An extremely
prolific musician from
Chicago. Wesley grew up in the
ghetto. His father was a
street hustler, so oftentimes the
family had little to go on.
Bus rides became a form of
escape for Wesley in his early
teens. He quickly learned all of the
bus routes in the area, and when those lines ended he would switch over to the privately operated
pace bus, which ran through the
suburbs. Bus rides still hold quite a bit of enjoyment for him today, prompting many musical
homages to the "joybus."
Wesley has the gift of chronic
schizophrenia, and has been
hearing voices ever since october 21, 1989, when his mother's
boyfriend found out he was stashing away
money for his own apartment and robbed him
at gunpoint. Wesley claims to be haunted by
demons, named Nervewrecker and
Heartbreaker, who
insult him, try to discourage him from his music, and order him to smash his
equipment. Wesley calls these attacks "hellrides", and often argues with the voices
out loud. It's actions like this which got him banned from the Pace bus system completely (now it becomes the "Hellbus").
Wesley is also a
savant. Lucky,
lucky him. He especially has a
knack for sketching, and, much like
Picasso, can draw a remembered
scene right down to the last
detail. He especially likes to draw cityscapes, which of course include plenty of buses.
For all his psychological
quirks, Wesley is an extremely
charismatic and friendly person. When he meets people, he doesn't shake hands, but rather
headbutts them. Explains
Jello Biafra:
"When he wants to make friends he takes the back of your head in his hand and stares deeply into your eyes; absorbing as much about you as he can, to find out if you're down with him. Or not...
'Say rauw...' says Wes.
'Rauw!'
-BONK!-
'Say rauw...' again.
'Rauw!'
-BONK!-
Usually two or three times before a big smile breaks out on his face."
In his ongoing plot to get out of the
projects, Wesley began selling his
drawings. A musician named Dale Meiners took a
shine to Wesley and not only arranged a
gallery showing of his work but offered him a place to stay. During the move, Dale caught sight of Wesley's large
CD collection, and suggested that Wesley begin to make music himself.
Wesley took that
idea and ran with it. His music began on cheap
keyboards, producing those
demo-based songs all Willis fans know and love. He released 30 CDs in four years, sometimes churning out 2 or 3 albums per month. He's been signed to a few
labels off and on, but prefers to sell his
music on the
street, so doesn't usually work through distributors. Because of this, his albums are hard to find; there are many,
in fact, that you could only get from Willis himself.
Wesley is really a very persuasive
salesman, and tends to
hawk his CDs and drawings no matter where he happens to be. Because of his
persistence and
warm personality, people took a liking to him and soon he was able to land
club bookings. He even collaborated with other musicians, and formed a four piece band called
The Wesley Willis Fiasco.
Willis was briefly signed to
American Recordings for two albums, which didn't pay him much but did open a few more doors. He was interviewed by Tabitha Soren of
MTV at the South by Southwest Music Convention in Austin,
Texas. He appeared on the
Howard Stern show and was able to sell one of his drawings to Stern by the
end of the
night.
Jello Biafra, formerly of the
Dead Kennedys, discovered Wesley for himself while was visiting an old bandmate in
St. Louis. Another friend drove down from
Chicago to meet him, bringing along one of Willis's
tapes.
Jello fell in love with the music and has said the following:
"He is, in a nutshell, what the true spirit of punk is supposed to be all about. he is arguably the most honest and original artist in music today....poets and songwriters wrestle endlessly...over the meaning and expression of love. Wesley gets right to the point..."
Jello's label,
Alternative Tentacles, compiled some of Wesley's songs and put out two
greatest hits albums. Wesley wrote a song about Jello Biafra. It was a great
friendship.
When Wesley Willis goes up
onstage, generally the
audience can be a bit taken aback at the sight of this 6'5, 350-pound man clutching a
notebook and, while the band or keyboard demo plays accompaniment, shouting
lyrics like:
McDonald's hamburgers are the worst
They are worse than Burger King
A Big Mac has 26 grams of fat
A Quarter Pounder has 28 grams of fat
Still, with his unique style of music, Wesley Willis has gathered quite a following. And he shows no
sign of stopping; as long as there is a
band he discovers and enjoys, there will be a song testifying to the fact that they "really
whoop a
camel's
ass." Whenever he has a bad
experience with somebody, there will be a song about sucking various
exotic animals'
unmentionables. Once, he made a grand entrance into a
highbrow art store and announced, "I am Wesley Willis! I am a rock
legend!" Truer words could not be said.
All thanks to Jello Biafra... you're the best damn biographer I've never met.