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 willy mason session
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.Words of wisdom from the 20-year-old singer/songwriter. Collective: What are your songs about?Willy: A lot of my songs are about being able to connect with people from different backgrounds. I grew up in a small place (Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts), and in a small town you learn how to trust other people, help other people and be helped when you need it. When I first left, people were concerned about me because I carried that mentality onto the mainland. But I think, “What do I really have to lose?” I’d rather have some bad luck here and there than be paranoid all the time. A big part of my music is about connections to other people, and trust. Collective: What music did you grow up listening to? Willy: My parents would play records around the house. I remember Frank Zappa and the Everly Brothers. Then, when we moved to Martha’s Vineyard in 1992, my parents started to have parties there. My parents are both singer/songwriters so they would sing their own songs and old folk songs. That left an impression on me, showed me how music can be shared amongst people. Not just a performer and the audience, but everyone just hanging out. The first CDs I bought were Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine and Black Sabbath, and Jimi Hendrix. Then my mom got signed to a blues label and started bringing home compilations - early John Lee Hooker, Elizabeth Cotton, Leadbelly, stuff like that. That was a big turning point for me. Meanwhile, I was getting into my dad’s country music collection - Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, people like that. Today I’m getting into Talib Kweli, Nas and Mos Def, a lot of stuff up that alley. Collective: What are your ambitions? Willy: In my senior year of high school I’d pretty much given up on everything I’d ever dreamed of accomplishing and just wanted to go travelling. Rather than trying to achieve more, I was just trying to need less. So I moved into a van and started cooking for myself and learning how to eat cheap. So with that foundation I’m pretty satisfied. But the good thing that’s coming from the success I’m getting is that I have the ability to make choices. Like the video for Oxygen was shot by my friend, Tim. He hasn’t released much, so getting the chance to offer him that was pretty cool for me. I want to make the most of the opportunities that I have, but it does seem overwhelming when instead of spending my life taking things in I’m spending my life putting things out. That can only go on for so long. But rather than panic I just think, “Well, if I stop having anything to say, I’ll stop writing songs. I won’t have a record and then I’ll be on my own again. And I’ll start over.” Willy Mason – Oxygen, released 14 February 05 on Virgin.
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 useful linkswww.willymason.com
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see also
 willy masonnew talent 2005  willy masonsingles this week music  music archive Watch music sessions and interviews from 2002 to 2008. books  books and comics archive Author interviews and reviews from 2002 to 2008. |
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