words as basically the last thing I do. I try to find the words that will fit the mood of the song. Sometimes, you know, it could be a song say.... like my song "Lowdown" is about an apocalyptic ending to the world but it's done in a happy (laughs) country way so...you know some things work and some things don't. Um, when I was writing for my album "The Solid State of Life in a Vacuum" I ended up writing like twenty songs in about a month. You know, and I had to pick and choose which songs I wanted to use for the album, make sure they all worked together in some way.
But that left me with like ten songs that are now dormant but I still could use them. And you know sometimes that works great in that sense. But it's always, it’s always different uh, you know I can't say I haven't written a poem and then went and put music to it, you know that works just as well sometimes. But I think the easiest way for me is to write the music first and then work the lyrics in, it just comes more natural I think.
Taunjua: What was the inspiration behind the title of your debut album "The Solid State of Life in a Vacuum"?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Ah the title. That was a play on words that came to me during the height of Covid. I was't working because of the pandemic and I had a lot of time on my hands. And being a guitar player that I am I was sitting around thinking about you know, guitar stuff, like solid state amplifiers and vacuum tube amplifiers and you know, which is better and I thought, "hey, you know this would be a great analogy about everything society was going through at the time".
How people pick sides and disagree with each other and how everyone deals with isolation differently. I knew there was something there so I thought about it and personally I found peace during the months of confinement so I wanted to reflect that in the title of the album. A little timestamp if you will. Plus it gave me a really cool idea for the album cover art (laughs). And for the record I love both solid state and tube amplifiers. To me they both have a place in music. So don't judge me (laughs).
Taunjua: What was the most memorable moment of your career so far?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: You know, um after 30 years of doing this um playing music, writing songs, performing live, there are just so many great things that have happened along the journey but I would have to say that writing, recording and producing my first solo album has been one of the most memorable moments of my career. I mean not only was it a proud moment for me but it has led, it's just led to so many more great moments like having a song reach number one here on Museboat last year. That was and still is an amazing feeling to me. So I mean take your pick. It just seems to get better and better as years go on.
Taunjua: What is your favorite song to perform and why?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Oo, ah that's a difficult question to answer, cause I love playing all the songs but if I had to pick one I would say "Time is a Cannonball" is probably my favorite to perform, um it has such a personal meaning for me lyrically and I love the build up in it and I don't know, I just love that song. Incidentally I will be releasing an acoustic version of that song soon. So that's something I'm looking forward to.
Taunjua: Any interesting behind the scenes stories? What are some memorable moments from some of your past live performances?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Oh my, um I'll tell you, there is no other experience that compares to traveling with a band and playing live shows. I performed with this rock band called "Imbalance" for over eleven years and man the stories we have to tell, I'll have to write a book someday (laughs). We would play modest clubs and bars with this 10,000 watt sound system, old school sound system you know like the P.A. speakers would stack like nine feet high. And one time we were playing this outdoor gig in Freedom New Hampshire, right great name, Freedom New Hampshire. We're playing outdoors and we're in the middle of the White Mountains cranking through this monster system, at least it was a monster to us and the next we know the cops are shutting us down. I'm thinking "great, the neighbors must have complained about the noise". You know rightfully so, I could understand that, it's 10,000 watts it's loud but then I realize the cops are from the next city. They were getting complaints from the next city that we were too loud (laughs). Best thing was thet stayed, they loved it and they stayed for the show and at the end of the night a lady walks up to me with her six year old kid and he holds out his sneaker for me to sign. How cool is that? I mean that's a great moment. So many great moments.
Taunjua: What’s up next for you? What are your future plans in music?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Ooo what's next? That's a good question. Um you know I've had so much fun just pushing and promoting this last album, you know just loving all the feedback and people listening, it's been great. But I am really looking forward to releasing some new music. It's long overdue for me anyway. I got a new single coming out in a couple months with a new album hopefully before the end of the year if everything goes well. I'm also looking at some collaborations with other artists, that should be fun. I'm really looking forward to that. I also can't wait to start playing live again, it's been a while. I've been busy trying to put a backing band together but that takes some time so I'll most likely start playing some small acoustic shows later this year. It's such a great feeling to play live and I've missed it a lot. So I can't wait to get back to doing that again.
