Billy Tibbals Lives For Rock ‘n’ Roll
Catching up with the new English blood of the L.A. scene
Billy Tibbals epitomizes what it means to have a young man who possesses an old soul.
His new EP, Nightlife Stories — out now and a follow-up to his initial outing, the aptly-titled Stay Teenage, released exactly one year ago — literally sounds like a blast from the past. It is, in every sense, a throwback to the glam rock era of the ‘70s and ‘80s, when artists like David Bowie, T.Rex and Sparks were all the rage, and rock ‘n’ roll was as much about image as it was about invention. Produced by the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson, Nightlife Stories is flush with both eagerness and exhilaration.
The 22-year-old L.A.-based rocker has clearly absorbed his influences well. Opening track “Burn Out!” comes across as anything but, a robust rocker that effectively sets the stage for all that follows. “The World Revolves” acts as an effusive follow-up. “Out of Touch” is teeming with tension, but no less effusive. “I’d rather be unhappily free than trapped by modern ways,” he decidedly declares with the latter.
Side two follows suit with the straight-out sonic thrust of “Nobody Knows,” the Ziggy Stardust-like “I’ll Die” and “Dream Away,” a wistful and reflective pastiche on what it means to look forward towards the future and hope that all one wishes for will eventually come to pass.
In the press release that accompanied the EP, Robinson himself is quoted as saying, “Billy has the rock & roll dream in his eyes, stardust in his hands, a head full of music, and the dance floor at his feet.”
“I think the new record shows another side of me and my songwriting that the last record didn’t,” Tibbals tells Rock & Roll Globe. “I’m not sure if I could confidently say there were any differences in my approach to songwriting — not that I’m really aware of — although I’m sure there were. I was in a different place, in a different state of mind, and a year or two older than when writing Stay Teenage. It’s still a very sincere and vulnerable record, just dressed up with some harder edges perhaps.”
He adds that meeting Chris Robinson also had a decidedly dramatic effect on his efforts overall.
“I was introduced to Chris by Brent Rademaker outside of a dive bar in L.A.,” he recalls. “We started chatting and I ended up sending him some of my home recorded demos. He suggested we go into a studio to record an EP and I was all for it! I can’t thank Chris enough for everything he’s done for me. It’s really reassuring to me that he believes in what I’m doing and wants to help me do it. Cheers Chris!”
Tibbals further underscores the convenience of that connection as he embarks on a West Coast tour that finds him opening for The Black Crowes.
“I’ve done a bit of touring prior to this run of shows,” he says. “I hope to keep touring for a very, very long time.”
Those live performances ought to serve him well by further affirming his retro resolve. He boasts an iconic image that befits the musical references he tosses about so freely in his sound and style. His mop of curly hair and glittery stage gear easily bring to mind Marc Bolan, Mott the Hoople and David Bowie himself in their full regalia. Indeed, the impact of that earlier era has clearly had a profound effect on him.
“I just like great songs and I wanna write them,” Tibbals insists. “It’s timeless music. Most of the radio music I heard growing up didn’t really do it for me. That’s not to say there’s not tons of music from the 2000’s and the 2010’s that I don’t love! There’s always great music coming out. I like to find and listen to as much music as I possibly can.”
Tibbals’ early childhood growing up in London had an effect on him as well. “I was just a little kid doing my thing in the streets of North London back then,” he suggests. “I really wanted to be a conjurer, a British term for a magician. I would spend my time devising illusions and spellbinding feats of impossibility in my childhood bedroom. I would also listen to a lot of Beatles CDs and watch YouTube videos with my schoolmates. I think what I do now is not at all dissimilar from what I wanted to do with my life back then. It’s magic!”
VIDEO: Billy Tibbals “Burn Out!”
Nevertheless, Tibbals insists he isn’t stuck in some sort of time warp, despite appearances to the contrary.
“I don’t live in the world of the ‘70s,” he maintains. “I like a lot of great music that came out then, but I also like a lot of music from other decades and times as well. I have a lot of problems with the state of the modern world as anybody with half a brain should, and I like to escape into film, novels, music and art from different times and places. I like to consume things that have a little substance. I know that what I do is somewhat ridiculous, but I don’t think it’s void of any artistic merit. Everything that’s good should be somewhat absurd and ridiculous and out of touch, I think. What I make is an extension of who I am and if people dig it or not is up to them. I hope to share peace and love, Ringo style.”
Tibbals says that his musical journey began in earnest while he was in high school. “I’d written songs here and there before then, but got really into it in sophomore and junior years. It was just something I had to do. Writing and recording songs gave me, and still gives me, more pleasure than just about anything else there is. It’s even better than cigarettes and coffee. Better than sex.”
That said, he also admits that it took him some time to present his work to the world in the manner he was hoping to. “I wanted to wait for the right moment to strike,” he muses. “The response to my first single [“Onwards and Upwards”] was very reassuring to me. It didn’t take over the world or anything, but just seeing that people liked it and we’re listening to it was very reassuring. At the time, I wasn’t sure that anyone other than myself would like my songs. I only write for myself.”
That latter thought is one he makes convincingly clear. “I get my inspiration from the chemical goop that spews from a smashed up iPhone,” he says somewhat succinctly. “I drink it and write my songs. I love love. I live for rock ‘n’ roll. I dig everything.”
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