Willie J & the Bad Books

We recently sat down with Slick Rick from Willie J & the Bad Books, and spoke about their new single Backdoor Man. No it’s not what you think but it is what you think… You gonna have to listen to the interview to find the exact meaning. (or just continue reading)

Here’s whats been said about their new song!

An energy-fuelled tune paying loving homage to the blues, Backdoor Man flexes its blues and psychedelic grooves alongside raw riffs and nods to the likes of Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Marcus King, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

If you want to hear these guys live head to our gig guide for their shows, simply type Willie in the search box. Press Here to go to our gig guide

Recorded and produced at guitarist Rick Steward’s home studio, Backdoor Man also lends its authentic charm to the track ultimately being captured in one take, as Rick himself explains, “I didn’t want it to sound too polished, so I set limitation to the amount of microphones used on the drums, I used old mics on vocals, old instruments and old amps, it was hit in one take with minimal overdubbing.

I think it’s important to set limits, most of The Beatles records were done with a 4 track, people forget that. I had my old friend and amazing engineer George Carpenter mix it in Queensland and Joe Carra at Crystal Mastering did the master”.

And while the energetic new single showcases the band’s modern take on the blues world, Backdoor Man also directly claims its namesake from an old blues term, as lead vocalist and guitarist Willie J Maxwell reveals, “Back Door Man is an old blues term, true to form, when your lover betrays your trust and sneaks in the milkman when you’re spending the day at work.”

Willie J & The Bad Books who’s who

For all members of Willie J & The Bad Books, music has been an integral and essential part of life. Springing to life during the pandemic, Will first met future Bad Books drummer Fru Parsons while playing on Brunswick Street.

Bassist Matt Forge entered the fray following a conversation with Will over starting a blues and rock band. Matt worked with Rick and resident Bad Books boogie-queen, vocalist and organist Eileen Hodgkins – and the rest, as they say, is history.

Bolstered by a shared adoration for classic tunes and the organic creative process between the quintet, the official debut single from Willie J & The Bad Books has been a long time coming; but with plenty of shows on the local live circuit up their sleeves, as well as some live clips already out in the world, Willie J & The Bad Books are firing on all cylinders going into the last months of 2022 and firmly into 2023.

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“We’re all old souls, we want to make music reminiscent of what we love,” shares Rick of the Willie J & The Bad Books ultimate ethos. “We don’t care what genre is popular, we just want to play music that’s true to us. It feels like it’s been a long time coming and it’s super exciting to finally be releasing this single!”.

Well PopRockers, we hope you get into Willie J and the Bad Books as much as we have, so as always, like, love, share, follow and now subscribe!