Taunjua: OK R.G, this one is from Andy. What was the inspiration behind the song "The Velvet Light"?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Oh boy, that one. I knew this question was coming sooner or later from Andy (laughs). Well the lyrics are based on an experience I had back in the mid 90s. In my hometown there's an area called Dogtown Common, it's about 3,000 acres of forest with a Settler history dating back to the 1600s, right around the time of the Salem Witch trials. It's a very spiritual place in many ways. Do some research on it, it's great, it's got a lot of history. But anyway, one day a couple of friends and I decided to eat some mushrooms......eh....of the magical variety (laughs). Yeah we had about four grams each so yeah. And we decided to hike out about two or three miles into the woods into Dogtown Common, off the beaten path, in the middle of nowhere, camped out. We had no tents, no sleeping bags, just some earth and maybe a twelve pack of beer. And we just stayed there all night. At one point in the wee hours of the night we could swear someone was walking towards us with a flashlight from deep in the woods. We saw this light and it just kept getting brighter and bigger. We just sat and watched this light as it got closer and brighter, and we just couldn't believe somebody knew where we were in the middle of nowhere. And they were coming to see us, you know what's the happenchance that somebody was just walking through the woods with a flashlight at, I think it was like midnight in the middle of the woods? But here we were looking and it turned out to be the moon. The moon was just rising through the trees. I mean we were just laughing our asses off. Thinking about, oh my god how could we think that was somebody, it was the moon but you know, that's what mushrooms do to ya. And at another point in the night we were hearing all these voices, like thousands of people whispering. It just kept getting louder, but it was a whisper, just a thousand whispers all at once and we could not figure it out. We were like who is out here, what are they having a seance? What's going on? You know, it's like thousands of people. It really was like startling in a way. So you know as we sat there and listened, we didn't go search, I mean we were comfortable where we were so we just sat and listened. And then we realized it was Tree Toads, we call them peepers out here but there were hundreds of them, maybe even thousands but they were all peeping at once and it sounded like people whispering. I mean you could almost distinguish words, that's how crazy it was. But that's what it was. Anyway, there's a lot more to tell on that experience but Psilocybin sure made things interesting that night for sure. I hope that answers your question Andy (laughs)
Taunjua: Is there anything else you want to say to Museboat Live channel listeners?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Well I'm really just beside myself with gratitude for Museboat and its listeners. Because of you all, the last sixteen months have been very uplifting especially after I lost my Mom in October. I mean the support that I've received here at Museboat just helped heal me, you know it really did. The community I've connected with and the support I've gotten is amazing. I'm just so honored to have my music received so well and to be played alongside some of the best music in the world, I mean really. Thank you all for listening. I feel truly blessed at the moment. Your support has been tremendous.
Taunjua: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for the interview, Richard. GoodBye.
R.G. WILLIAMSON:
h thanks so much for the opportunity T.J. and Museboat, it's been a pleasure answering all these questions. Keep the faith and rock on everybody.
This interview was brought to you by
Taunjua aka TJ
host to the TJ´s Muse Bridge show
WATCH MUSIC VIDEO: R.G. WILLIAMSON - Meet Me in the Middle
Links: R.G. WILLIAMSON on Museboat | R.G. WILLIAMSON Official Website | Facebook | Twitter | Music Shop | Spotify | YouTube Channel R.G. WILLIAMSON - Hall Of Fame R.G. WILLIAMSON - Hall Of Alltimers
R.G. WILLIAMSON interview for Museboat Live Channel on Sunday, Sunday, March 19th, 2023 in TJ´s Muse Bridge show with TaunJua aka TJ
I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubblegum
Roddy Piper (They Live)
Featured Artist / Artist Of The Week / Hall Of Fame Artist / Hall Of Alltimers Artist, MMA Annual Gala Chart 2022 Finalist R.G.WILLIAMSON from Massachusetts is a member of BMI and an internationally published songwriter and musician. He blends decades of musical influences into his song creations with lyrics that are both dark and light-hearted in nature. Vocal harmonies, melody and guitar hooks are the driving force throughout all of his songs that touch on subjects such as relationships, life challenges, inspiration, fantasy and the supernatural. The great grandchild of Swedish and Irish immigrants, Richard
Gunnard Williamson was born in 1967 in the historic fishing port of Gloucester, Massachusetts made famous by the movie The Perfect Storm. He is the third of four children. Although raised in a modestly poor household his parents always found ways to entertain friends and family during holidays and special occasions. Music was always a central part of that entertainment. and as a result he was constantly exposed to a wide variety of musical styles and genres that would ultimately influence his own songwriting in later years.
In 2014 he wrote, recorded and released his first single as a solo artist titled “Nothing” and on October 27th, 2021, after three months of writing, recording. producing and engineering he released his first full length, self-produced album “The Solid State of Life in a Vacuum” on his own independent music label "R.G. Williamson Music''. It's worth noting that although he never completed college for an art degree he has been fully responsible for all the artwork on every album release as well as all graphic logo designs and advertisements for every musical project he's been a part of.
R.G.WILLIAMSON´s music was and is played by many Radio Stations including Museboat Live and we are happy to have the privilege to ask Richard a few questions.
Taunjua: Hi R.G. Welcome to Museboat Live channel !
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Hello T.J. and Museboat and thank you for having me here, I am very very excited to be here today!
