Bold Journey Magazine Interview

We were lucky to catch up with William Moore recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi William, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Finding purpose is an interesting idea. For a military brat, I didn’t have to go looking. I already came preprogrammed as — curious. Curious about people, cultures, technology, art, ideas, and my own “limits.”

In interviews, I often get asked, “What would you do if you weren’t a musician?” That always seemed like an odd question to me. For many musicians, creating music is their purpose. They convey ideas and improve upon them. They teach or discuss music and make it a reality.

My purpose is to be useful. Being a musician is just a label of a personality that is curious. Just because it’s music, it doesn’t stop there with all forms of art. I see music as an outlet to engage all of my skill sets, not just the musical ones. Music is about communication; it helps me empathize with others. It makes me ask how something works and more importantly wh something works.

Why does this audio compressor work better with someone’s voice? Why isn’t my dryer drying? That’s the same question in my mind.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My name is William Perry Moore and I’m a full-time musician & producer. I wear lots of hats.

Skillsets aside, I’m the lead singer of the 10-time international touring rock band, The Adarna. I’m the bassist & singer in Seattle’s Death by Overkill. I’m the former lead guitarist for The Slants who are best known for winning their Supreme Court case against the Patent & Trademark Office.

I run the WVS vocal performance studio in Seattle and I serve on the board for the Slants Foundation to help mentor emerging Asian American Artists.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Three important qualities that were impactful in my work are:

1) Surround yourself with people that are doing what you’re doing. Great talent hangs around great talent.
2) Evolve. Music, technology, business, and ideas are constantly changing. I’ve noticed that every 5 years, each of these areas is completely different from 5 years ago. So you have to learn new methods and be a student of upcoming methods otherwise…you’re going the way of the dodo, buddy.
3) Be a good hang. Be a good friend, be a good husband, be a good brother, be a good neighbor, and roll with punches. Compliment people who you’d admire and raise up others, don’t put them down.

**Bonus Remove all poisonous people from your life.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

I am fortunate that my immediate family is made up of my heroes. I am the son of an aerobic-instructing Filipina firecracker and a worldly aquatic military country boy. I’m the brother to a ferocious & kind breakdancing genius.

I am fortunate enough that these passionate people had the perfect balance of never-say-die attitude and could adjust the entire plan because they saw a better way.

They nurtured our curiosity, taught us how to work for things, taught us to be worldly, understand what is expected, they showed me how to say fuck you and I’m sorry.

The most impactful thing my family ever did for me — they walked the walk.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Against the Grain Photography & Bob Dehart

 

SOURCE:  https://boldjourney.com/meet-william-moore/

Dancing With the Wheel of Ever Returning

Gretchen Ward Warren. "Woah," I thought to myself. That’s a name I haven’t heard of for a long time. Before pursuing music, I started out acting in films and theatre. One of my first serious roles was when I was asked by a Dance Professor, Gretchen, to be an actor in the play she was putting on.  I don’t recall how I popped on her radar but I was a young pup with an even more insatiable drive.  So I would take extra dance classes between my theatre classes.

Gretchen was very passionate, and I could tell this meant a lot to her so of course I said yes.  The title of the production was, Dancing with the Wheel of Ever Returning. It was based on stories and research she did in 1997 when getting to know Indigenous Aboriginals in Australia and Indigenous Natives in America. It involved dance, ceremonies, and stories. She needed someone to act as a young warrior chief and deliver lines.  Many of the performers were dancers and actual Native Americans who were happy to be part of the production but weren’t actors.   The rehearsals were extremely fun and this was my first foray into performing with adults, some of my instructors, and real dancers.  Up until this point I had performed with people who were primarily my age.

