When summer is coming I begin my lookout for fun, happy, energetic, summer-sounding music. You know the kind of thing—no deep morose subject matter or scathing social commentary but lively, fresh, animated music. Tunes that make you smile, that make your heart smile, too. Tunes that inspire you to feel young, vital, and eager for activity. I was thrilled to find Willie Herath (pronounced like Harris with a lisp), whose self-described “nod your head beach rock” is the epitome of summer music.
Barenaked Ladies mixed with Jack Johnson, doing the Funky Chicken with Fountains Of Wayne—and it is a perfect reflection of the man who makes it. Best known for the numerous commercials he has been in, Willie is now pursuing his music, with the release of his debut album Cohgie Never Landed.
Willie seems to be a typical Southern California guy—except that he is from Illinois—physically active, enthusiastic, and spiritual. And his music mirrors his life. It’s the only music I can imagine listening to when camping on the beach after a day of lobster diving—a hobby of Willie’s—cooking over an open fire, and singing songs. He was born and raised on a farm in Illinois. His first exposure to Southern California was during a family vacation to Los Angels when Willie was 12. He says “I didn’t really like it too much. The tourist stuff back then was dirty and way to expensive.” He assures me it is a much nicer place to visit now.
At 14 he found a box of his dad’s old Beach Boys records and inspired by the beachy tunes he heard, Willie began to take guitar lessons and shortly after began writing songs. And in his acoustic-type, singer-songwriter style of music you can feel the influences of the Beach Boys—breezy musical mixes with buoyant lyrics and Willie’s lively, guileless vocals being the perfect accompaniment for this imponderable music.
Willie and I sat down recently for an early morning chat and we talked about lobster diving, and of course his music and debut album Cohgie Never Landed as well as everything else under the sun.
Why are you taking the music road when you are already a successful commercial actor?
Well, it’s kind of like, why do people like to have a glass of water when they eat? It’s just one of those things for me. I feel like I have to be diverse in what I do, in order to keep myself content and focused in life. I think acting is just great! I think music is great! I think that people always want to label entertainers as what they feel they should be.
So, you’re an actor, or a singer kind of thing.
Yeah. As an entertainer I just feel blessed to be able to do both. I don’t really consider myself to be one or the other. I don’t really pull my identity from what I do for a living. I think my identity is more who I am as person, and who my family are and who my friends are as opposed to what I do to make money.
You write all the lyrics and music that you play but you have put together a band to play with you, correct?
Yeah, uh-huh. I have been in bands before and it’s always been great until somebody’s life changes. And that’s just the way it is with bands. You play with people and then this or that happens, somebody has to move or somebody has to get a full time job or they get married and then the band is no longer what you formed. So when I decided to start doing music this time around, I decided “you know what, I’m going to be myself, I’m going to be Willie Herath, I’m going to be a solo artist. And then I’m going to find some really great guys that believe in me, who believe in my music.” I give them, obviously, a percentage or a portion of the licensing and the royalties to the album as well, like it is a real band but if some of the guys come and go through out the years there’s no confusion.
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