Great News!!! The latest album just posted to iTunes!!! YEAH!! Enjoy!!! Let me know what you think of it.
October 31st 2008
October 16th 2008
Rob and I also had some time to relax and hit up the natural hot spring in Ojai. Check out the photos on Robman's MySpace page!
October 6th 2008
September 22nd 2008
Oh! Bad news! I came out of the studio on Friday and my motor bike was gone!!! Argh. (said like a pirate of course.) I only had it up and running for a month... tops. Oh well. Took the bus home. Which was very nice. Caught up on some shows, ahh the beauty of linking the Tivo to the video iPod.
August 30th 2008
June 30th 2007
Alright... about a week after my last entry I went down to Costa Rica to visit the Needer Man. That's Gavin Beasley, if you don't know. He does the hip hop section on "Electric Sun". Anyway, he moved down there to get a new outlook on life and of course I had to check it out for a couple weeks too!
Once I got back from Costa Rica it was almost May. That was a chill month of writing and resting up. Robman and I also started adding to our recording equipment cause we are gearing up for the next album! Yeah very exciting!!
In early June I got a phone call from Tribeca Radio in Ny, NY. We did a little phone interview and they also played some of my music.
Then I filled a guest judge position for ROCKstar Music Education which is a great non-profit organization that helps kids get the musical education that schools are lacking these days. Basically they put on a special Battle of the Bands at Hard Rock Cafe on the Universal City Walk for all their students. It was my job, along with the other judges (Sabrina Sloan, Lesli Matta, & Shane Drake) to gives scores on talent, style, stage presence, musicianship and all that stuff! It was a bunch of fun and then Rob & I did a little acoustic set in between judging. The kids seemed to really dig "Sticky Flip-Flop" for sure!
Colorado was on my mind and everyone else in my family. So, we did a little family vacation to Estes Park. I told my Booking Agent that we were going to Colorado so, she got me a gig in Denver at Lela's Coffee Hause and a few days later at Mary's Lake Lodge in Estes Park. It sure was a great time! Here's a Couple photos from the trip.
So, I was back from Colorado for about a day and a half when I got invited on "Arizona Midday" out of Phoenix. It's on NBC and highlights up and coming music. Once again Rob and I headed off for another show. Man, it was hot!!!! We got in the car in Santa Monica (72F) and drove five hours. We got out in Phoenix (105F) and started to sweat bullets!! Oh, it was actually funny how hot it was!
The interview went well and I can't complain about the songs we chose to play. All in all it was great! Check it out below!
Once we finished up at NBC, we headed downtown and grabbed lunch with an old friend from Illinois who now lives in Phoenix! Small world! Then Rob and I heard about a place out in the desert that has "Indoor Sky Diving". We chatted about it for awhile and then realized we had to do it!
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April 2nd 2007
Robman (Rob Heskin my lead guitarist) and I flew to Indianapolis to do a show at Butler University. It was a very cool and laid back acoustic show, of which I have posted some video on my "Seen on TV" page... click here to see 'em! I didn't realize that Indianapolis is such a cool city! Had to take in all the sites once I saw the downtown area.
Well, the show was a great time, but that wasn't the only cool thing we did in Indiana. WEEM 97.1 FM invited us into the studio for a live interview. Rob and I played a couple of songs and had a great time chattin' it up!. Click here to check out the interview.
A few days went by and I got a call from my folks, and my hometown newspaper did a feature on my music! Very cool! Check it out HERE!
If you want to read more articles written about the music, visit my "Press Page".
Some of you guys know I do fashion stuff and I'm sure some of you don't. Either way, I posted some shots of modeling jobs I ripped out of magazines. Check 'em Out Here!
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March 12th 2007
Also, over the past month, a few more articles have been written about my music. Ha ha! "Nod Your Head Beach Rock" is getting to the people. Make sure to click on the "Press & Radio" section on the main page to check them out.
For the past serveral months I've been doing a PodCast/Video Blog about my music. I posted some new videos with a couple of new songs that most of you haven't heard yet. Let me know what you think of the new stuff. Just go back to the main page and click the "Seen on TV" button. While you're there, make sure to scroll to the INTERVIEWS & REVIEWS section to listen to a really cool radio promotion that Ryan Wild put together for me.
As most of you know, I do act in TV commercials and as you can guess, yes I try to post as many as I can find. They are also under the "Seen on TV" link.
FREE MUSIC is awesome and I want to give you some!!!! Sign up on my email list and I will give you a FREE MP3. Just go back to the main page and click the Email List button to sign up. If you are already on the list, do me a favor and sign up again. Why? you ask. Well, I'd like to get zipcode and city info so that you will only get emails from me when I'm playing a show in your area. Cause I know most of my shows are in L.A. and there are a bunch of you guys don't live anywhere near California, so I thought I'd give you a break from all the show emails. Ha ha!
As always, my CD is for sale here on my site or available at iTunes. If you don't have it yet, go get it. You'll be happy you did. Oh yeah, tell some friends about my music too! They'll thank you for it!