As I try to recall things back from 2001, I’m running into some bumps in my memory. But the reason I wanted to share this was because this was a major chapter in her life and now, in 2024, she’s reaching out to me about reuniting with the cast from a performance I was part of. She wrote an entire book called Hollow Bone: A Naive Wanderer’s Journey from Outback to Opening Night and featured me in it! (pages 235, 265, and 275 apparently.)  That's so amazing!  I'm ashamed that I didn't realize at the time how massive of a message she was sharing and how enormous of an undertaking this was for her.

This memory is immortalized not only through her efforts but also through mine.    It goes to show you that you never know what role you play in other's lives.  For me, this was a play I got to be part of.  For the audience, this was their own experience.  For Gretchen, this was a culmination and witness of years of her life coalesced into words and dance.

I've been fortunate enough that people have told me what a performance or record of mine meant to them.   Their words follow me still.  It's like reaching across time to connect with others.

Even if you don't realize the gravity of the situation, you could be part of something.  Could be a teacher, a kind word from a stranger, a mentor, a father, even a co-worker.   Goes to show you...don't pull your punches and give it all you've got.  You never know what role you're playing for someone else.

 

 

Come At Me, Bro – Releases on Vinyl!

Death by Overkill has released our sophomore album, Come At Me, Bro.  Not only is this album pure magic and fun but it will be the first album I've released on Vinyl.   This is true for all 4 members.   Between the lot of us, none of us have released Vinyl.  To some, this is an out-of-date piece of technology but to audiophiles...this is the only way to fly baby.  True you can stream our record below and hear the whole album in ~35 minutes but let me make you hip to something.  There's a lot of noise in your life and everything is demanding your attention.  The act of listening to an album means just that.  You listen to an album the way an artist intended for you to listen to an album.   Everything is crafted just for you.  The length of the song and the key the next song falls into may be complimentary.  Sometimes we try to smear the two songs together so it appears seamless. Lyrics may be tied to one another.   Even the feel of the vinyl itself and the aesthetic of the artwork that goes into it goes so far beyond some 2-3" digital icon.

Others may talk about the sonic quality of that but let's not argue my love.  They both sound great buuuuut it's a chance for you to experience art the way it was intended.

So allow us to soothe and romance you with music we call Rock Faux Pas or Eldercore.  Get that whiskey or wine out and get your checklist out for you shall hear:

  1. 4 part harmonies
  2. Gratuitous Guitar Solos
  3. Unusually Loud Bass
  4. Samurai Cymbals
  5. Theremin Fu
  6. Ocarina Fu
  7. Flute Fu
  8. Ukulele Fu
  9. Marimba Fu
  10. Piano Fu
  11. Tamborine Fu
  12. A song with a D minor (so hot)
  13. Heavily Reverbed Flatulence

You can pick up your physical copy of Come At Me, Bro at our Vinyl Release show this upcoming week Nov 22, 2024 at the Flight Path (Seattle) or we'll be happy to ship it to you.   Purchase your vinyl copy here. Digital copy here.

Sending My Toys to Chinatown

About a week ago the Portland Chinatown History Museum and Foundation asked if any of the members of The Slants had equipment they'd like to donate to their upcoming exhibit "What's Worth the Fight: The History of The Slants."   There's a chance that we will be performing at the exhibit in February 2025 but worst case, we'll just be making an appearance.  Since the band officially retired, we've got stuff stashed all across the country at Wing Luke Museum (Seattle, Washington), Songbirds Museum (Chattanooga, Tennessee), and First Amendment Museum (Augusta, Maine).  Normally it's mostly Simon's equipment spread out across the country, but now, I was asked specifically to donate something.

A love letter to a great pedal board:   Why am I being so dramatic?  First off, fuck you very much.  Secondly, I come from the mentality that if you're going to loan something to someone--be willing to part with it.  So on the off chance that somebody runs off with my pedalboard or it gets mangled in the great earthquake that causes the West Coast to plunge into the ocean (nice, Will)... then I want to have it documented that this was a very good pedalboard.

