Written by Fred Carlyle
Photo Credit: Ada Duffy
It was a Saturday night when I found myself in a little park just outside of Fitzroy’s Pinnacle getting to know Naarm’s (begrudgingly titled) egg punk legend Billiam; talking about everything from his latest album to Sonic to an upcoming Europe tour to regrettable music tastes as a teenager all while we hunkered down on some noodle takeout and being displeased with the discovery of capsicum in his fried rice.
Having officially entered the scene back in 2021 (basically as soon as he turned 18) It wasn’t long until Billiam quickly became a household name in our city's punk crowd. With a fun and unhinged array of guitars, keys and loose vocals muffled via a Tascam Digital 8 Recorder, Billiam’s music has a sincere quality of just being himself, upholding Punk’s D.I.Y roots with a loose, crass and lighthearted energetic mood shown throughout his music.
Having released his first LP ‘Corner Tactics’ in 2023 after a relentless 2 years of singles, 10 minute eps and 7 Inches, we got a taste of something that felt more polished and structured, yet the mayhemic and sporadic charm of Billiam wasn’t lost in this transition to albums.
Now with Billiam’s sophomore album Animation Cel released at the start of this August, we’re given another brilliant example of Billiam’s formula being translated into an LP format.
With his new entourage of band members The Split Bills being put in mind, Animation Cel differs from its predecessors with its band-appropriate tracklist for live playing. Aside from the slight change in track listing, we’re given the good ole dose of frantic, unhinged and addictively fun dose of Billiam. Whether it be opening up a track like ‘Maneater Three’ with what sounds like a video game jump scare audio or the bizarre use of a Jamie Lee Curtis interview in ‘Matinee show’ the sixteen tracks crammed into the album’s 30 minute runtime results in a manic, fast paced and entertaining experience that never drops the ball nor slacks in momentum.
Describing himself as not a deep lyricist and getting fun out of ‘writing dumb lyrics’, Billiam's storytelling is simply a candid spilling of what’s on his mind. Tending to write about his everyday stuff whether it be mental health (‘shit brain stuff’), autism, sonic (of course), whatever movie he’s watched recently or, in the case of his recent album, bashing his head on a Myki pole. That’s the charm though, one of the incredibly admirable traits I gathered from Billiam is his pure sincerity, his consistency in just being himself, whether that be in a sweet or crass light.
Photo Credit: Ada Duffy
A bit of modern wisdom I always heard from my dad when growing up was “hippies are dickheads and punks are the most loveliest people you’ll ever meet”. It wouldn’t feel right to generalise a whole group of people as dickheads of course, but when it comes to an example of the latter, I definitely found an example here with Billiam.
The modesty and humbleness which flowed from Billiam during our interview was absolutely admirable to say the least. Nearly every question I asked him would do a 180 return to his thankfulness for the people around him whether that be his family, mates, record labels, therapist, etc. Questions regarding his growing success and quick popularity would be deflected with responses such as ‘I’ve been really lucky’ or even name drops of other local punk artists who he feels deserve more recognition. “I don’t consider myself fucking famous.” He told us, “I make shitty punk music and 10 people like it and the fact that 10 people like it is the sickest thing ever, but I can’t have the fucking ego about it ya know. I just feel honoured that I make the music and more people wanna listen to it and go out and see awesome bands.”
Egg Punk - a punk subgenre which emerged only recently in the 2010’s- is a label that will commonly come hand in hand with the name of Billiam. Characterised by synths, lo-fi recordings, internet-culture inspirations and a satirical style, you could easily gather why Mr Billiam has become a local beacon of this microgerne in our scene.
So when it comes to Billiam’s relationship with the Egg Punk genre, we’ve got two trains of thought on the matter. On one hand, Billiam just sees himself as someone who makes punk; given the fact that Bill's sound is less that of trying to master a genre or style and more so just letting his thoughts and ideas spill into songs, you can gather why Billiam wouldn’t necessarily want to be stuck with a label above his head.
On the other hand, It doesn’t matter to him what title his fans want to give to him, as he tells us, “If you make art, it goes beyond you… If you put (your music) out there, to think of it in the context of only yourself is really selfish. So however people wanna classify my art I’m just honoured that people wanna listen to it. it’s fucking crazy that people wanna listen… If (a genre name) means more people find cool music then sick!”
