Will Wilde – a local artist, determined to redefine The Blues, with – a harmonica?!?
Yes – the “Blues Rock harmonica player, singer & songwriter” is from Brighton and emerged on the music scene in 2010.
His incredible harmonica-playing skills were described by superfan Sara as “like an electric guitar... [I’ve] never heard anyone play like that before.”
After finding his first harmonica (a “plastic Guiness” one,) Wilde became obsessed and “played until my lips bled”.
The Sonny Boy Williamson song ‘Help Me’ inspired Wilde to kickstart his musicianship (but recently his “biggest inspiration” has been guitar player Gary Moore).
Since then, Wilde has become (according to Team Rock Magazine) “the ‘Hendrix of the Harmonica’”!
His star-studded career includes once playing with Chris Holland; playing with blues legend Walter Trout, (who he’s “going back out on tour with later this year!”); being on Yolanda’s Band Jam, & even creating the harmonica ‘Wilde tunings’!
His upcoming album ‘Wilde Blues’ is going “great so far”, and his fanbase can expect a “more blues-y” feel than his last release – “all the songs are proper blues songs, but played with a rock intensity.”
But it hasn’t all been pretty - Will recalls falling victim to a Czech band’s prank when playing in the Czech Republic.
Whilst staying in a hotel together, Wilde had a shower, “opened the bathroom door, and they’d moved all the furniture – stacked them up in front of the door, so I couldn’t get out... They were all there laughing... I had to try and get round... they were all filming me”!
But their tricks weren’t over, and upon returning to his room, they had “rearranged all the furniture... They thought it was really funny; I didn’t... at the time.”
Wilde also experienced another career low (retrospectively considering it “quite funny”) during the first tour he ever played in Germany. Woken up by a phone call, he was informed his band’s drummer had been run over by a car and had broken his arm.
Superfan Sara said Wilde “works really hard; not only is he brilliantly talented; he keeps pushing himself” to continually improve.
Indeed, Wilde was able say his creative process for music development was spending “a lot of time writing & recording in my studio," and “a few hours every day... playing music”.
“The only way to get better is to keep on... doing it; keep recording new ideas” Wilde says, giving his advice to aspiring artists. “Try and get as much experience as you can when you’re young; find some other musicians to play with... rehearse as much as you can, try and get out and... perform... to get some experience of playing live.”
Finally, Wilde described his ultimate goal as becoming “as successful in the blues world as someone like Joe Bonamassa”. He wants to “take blues harmonica to a larger audience, like he’s done with the guitar”.
Wilde’s an incredible artist; a game-changer shifting the paradigm of The Blues with his own unique sound.