For those of you who don't know.  Pedalboards are as much a part of the identity and sonic makeup of a musician as the guitars or amps they play.   Nowadays some pedal boards don't even need amps, just the pedal board.  Which is a statement in itself to say, "I don't need no stinkin' amp!"  The Line 6 XT Pod.  Nothing fancy here.  I procured this pedal board because another one of my bandmates in Veritas didn't like it.  Now most analog musicians will gravitate towards the Line 6 DL4.  Why?  Because of them sick delays baby.  In my opinion, Line 6 makes the best delay pedal sounds.   So when a broke musician gets the XT Pod version of it, most of the onboard amps, effects, and tones in it are pretty much garbage.

It has however saved me during a fly-out to the Middle East with The Adarna.  A number of the amps the rental companies brought out during the tour were damaged by sand and voltage issues.  So in a pinch, I played directly through the XT Pod.

Not only did I play it at all of The Slants shows but it made appearances on all of The Adarna's tours for one major reason.  Echo.  That delay is called a dotted 1/8th.  Seems simple but it became the entire identity for one of my band's major singles.  Technically, you can program this 1/8th note on any type of digital delay but this one would add a strange accent that I could not replicate with other pedals.   And I have no clue why...check it out.

So as of now, you can look at the board in the Portland Chinatown Museum that makes that sweet delay sound and that's all I used it for.  It was a heavy tough board and I loved it very much.  So if I never see it again, thanks my friend for helping me make badass music.

Will's Line 6 Pod XT

Slants Foundation Board of Director

I've been asked to serve on the Board of Directors for the Slants Foundation.  I've spoken about my time playing lead guitar in The Slants.  During those tours, we'd have long stretches of road to talk about the woes of keeping a day job while on tour and began brainstorming on how we could start a non-profit that could help emerging Asian-American Artists.  Simon, founder of The Slants, was working for several non-profits at the time so he was getting more educated on how to create his own.   Sometime after I parted ways with the band, a few of my bandmates started the Slants Foundation.  Since the formation, they've made huge strides in creating programs to help artists including Grants, Festivals, Conferences, and Workshops.  The board's job is to help fundraise and offer advice and assistance for these artists.

Being asked to join sounded like a good chance to help provide resources for people needing a leg up with their upcoming careers.  Though there were resources around when I was first starting, none of them seemed like they were specifically focused on educating and artist development.  Everything seemed like it was just another paid service that you'd get somebody's half-assed work.   Which leads you down the path of, "To hell with them, I'll do it myself."  Though I think this is a great attitude in general in life -- you do end up spending time learning something that might sidetrack your original goal -- making music maaaaan!

The 2024 submissions are already filled up but this is a resource that could help someone in the next 2025 and beyond sessions so share this article with any Asian American artists looking for some help.  Get on the radar by filling out this form.  Keep an eye on the Foundation, and checkout this link:  https://theslants.org/asian-pacivics

If you're interested in making a tax-deductible donation to the non-profit Foundation, touch base with me here.

 

Much love, your friendly neighborhood Will

Slants Foundation Board of Directors

Current and Past Works Include:

  • AAMV Fest - A free bimonthly music video festival delivered through AsianAmericanMovies.com to highlight some of our community’s brightest stars.

  • Artist Residency & Incubator Program - A comprehensive program to allow artists to have focused time for creation, mentorship/growth, and developing a plan to help make their projects scalable and sustainable. Artists are provided their own home in one of the main hubs for arts and activism in the United States and have unparalleled access to industry leaders.

  • APIA Voice - A National Voter Registration Day event that featured Asian American artists, elected officials, and change-makers to help raise awareness around the census and 2020 election. Our evening event featured nearly two dozen “voices” and helped over 500 people register to vote for the first time.

  • Artist Think Tank - We host a free monthly call that provides opportunities for mentorship and coaching, networking, and collaboration between musicians of Asian Pacific Islander descent.

  • Asian PaCIVICS - A television and radio program that helps foster collaboration between artists and grassroots organizations.

