Wilson
Bio: Wilson are a musical entourage from New Jersey. Led by band leader, James Wilson, the group also consists of Blaze, Jeremiah Laskey, Rocking Paul and Rocking Steve. The band was founded in 2001 as an initial solo project of Wilson himself. He built up a keen underground following with his raw, brash techno sound. His debut single, Calliope, was slammed by critics and was a non-event in the charts. Despite this, he was scouted by the fledgling Jaundice Records, an independent label. They offered him a one album deal to see how the market would respond to his music. Hoping to produce high-quality work, Wilson roped in multi-instrumentalist Blaze as a hired gun to assist him with synthisizers and various brass utensils. The album,
Kemp, was a lo-fi, noisy 10-track techno album. "Oncolagy" was chosen as the lead single from the album and garnered mixed reviews from critics, and failed to make an impact commercially. The album itself was released to generally positive reception, and managed to make the Billboard Top 40, peaking at #37. A follow-up single, "Everybody Lies (Ft. DJ Jaundice)", again failed to garner any success. Despite a lack of success on the singles front, Jaundice Records was propped up by the income earned from the sales of
Kemp and promised Wilson a one-album contract extension.
Determined not to throw away this chance, Wilson decided to officially incorporate Blaze and two new members into the group. Rocking Steve (Lead Guitars) and Rocking Paul (Drums) signed on for a new album. With a more refined sound, drawing influence from the Madchester era whilst remaining faithful to their techno roots, Wilson went into the studio to record
Cristo Redentor. Very happy with the new album, Wilson were confident in releasing a brand new single, "Albatross". The A-Side was very popular with critics, and peaked at #26 on the Billboard Top 100 in the U.S.A.
Cristo Redentor was released to much improved reviews, and debuted at #13 in the US, considered a huge success for Wilson and Jaundice Records. With over 2.5 million album sales to their name, Wilson were a growing force in the techno genre. With momentum on their side, the band embarked on a tour of the USA, and built up an underground following in the UK, Canada and Japan. Their third album,
Colour Scheme, received positive reviews and achieved similar success as their previous album did abroad in the UK and Canada, however it was a disappointment domestically, charting at #23 in the United States. It was, however, considered to be their finest album yet.
The Wilson line-up was completed with the hiring of Rhythm Guitarist and occasional vocalist, Jeremiah Laskey. With creative control dominated by Wilson, Blaze and Laskey, the group began trialling brand new songs on tour. The band were quickly building up a reputation worldwide and had adopted their new sound to a more refined, hi-fi electronica style. The band were the staple of Jaundice Records and signed on for two more albums. Wilson were eager to take their new sound to the studio, and 5 years after Kemp, the debut, they recorded and released
The Good Conductor. The album was the band's most commercially and critically successful to date, peaking at #6 in the USA. Wilson got a huge break little under a year later, with "Sarajevo", their first #1 single in the United States, which also served as the lead single for
Bilious Uprising, which solidified Wilson's status on the global stage. The band continued with their success, gaining minor hits with "Donaghy" and "The Investigation Of Morality". The bands new album,
The House Of Lies enjoyed similar success to their last two, although received slightly more negative reviews from the critics than
Bilious Uprising. After a lengthy world-tour, the band decided to take a hiatus and rumors were that they were splitting up for good.
After a year, Wilson re-emerged with an announcement of an upcoming album. The album was to be called
The International. The lead single, "Manifesto", hit the Top 10 in the UK, USA and Canada, peaking at #3 in the United States. The album was said to be Wilson's favourite out of all their work. Whilst receiving very positive reviews from the critics, indicating a positive reception for their more "New Wave" sound, the album was a disappointment commercially and failed to make the Top 10 in the UK or USA, Wilson's prime markets. It was a success internationally (no pun intended). Despite this setback, Wilson was determined to take his band forward and reclaimed their commercial success just over a year later with the album
Would It Be So Wrong?. The album peaked at #5 on the World Chart, a new record for Wilson. Supported by hit singles "Sonic Liberal" and "Would It Be So Wrong?", the album was the pre-cursor to a major world tour. After the tour, James Wilson assessed the band's situation. He felt they had sacrificed the higher quality of
The International for the domestic success of
Would It Be So Wrong?. Wilson decided that the former was more important, and went back into the studio with a more experimental, arty "Avant-Garde" sound. The critics predicted commercial suicide with the next album, with the lead single and title track "Badstuber" being their least-successful single since "Buchanon" of
Bilious Uprising. The follow-up single "Painful Logic" was even less successful. However, the album was released to rave reviews at debuted at #1 on the World Charts, a massive success for the band. The album also topped the charts in Canada and Australia, and came only one place off that in the USA at #2. The band is currently on the
Painful Logic Tour to promote the album, and have released plans for a follow-up project called Country Phantom.
Members:
James Wilson (Band Leader) - Vocals, Synthesizers, Keyboards, Piano, Guitars
James is the band leader and chief songwriter. At the end of the day, he has the final say on major decisions. The rest of the band are fine with this, as their views are always listened to. Wilson founded the band as a solo project in 2001.
Blaze - Synthesizers, Keyboards, Trumpet, Trombone, Horns, Flute
Blaze was the first member to join Wilson in his project. He is a multi-instrumentalist, and has taught himself to play a vast array of instruments, but he specializes in brass instruments such as trumpets and trombones. He is a key part of the songwriting process, being the composer of all things brass. He is a grumpy person, but is much loved by fans and members alike.
Jeremiah Laskey - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitars
Jeremiah is a close friend of Blaze, who recommended him to Wilson. James was very impressed with his ability and offered him a place in the band as Rhythm Guitarist. Jeremiah is often the lead vocalist on Wilson songs, but is not allowed write lyrics as he nearly always writes about being in a tough financial situation. He sees himself as a real Rock 'N' Roll star, despite being in an electronic band.
Rocking Steve - Lead Guitars
Rocking Steve is the brother of drummer Rocking Paul and has an incredibly stereotypical hard rocker personality. His songwriting abilities are extremely limited to generic guitar riffs, but despite this, he is an excellent guitarist.
Rocking Paul - Drums, Percussion
Rocking Paul is best at home when drumming with full, raw power, although he is equally adept at drumming with precision and technique. He has provided all percussion since being hired by Wilson for the second album.
Discography:
Kemp - 934,022 Sales, High Chart: # 37
Cristo Redentor - 1,840,721 Sales, High Chart: #13
Colour Scheme - 2,091,986 Sales, High Chart: #13
The Good Conductor - 2,687,573 Sales, High Chart: #6
Bilious Uprising - 3,521,203 Sales, High Chart: #4
The House Of Lies - 3,302,408 Sales, High Chart: #3
The International - 4,264,921 Sales, High Chart: #2
Would It Be So Wrong? - 4,381,100 Sales, High Chart: #3
Badstuber - 3,203,337 Sales, High Chart #1