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January 21st 2007
Jordan, my drummer, and his wife had a little baby girl and Christmas & New Years snuck up on us so we took a little break from live shows for awhile.
I don't know if you guys have heard of Independent Musicians for Independent Thinking or not, it's a great charity that helps inspire high school kids to get better grades. To make a long story short, they raise funds by selling compilations of indie music. So, with that said, one of my songs from "Cohgie Never Landed" is going to be on the 2007 Compilation CD!
Also, make sure to mark February 19th on your calendars. Jeremiah James and I are going to do another dual show at Molly Malone's!!! The show starts at 8:45pm. Make sure to go to the main page and register your email address so you will get all the info you need for the show.
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November 9th 2006
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November 2nd 2006
I'm running through the streets of New York (actually shot in Los Angeles) wearing an orange, Michael J. Fox style, vest and kahkis. I run up to an ATM, get money, and then run back to a car at a stop light. I jump in and the driver takes off!! It was fun shooting it, but man I got bruised up preaty bad. They needed it to be one shot with no edit points and to be exactly 30 sec. So, you can imagine how many times I had to dive into a car.
Enjoy,
Willie
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November 1st 2006
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October 27th 2006
http://www.usavoice.org/LIFE/Article.cfm?ID=2382&CID=34&T=Nod%20Your%20Head%20Beach%20Rock
Also, I shot a commercial for Dunkin Doughnuts. You can check it out under the "Seen on TV" section.
If you wan to read the article you can also read it below.
"Nod Your Head Beach Rock"
He was born and raised in Milan, Illinois. His journey to becoming a musician was an interesting one. “As a child, his parents wouldn’t allow him to listen to the radio or purchase music of his own. Then one day Willie found a box of his father’s old Beach Boys records which filled an enormous musical void. This was when he started playing the guitar along with the piano lessons his parents had him taking. Around the age of fourteen, Willie realized the guitar was going to be his instrument of choice. So, he told his mother that the piano lessons had to stop and started writing songs on the guitar.”
There have been many musicians who have influenced Herath. In the beginning it was Adam Sandler and The Presidents of the United States. It wasn’t until the Smashing Pumpkins’ album “Siamese Dream” that he realized that was the music that would change his musical style the most. Then came Stone Temple Pilots, Radiohead and Beck among others.
His largest influence however came from Weezer’s “Blue Album” and Jack Johnson’s “Brushfire Fairytales.” Other influences to his music style are Muse, U2 and Coldplay.
The band members are Willie Herath (Vocals and Rhythm Guitar), Rob Heskin (Lead Guitar), Jordan Hill (Drums), Gregor Halmay (Congas and SFX), and Jeremiah James (Bass). “I was really lucky to find great guys here in Los Angeles who were looking to be in a band too. I was in a band in Illinois called Fov. I was the only one (from that band) to move to LA.”
Willie Herath recorded their demo album in May 2005. “It was low budge, only 5 songs. We only printed 1000 copies and basically just gave them away to get the music out there.”
Then in January 2006, they began to record their debut album, “Cohgie Never Landed.” Willie Herath designed and produced all the graphics for the album as well. There was a slight delay when Willie was down with a sinus infection. “I sounded like I had a bucket of water on my head.” By May 2006, the final mixes were sent off to be mastered. Finally in July 2006 the CD was officially for sale. www.CDbaby.com
Willie Herath decided to choose “Sticky Flip-Flop” as the first single from the debut album. The CD is full of great beach songs such as, “Electric Sun,” “Drive,” “Come Home,” and “Wake Up June.”
On www.Indie911.com “Sticky Flip-Flop” is climbing the Top 100 countdown very fast. As of September 22 it was at number 8 with 47,139 plays and “Electric Sun” was at number 16 with 23,280 plays. “The rest of the album is doing really well, with a couple more songs in the Top 20 and five more in the Top 100!!! Combined plays for the entire album totaling 161,106.”
There is no manager holding this band back. Willie decided to take his career in his own hands and does the work as the manager, promoter and writer. After looking for a label to sign to he decided to just concentrate on selling copies of his CD’s.
He is a talented actor who has a long list of commercials under his belt. Including the new Apple computer commercial you can see here: http://www.willieherath.com/tv.html. Be sure that while you are on his website to get your free download of “Electric Sun” which happens to be my favorite song of theirs.
He is a dedicated husband to wife Andrea and father of two, Hudson 2 ½ years and Noe who is a sweet 11 months old. “Eat together! No seriously if you have a family or friend in your life and I hope you do, just eat at a table together all at the same time. I know this is really random, but I think it’ll impact you.”
It’s nice to know that this Illinois boy didn’t leave his Midwest values when he moved to Los Angeles.
Be sure to check out Willie Herath every Monday in October at Molly Malone’s, 575 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036."
