Hey Willpower

Will Schwartz, of Imperial Teen, together with Tomo Yasuda, of The Box Explodes, formed Hey Willpower in San Francisco in 2003. Their music is heavily influenced by Schwartz's love for dance pop and r&b music coupled with Tomo's "blippy bleepy yet melodic landscapey music". Their debut, self-titled release came out on Cochon Records in 2005 and due to demand was re-released two years later as 'Dance', meanwhile Tomlab came on board to release the first full-length album 'PDA' in 2006. After gigging locally the band set their sights on larger scale US and European tours and enlisted the help of dancers to liven up their shows. Having played as support for many artists including Scissor Sisters, Le Tigre and Peaches, Schwartz describes the approach behind the band thus: "Hey Willpower" feels like something new and exciting and postmodern without being smug or ironic. Although it's different from Imperial Teen, it makes perfect sense to me to be making the music we're making because it comes from what I love about music. When we're performing live and people are doin' their dances and making noise, we know it's right. Dance is becoming a big part of our live show. Erin Rush and Justin Kelly are on dance detail and we have a good time synching up. I'm good with the chin scratchers and musicologists and philosophers too, but sometimes you have to let the emotions take over. Let's dance now and we can talk about it later if you want."

Links

www.willpowermusic.com

www.myspace.com/heywillpower