Will Sparks makes his own sounds, clapping, for example, and electronically he uses a lot of plug-ins and filters. Photo: Michael Clayton-Jones
Until two months ago 20-year-old Will Sparks was living with his mum in Camberwell, composing electronic music in his bedroom after dropping out of Caulfield Grammar at the end of year 11.
Sparks took his music to local pubs and clubs as a performing DJ and posted his music - which he branded The Melbourne Bounce - on social media. Then one of his tracks, Ah Yeah, made world No.3 on the Beatport chart. Another, a remix of Hello, hit No.1 and Will Sparks was suddenly an international star.
In August he left home to tour the US, drawing huge crowds, and is now starting a seven-week tour of Europe before moving to Los Angeles to live six months of the year.
Still dizzy from his warp-speed climb to fame, Sparks flew back to Melbourne for a few days last week to visit his mother, artist Barbara McClelland, his sisters and mates, who held a celebration party that ran until 4am.
''If you told me 12 months ago that I'd be touring around the world I wouldn't believe you,'' he said. ''I still don't believe it. I'm just a normal kid; always meeting up with my mates and trying to stay normal because tour life is not the normal life.''
The US website Headline Miami last month hailed his Melbourne Meets America tour, saying Sparks was ''Australia's breakthrough artist of the year''.
Sparks says he worked hard to get his Melbourne Bounce out there. ''I was booked up to 20 times a week around Melbourne and Australia. I'd go to the country towns, pull 1200 people. I played every single show, never late. I once played eight shows till nine in the morning on one hour's sleep from a Sydney show the night before. So, when Ah Yeah made the charts I thought: 'How cool is that. Just me bobbing around in my room'.''
Sparks produces his music by combining sounds and beats and rhythms on his home equipment - then he turns disc jockey and plays it to an audience, working the balance, volume and mix. ''It's my cardio,'' he says. ''I'm jumping around, it's a workout!''
Money-wise, Sparks has struck gold. Top DJs in the US can earn up to $US300,000 a gig. ''Yeah,'' he says, ''the money is disgusting, really. It's really too much to comprehend. So, it's really about how I feel when I'm on stage. I'm just so humbled - I get to play my music to the crowd and the reaction you get from them is the best part. My shows are mostly two hours. I had 8000 in San Diego, 6000 in Atlanta. We did about 35 shows in 30 cities in North America.''
The sounds Sparks uses in his music are many and various. ''You can buy sound packs,'' he says, ''and I record my own. Clapping, for example, and I make my own kit drums.'' He learnt guitar, made his own riffs but still can't read music. ''Wasn't good at that,'' he says.
''Electronically, I use a lot of plug-ins, find new instruments, you can tweak things with filters. Yeah, I'm going to tour for at least the next 10 years.''
Link: You Tube, Will Sparks
No comments:
Post a Comment