  • Countering Hate with Art - During the COVID-19 crisis, we saw two trends: declining support for the arts and a massive increase in anti-Asian discrimination. We saw that as an opportunity to help fund artists who were creating works that sparked empathy and compassion.

  • DIY Musician Accelerator - We partner with CD Baby to provide a program that includes six months of mentorship, 1000 Digipacks, and distribution. Artists who have completed the program have multiplied their streams/following, secured major endorsement deals, and developed sustainable and scalable strategies for their careers.

  • Fiscal Sponsorship - We help other aspiring nonprofits pursue their work by providing administrative and financial oversight, grant opportunities, and allowing their supporters to receive tax deductions for their contributions.

  • The Troublemaker Scholarship - This former non-academic scholarship helped support unconventional approaches so addressing social issues using art and activism. It included a cash gift of up to $1500 as well as continuous mentoring and network support.

WPM To Judge The Global Asian Creative Awards!

Weeeeell this should be most excellent!  I was asked to be a Music judge for the Global Asian Creative Awards!   There's still time for any Asian filmmakers, screenwriters, artists, musicians, and writers to send out their submissions!  And I shall gloriously judge yoooou! *cue evil laughter*  Well, specifically I'll be judging the music portion.  You can find me under Judge Judgey Judgerson aka Will.

Why You, Will? You shut your beautiful mouth when you talk to me!  In all seriousness, I'm half-Filipino and Scottish and was the lead guitarist for The Slants.  You can read all about it in my band's section.  A number of the members were mixed-race, electro-rock-loving maniacs, with ethnic backgrounds ranging all over Asia and we ran under the WPM The Slants banner of "The Slants."   The band's legal dispute with the Trademark Office over the usage of the band name "The Slants" gained notoriety as the band took the dispute all the way to the Supreme Court!  It was having pride in our Asian heritage and not letting someone tell us that we can't do something we want just because of being Asian.   So we gave the finger to "the man" all while playing rock n roll.

It was because of The Slants that I felt comfortable leaning into my Filipino heritage and creating The Adarna.

As a musician, I've dedicated my whole adult life to performing, writing, teaching, and producing.  Not to mention, I just loooove talking about it!  So why me?   Wouldn't you want to hear the opinion of someone like that?

DATES

31 JULY 2023 - Open for Submissions

31 DECEMBER 2023 - Early Bird Discount Deadline

31 MARCH 2024 - Standard $49 Fee Deadline

31 MAY 2024 - Shortlist Announced

1 JULY 2024 - Winners Announced

GUIDELINES

Be living in, or have spent more than five years living in, a non-Asian country

- Have at least one parent who is from an Asian country

- Be the lead creator, or one of the lead creators, of the submitted work

- Submit work that was produced within 24 months prior to the submission deadline

- Provide entry submissions, documentation and any related materials requested by the Awards judges

- Pay the correct fee in the appropriate category

- Be over 18 years of age

- Submit work that is predominantly in English

- Ensure that the work you submit is your own, and does not infringe on any rights of others, including copyright trademark, right of privacy, or publicity, and does not require any permission from any third party

For these purposes, “Asia” and “Asian” include Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pacific Islands excluding Australia/New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam.

A Life Of Sound

January is always such a wild time of year.  It's great to reflect on what has passed and start gearing up for what the new year will bring.  A few particular areas have been blossoming over these last few months.  Death by Overkill (DBO) has set forth on tracking a full-length album called, "Come At Me, Bro."  That project has been refreshing and helped anchor me this past year.  It's been about a year since I put The Adarna's live show on hold.  (It'll come back, I'm sure but other things need focusing on right now.)  DBO is such a great calibration with such down-to-earth and funny people that it is a constant reminder that music is supposed to be fuuuuun!  Not just work, work, work 🙂

Which has taken us down an interesting sonic road.  My bandmate, Jake, built an amazing drum studio at his house which has allowed us to capture some amazing drum tones.  That's the great divider with recording.  Almost anything you can do digitally or with a direct-in but when you get into the big bucks of sound-treated rooms, great mics, DI's, amps, compressors, and a cacophony of gear talk....you can hear a noticeable difference!  The balancing of modern recording methods has changed the shape of playing music live and recording even in my time.  It's always really wild to get to mix the two.   I've been doing more producing and recording lately and it was a great learning experience to come back to the roots of playing through great gear.