Taunjua: I'm really glad that we managed to have this interview. Now, tell us: What or who inspired you to become a musician?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Ah, that's a tough one to answer...um. Music has been a part of my life since my earliest memories. When I was four years old I used to rock back and forth on the couch and hum these melodies that I had made up in my head. When my parents got concerned they brought me to the doctors. The Doctors told my parents it was just a natural way to relieve stress. So I guess you could say stress was my first inspiration (laughs) to write songs. But when I was like fourteen I was exposed to the guitar playing of Tony Iommi and that was when I, that was when I knew I wanted to play guitar. When I heard him play and what he could do with it and it just spoke to me and so to this day his playing continues to inspire me.
Taunjua: What genre of music would you say describes your music?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Ah, the genre question. I'd say I'm rock, I think it pretty much speaks for itself. There's a little country mixed in with blues and... but I think it's all relevant to rock. So I mean I mean if you wanted to really break it down I guess I straddle a line between classic 70's rock and 90's alternative rock but you know I don't like boundaries I guess, where music is concerned. There are way too many styles that influence my writing. And honestly I'd get bored if I had to stick to one genre (laughs). Ultimately I'd say my music is rock but my next album might be a disco album and the one after that might be a country rock album I don't know. I just kinda leave the doors open I guess.
Taunjua: Where do you most often get inspiration for your songs and what is the writing process?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: You know, the process of songwriting always seems to vary for me from song to song. Lyrically inspiration can come from anywhere. It could be a film I watched, a memory I had, a current event or just an imagined story that I made up in my mind. But I almost always write and record the music first, or at least a rough version of what the song will be. That could start with a drum beat or a gutar riff. Sometimes I come up with a bass line first and then build the song from there. Then I try to find a lyrical melody that will fit the music. Um.. no special words just nonsense stuff but more or less the melody of what the vocal line will do. And then I come up with the words as basically the last thing I do. I try to find the words that will fit the mood of the song. Sometimes, you know, it could be a song say.... like my song "Lowdown" is about an apocalyptic ending to the world but it's done in a happy (laughs) country way so...you know some things work and some things don't. Um, when I was writing for my album "The Solid State of Life in a Vacuum" I ended up writing like twenty songs in about a month. You know, and I had to pick and choose which songs I wanted to use for the album, make sure they all worked together in some way.
But that left me with like ten songs that are now dormant but I still could use them. And you know sometimes that works great in that sense. But it's always, it’s always different uh, you know I can't say I haven't written a poem and then went and put music to it, you know that works just as well sometimes. But I think the easiest way for me is to write the music first and then work the lyrics in, it just comes more natural I think.
Taunjua: What was the inspiration behind the title of your debut album "The Solid State of Life in a Vacuum"?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Ah the title. That was a play on words that came to me during the height of Covid. I was't working because of the pandemic and I had a lot of time on my hands. And being a guitar player that I am I was sitting around thinking about you know, guitar stuff, like solid state amplifiers and vacuum tube amplifiers and you know, which is better and I thought, "hey, you know this would be a great analogy about everything society was going through at the time".
How people pick sides and disagree with each other and how everyone deals with isolation differently. I knew there was something there so I thought about it and personally I found peace during the months of confinement so I wanted to reflect that in the title of the album. A little timestamp if you will. Plus it gave me a really cool idea for the album cover art (laughs). And for the record I love both solid state and tube amplifiers. To me they both have a place in music. So don't judge me (laughs).
Taunjua: What was the most memorable moment of your career so far?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: You know, um after 30 years of doing this um playing music, writing songs, performing live, there are just so many great things that have happened along the journey but I would have to say that writing, recording and producing my first solo album has been one of the most memorable moments of my career. I mean not only was it a proud moment for me but it has led, it's just led to so many more great moments like having a song reach number one here on Museboat last year. That was and still is an amazing feeling to me. So I mean take your pick. It just seems to get better and better as years go on.
We all have to live together so we might as well live together happily
Dalai Lama
Taunjua: What is your favorite song to perform and why?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Oo, ah that's a difficult question to answer, cause I love playing all the songs but if I had to pick one I would say "Time is a Cannonball" is probably my favorite to perform, um it has such a personal meaning for me lyrically and I love the build up in it and I don't know, I just love that song. Incidentally I will be releasing an acoustic version of that song soon. So that's something I'm looking forward to.