Photo Credit: Eve Wickson
“This is a totally normal and non-autistic thing to do” is what we hear on the start of Animation Cel’s track number 8, ‘‘My Metronome’ before we’re instantly washed over by a flurry of fuzzy guitars and quick-punch vocals.
‘Autism Core ™ ‘ (a genre Billiam made and applied to himself after discovering a critic describing another band’s sound as Billiamwave and being incredibly amused by that) is the only thing you’ll find in the about section of Billiam’s spotify. “I have autism” Billiam told us matter-of-factly, “ it’s been there my whole life, I kinda just deal with it on a day to day basis and so it obviously seeped its way into the songs I write… I figured not talking about it is kinda stupider than trying to hide it.”
Whether or not Billiam expected for this turn out; his candidness, transparency and overall confidence in integrating his autism into his music and brand has resulted in him serving as a major icon and inspiration for our city’s neurodivergent punters and fellow musos. So how did Billiam achieve this status and positive effect within our scene and at such a fast rate as well? Well, Billiam is simply being himself, as he says; “I discovered pretty early on I’m pretty shit at being someone else so I had no other option… I just try my best and sometimes I end up on stage yelling about it and It’s fun.”
Whether it be his lyricism, his instrumentation, stage presence or discussion of his autism, every aspect of Billiam’s artistry radiates this refreshing charm which comes from him plainly being comfortable with himself and in his own skin.
To ‘just be yourself’ is one of those mantras we hear throughout our whole life that may sound pretty straightforward at first and yet, as we grow older and come to terms with our self-identity, It can be at many times an easier-said-than-done situation. So, in the case of Billiam’s relationship with autism and his identity as neurodivergent, he expressed that, while he’s had the privilege of being constantly supported by his family, friends and therapist, he’s well aware that many others weren’t raised with that privilege of a secure self-identity.
“People have said that they get power from (his autism and music) and that they feel more comfortable with themselves which is the biggest fucking honour...I can’t say I've done much with my life but If someone gets that from the stupid fucking bug music I make I fucking feel pretty satisfied, It’s a really fantastic feeling”
Photo Credit: Declan Shields
So, what’s next from Billiam? Well we’ve caught him in a very interesting time as our very own Naarm Native will soon find himself playing overseas for the first time for a U.K/ Euro tour this spring (he was stoked to tell me the absolute bargain he got on the plane ticket).
When discussing how he feels about playing overseas for the first time, we got a deeply admirable and incredibly modest answer that we should by now expect from Billiam as he told us that, all he's ever wanted when going overseas is to attend gigs and see bands play. So really it’s just a cherry on top to him that he gets to play there as well.
His tour overseas ain't the only live milestone Billiam’s gonna get out of this year as come December we'll see the punker performing live over at Victoria’s eternally-praised Meredith Music Festival. "It's gonna be insane" as he put it for us, telling us that he at first thought the email was a joke when he got invited. Most importantly however, Billiam’s appearance at Meredith Music Festival means one thing and one thing only… that being Billiam gets to proudly claim that he’s played on the same stage as Leo Sayer, a fact that’s just ‘objectively hilarious’ to Bill.
The interview was wrapping up; our takeaway food was finished long ago and Licetrays (who Billiam was keen to see play at the Pinnacle) were about to start playing any time now. So to finish our conversation off, I hit Billiam with one of my favourite questions, that being ‘What do you want your audience to get out of your music?’ to which we got the reply “Whatever they want”. At the end of the day, Billiam just wants you to respond to his music honestly and to let yourself get whatever you want out of it whether you think his songs are a code or a retelling of the bible in reverse (some examples he gave), whatever interpretation gives you a good time is all he cares for.
Punk, at the end of the day, is a message of being non-conforming. With the genre’s foundation of opposing mainstream rock in desire for something more honest, the agenda of punk has been translated in many different ways over the years whether that be Clash’s response of protesting against pressing political matters or the Sex Pistols’ way of being abrasive for the pure sake of rebellion.
What I got out of this interview is that Billiam uses punk to just be himself as, it turns out, being himself can tend to be refreshingly unconventional many of the times.
You can listen to Animation Cel here
Find Billiam on Instagram here
Comments