Nowadays nobody wants to lug around heavy amps, pedal boards, and drum sets so finding lighter options has been a significant part of this past few years.  Enough gear talk though!

Well, maybe a little more...  I've been taking on more sound gigs for the Highsteppers (my wife's band) and Concerts Under the Stars.  Lots of fun styles that it's been great to get to work with.  Really broadens one's palate!

Tinsel Town Mafia had a little debut performance over the winter break.  It was glorious indeedy I must say!  Here's some footage from the performance.  Energies there, just need to get everybody to get their homework down.  Looking forward to that ramping up!  Which has also added to the number of instruments I've decided to partake in for that group.  What originally set out as just a project I would sing in has led to something I'll be on synth & guitar for.    It'll be a fun challenge, I haven't done that before, and will let me put those new piano skills to work!

I've got plenty of goals for 2024 and there's an endless amount of skills to learn so I'm stoked about what's on the horizon and I'll be sharing again soon 🙂

 

 

WPM Reunites with The Slants for New Record

Reuniiited and it feeels so goooood!  The Slants reunited to do some farewell performances and release The Band Plays On record.  There's a Spotify link to it on the side of this page.   It was great to see everybody and to work on the songs.  We swapped parts over the internet and exchanged files, leading to the album's completion, which was in true form with The Slants.  A unique quality about this band was that it was heavily based on homework.  I think I only practiced with the band 3 times in 3 years (which included my audition).  Normally we'd fly to whichever anime con or show we were performing at and send a host of odd looks at each other when one of us didn't do the homework correctly.  Not a problem!  We'll get it on the next show 😀

HOLY GUITAR MANIA!

When it came time to do the shows together, we had to figure out how to do the songs with all 4 guitarists at the same time!  It was a pretty wild (and loud) experience.  Thaiphoon and I were the Seattle guitarists who played in the band at the same time, so it was only natural that when it came to writing for the record, we met up at my studio to track our parts for the record.   All in all, it was great to see the guys, especially since we haven't all shared a stage necessarily before.  I replaced the original guitar player, Johnny Fontanilla, so it was neat to share a stage with not only Johnny but also my replacement Joe Xiang on the stage at the same time.   There was a lot of, "ooooh, is that what you were playing?"   

WHAT'S IN THE FUTURE

Not sure if that's it for The Slants.  Maybe we'll be like Mötley Crüe who just keeps doing farewell tours over and over. 😀  We are all dispersed throughout the US but hey, we're friends, we're family and I'm always down to do some music with these guys 🙂  Here's to the future!  Feel free to read more about my time with the band on the website.

The Slants Final Performance

Uncharted Territory: Evolving & Growing

So much to share!   The music mentor in me feels the need to remind people that it's never too late to pick up new skills.  I wanted to give an update on my drum journey and share some news about some developments.

DRUMS!  I started out with a midi kit which works well for recording but ultimately it's not the same as an acoustic kit.  I'm very fortunate that Murdock from The Adarna let me use his kit in the off times plus I'm surrounded by so many great drummers who are my friends.  So I got myself my own kit and have been going through upgrading everything as I go.   Things I've come to notice:  I way prefer playing hip-hop & funk beats more than rock beats.  I can see this will change the way I send out demos moving forward.  I put a couple of quick Instagram clips in this post on how things are going.