Taunjua: Any interesting behind the scenes stories? What are some memorable moments from some of your past live performances?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Oh my, um I'll tell you, there is no other experience that compares to traveling with a band and playing live shows. I performed with this rock band called "Imbalance" for over eleven years and man the stories we have to tell, I'll have to write a book someday (laughs). We would play modest clubs and bars with this 10,000 watt sound system, old school sound system you know like the P.A. speakers would stack like nine feet high. And one time we were playing this outdoor gig in Freedom New Hampshire, right great name, Freedom New Hampshire. We're playing outdoors and we're in the middle of the White Mountains cranking through this monster system, at least it was a monster to us and the next we know the cops are shutting us down. I'm thinking "great, the neighbors must have complained about the noise". You know rightfully so, I could understand that, it's 10,000 watts it's loud but then I realize the cops are from the next city. They were getting complaints from the next city that we were too loud (laughs). Best thing was thet stayed, they loved it and they stayed for the show and at the end of the night a lady walks up to me with her six year old kid and he holds out his sneaker for me to sign. How cool is that? I mean that's a great moment. So many great moments.
Taunjua: What’s up next for you? What are your future plans in music?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Ooo what's next? That's a good question. Um you know I've had so much fun just pushing and promoting this last album, you know just loving all the feedback and people listening, it's been great. But I am really looking forward to releasing some new music. It's long overdue for me anyway. I got a new single coming out in a couple months with a new album hopefully before the end of the year if everything goes well. I'm also looking at some collaborations with other artists, that should be fun. I'm really looking forward to that. I also can't wait to start playing live again, it's been a while. I've been busy trying to put a backing band together but that takes some time so I'll most likely start playing some small acoustic shows later this year. It's such a great feeling to play live and I've missed it a lot. So I can't wait to get back to doing that again.
Taunjua: OK R.G, this one is from Andy. What was the inspiration behind the song "The Velvet Light"?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Oh boy, that one. I knew this question was coming sooner or later from Andy (laughs). Well the lyrics are based on an experience I had back in the mid 90s. In my hometown there's an area called Dogtown Common, it's about 3,000 acres of forest with a Settler history dating back to the 1600s, right around the time of the Salem Witch trials. It's a very spiritual place in many ways. Do some research on it, it's great, it's got a lot of history. But anyway, one day a couple of friends and I decided to eat some mushrooms......eh....of the magical variety (laughs). Yeah we had about four grams each so yeah. And we decided to hike out about two or three miles into the woods into Dogtown Common, off the beaten path, in the middle of nowhere, camped out. We had no tents, no sleeping bags, just some earth and maybe a twelve pack of beer. And we just stayed there all night. At one point in the wee hours of the night we could swear someone was walking towards us with a flashlight from deep in the woods. We saw this light and it just kept getting brighter and bigger. We just sat and watched this light as it got closer and brighter, and we just couldn't believe somebody knew where we were in the middle of nowhere. And they were coming to see us, you know what's the happenchance that somebody was just walking through the woods with a flashlight at, I think it was like midnight in the middle of the woods? But here we were looking and it turned out to be the moon. The moon was just rising through the trees. I mean we were just laughing our asses off. Thinking about, oh my god how could we think that was somebody, it was the moon but you know, that's what mushrooms do to ya. And at another point in the night we were hearing all these voices, like thousands of people whispering. It just kept getting louder, but it was a whisper, just a thousand whispers all at once and we could not figure it out. We were like who is out here, what are they having a seance? What's going on? You know, it's like thousands of people. It really was like startling in a way. So you know as we sat there and listened, we didn't go search, I mean we were comfortable where we were so we just sat and listened. And then we realized it was Tree Toads, we call them peepers out here but there were hundreds of them, maybe even thousands but they were all peeping at once and it sounded like people whispering. I mean you could almost distinguish words, that's how crazy it was. But that's what it was. Anyway, there's a lot more to tell on that experience but Psilocybin sure made things interesting that night for sure. I hope that answers your question Andy (laughs)
Taunjua: Is there anything else you want to say to Museboat Live channel listeners?
R.G. WILLIAMSON: Well I'm really just beside myself with gratitude for Museboat and its listeners. Because of you all, the last sixteen months have been very uplifting especially after I lost my Mom in October. I mean the support that I've received here at Museboat just helped heal me, you know it really did. The community I've connected with and the support I've gotten is amazing. I'm just so honored to have my music received so well and to be played alongside some of the best music in the world, I mean really. Thank you all for listening. I feel truly blessed at the moment. Your support has been tremendous.
Taunjua: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for the interview, Richard. GoodBye.
R.G. WILLIAMSON:
h thanks so much for the opportunity T.J. and Museboat, it's been a pleasure answering all these questions. Keep the faith and rock on everybody.
This interview was brought to you by
Taunjua aka TJ
host to the TJ´s Muse Bridge show
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
WATCH MUSIC VIDEO: R.G. WILLIAMSON - Meet Me in the Middle
Links: R.G. WILLIAMSON on Museboat | R.G. WILLIAMSON Official Website | Facebook | Twitter | Music Shop | Spotify | YouTube Channel R.G. WILLIAMSON - Hall Of Fame R.G. WILLIAMSON - Hall Of Alltimers
- Taunjua / Andy Slovien
- 03/19/2023
- R.G. WILLIAMSON / Museboat
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