Reported by Edee Blevins
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October 6th 2006
A little something new just started yesterday. I am now doing a Video PodCast every Thursday on YouTube.com! Yeah, I got this email from a kid on MySpace who wanted more info about the music and the music process and he suggested a video or videos. So, to make a long story short... Now every week there will be a new episode until I run out of stuff to talk about I guess. The first one turned out good. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/user/willieherath
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September 22nd 2006
Man, it sure has been busy lately... the guys and I have begun practicing again! We took some time off to record the album and it feels good to get back in the rehersal space!!
Also, don't forget to check out Indie911.com again cause "Sticky Flip-Flop" is climbing their top 100 countdown. As I write this update, it's number 8 with 47,139 plays!!!! "Electric Sun" is number 16 with 23,280 plays!!! The rest of the album is doing really well, with a couple more in the Top 20 and five more in the Top 100!!! Combined plays for the entire album totaling 161,106!!!
Another site to make sure you keep an eye on is the MySpace profile. Lately it seems like the music is really taking off over there. Also, the web/graphic design is really starting to look good! Swing by and say hey if you feel like it.
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August 23rd 2006
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August 23rd 2006
Make sure to check out the "Radio" section of my site for a link to a picture on their site of the three of us together in the B100 studios.
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August 2nd 2006
Jeep made 20,000 copies and they are going to give them out for free to people at Jeep Sponsored events across the country. Anyway, just that's preatty cool!
If you want to see what the CD looks like, I posted an image of it under the "Photos" link on my main page.
Enjoy!!
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July 31st 2006
O.K. here's how it went down. About a year ago, this lady from MTV contacted me in regards to using my music on some reality shows on MTV. I was into the idea, so I mailed off a CD to her office at MTV corperate in NYC. Never heard eveything... so I forgot about the whole thing. Then about a week or two back, I had a comment on MySpace from a guy that said he thought he had heard it on MTV, but was in the other room. Needless to say, I never got a confirmation until today. My good buddy Gavin, Needer Man, called me up and he was practically having a heart attack. He had been doing stuff around the house and "MADE" was just on in the background. Gavin and I co-wrote the song, so at first he wasn't shocked to hear it... until he realized what was happening and then proceeded to go ape!!!!! It's the episode where the highschool kid wants to be made into a Fashion Designer. It aired today at 1pm. It will air again on August 2nd around 8pm.
I'll see if I can get a copy of the show. If possible I'll post a video clip on my site.
Take it easy,
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July 29th 2006
Great! Enjoy!!!
Willie
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July 10th 2006
Well, on the radio front, we have chosen "Sticky Flip-Flop" as the first single to promote. I dropped off 500 full albums to the radio promoters which are going to be sent out to AAA/Commercial/Alt stations or something like that. I try to act like I know what's happening, but I'll admit... the radio promo part is not my strongest part of music. Oh yeah, we're also making single CD's of "Sticky Flip-Flop" to send to the same stations. Because, I guess there's a bunch of different charts and the promotion is focused on the single charting on a "Single Chart" and the full album to chart on an "Album Chart". Yes, I know what you're thinking. "Huh? Is it going to be on the radio?" Well... I hope so!
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June 22nd 2006
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June 20th 2006
The radio promotion is still on schedule and is focused on a full album push. Stations will get targeted with different songs on the album, depending on the station genre. Also, I've got some posters in the works that should be done sometime soon, hopefully. Ha ha, I'm learning with the whole final date thing. Oh yeah, make sure to sign up on my email list for upcomming shows and radio airplay!
Get your free download at WillieHerath.com/FreeDownload
Enjoy!
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May 21st 2006
On a side note, keep your eyes open for the new 7-UP Natural commercials, cause I'm in them. Also, I'm going to be posting some more commercials and new pictures soon, so make sure to swing by and check 'em out. One last thing. Last week I finished up shooting a little student film and it turned out pretty cool! They fetured one of my songs, Hollywood, in the movie and yours truely happens to be the main actor. I've already posted it under my TV section, so enjoy!!! Don't forget to check out MySpace to get a free download of Electric Sun, my first single!!!!!
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May 3rd 2006
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April 2006
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March 2006
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February 2006
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January 2006
Most of you will recognize the eight to ten songs we play at our shows, but there are also a few other songs that not too many people have heard yet. I think you are going to really enjoy the new tracks and the studio recordings of the live stuff.
Hey, I could talk about my new album all day, but blabbing isn't going to convince you that it's cool. I guess you'll just have to wait to hear it for yourself.
As for the release date... I'm saying late Feb or March.
Check out my Costa Rica photos!
Tribeca Radio Interview
For those of you looking for the perfect CD to take to the beach, the search is over. Willie Herath (pronounced like Harris with a lisp) sounds like a mix between Jack Johnson & Weezer, with a twist of the Beach Boys. The sound is truly, as Willie put it, “Nod your Head Beach Rock.” And that is an amazing sound.
Willie
Willie
p.s. One more thing, I'm going to get all the call letters for the radio stations that are going to play "Sticky Flip-Flop". When I do, I'll let you know which stations to listen for in your area.