MORE INSTRUMENTS!  I finally got my first acoustic piano!  I learned about pianos from listening to my brother play.  This was actually a massive part of my musical development.  I found that when it came time to learn music, in general, I was able to move faster because I grew up listening to the melodies my brother played.   I've been playing keyboards and synths on a number of The Adarna's music.  However, playing an acoustic piano is a completely different endeavor.  Generally, as a guitarist you're operating within a couple of octave range, it's wonderful to really spread out chords over 6-7 octaves with the piano.  I think this will be great moving forward with writing!

A fun tip, I didn't have a whole lot of money to throw toward an acoustic piano.  But oftentimes, piano stores also have moving companies in their employ.  Meaning they really need to keep those guys busy so they'll get pianos from auctions or giveaways and fix them up to turn a profit.  You might be able to get a (practically free) piano if you talk to a local piano store about free delivery on the 2nd hand pianos.

Uncharted Territory: WVS Vocal Training Program

THE ADARNA is getting closer to releasing our 4th album.  It's in the mixing process right now which will include the singles "What's Your Name" and "Braver Than Yesterday" we recently released.

TINSEL TOWN MAFIA - I've been keeping this under wraps for some time but I was asked to join my first cover group with some very talented musicians.  Doing covers has never been a strong suit of mine because I always want to mess with them to put my own spin on the songs.  So when an opportunity to put my own spin on songs I already like came about, I had to give it a shot.  Plus I only have to sing!  Woohoo!  Being a multi-instrumentalist is fun but just singing really allows you to focus on your craft, performance, and sweeeeeet stage moves!  We'll be making a more formal announcement but this new group, Tinsel Town Mafia, will be debuting in 2023.

Finally, with my vocal studio, I've decided to build a masterclass called "Uncharted Territory".  I've been thinking about this for some time now but I'm making this more of a priority lately.  I'm noticing more and more that there needs to be this synergy (yay buzz word!) between talent & technology.  A lot of people I have worked with over time get stuck in their ways and aren't willing to learn new skills and technology which leads to stopping a chance to grow!  Just like anything, new more effective ways to train keep coming out.  Technology and equipment are rapidly changing the entire field of music & touring as I've known it. I feel the strong need to evolve with the world as it changes.  This program I'm building is to help address that.

 

 

Releasing Muffin Fluff ☆ ReMastered ☆ What’s Your Name

Releases

Got that pep in the step again!  I'm very excited that The Adarna released our latest single "What's Your Name" and is available to listen to now!  Soon to follow in January we will be releasing Remastered versions of our debut 2 singles, "Honestly" and "Smell of Gasoline."  In a recent posting on The Adarna's website, I was happy to talk about how much these two songs meant to me not only as a writer but in an effort to start over again fresh with a new band after the fallout of Veritas.  What's Your Name will mark the second recording I've had with my new 6-string samurai, Jake Lord.  The Adarna will, in one way or another, be finishing our next album at the beginning of 2023.

10 Year Anniversary remastering of "Smell of Gasoline" and "Honestly"

In more release news, the band I play bass in, Death by Overkill, will also be releasing our latest single "Muffin Fluff."  This is particularly exciting for me because I got to spread my engineering wings on this song as well as on "Cucumber Ranch."  Engineering really isn't a passion of mine but it's important to better understand the songwriting process and think more about questions like "what does the song call for?" "Is that really necessary or is that overkill?"  "More like Death by Overkill that is," exclaims the stranger in the dark!  I leer at the stranger for beating me to the punchline of a dad joke.   I turn my shoulder away in disgust...mostly at myself for not being quick enough to the punch but also because I realize that I'm having an inner monologue.  Move along Will... move along.

I'm excited about what is coming around the corner in 2023!   I plan on rolling out a producer page on WPM that will talk about some artists I've been working with lately.  I've been working closely with my producer for a number of years and I'm happy to be able to help other people make their music come to fruition.

The Adarna ReMastered

What's Your Name (Single) 2022 by The Adarna

Muffin Fluff by Death by Overkill