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Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
Takin A Walk Nashville : Singer-Songwriter Will Paquin on his Indie Music Journey and Viral Success
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- [00:00]
Sarah Harrelson
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
Tide Pods Advertiser
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- [00:10]
Will Paquin
80% water.
- [00:11]
Tide Pods Advertiser
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- [00:22]
Sarah Harrelson
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- [00:27]
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- [00:37]
Sarah Harrelson
Everyone, this is Sarah Harrelson, your host of Taking a Walk Nashville. Today's episode is brought to you from the Rustle, a historic East Nashville church transformed into a one of a kind boutique hotel. The Russell's mission is to give back into the Nashville community through their Rooms for Rooms program by donating a portion of each each day to local nonprofits who are helping those experiencing homelessness. Visit russellnashville.com to book your experience today. So here with me in the Russell's Podcast studio is Will Paquin, a musician originally from Boston that gained widespread recognition in 2020 when his guitar riffs and debut song Chandelier went viral on TikTok. Accumulating millions of streams. His indie rock and alternative songs blend elements of classical guitar with heartfelt lyrics and energetic instrumentation. I'm really excited to dig into Will's story today and discuss his upcoming album. Ha ha ha. So thanks for being here today, Will. How are you?
- [01:42]
Will Paquin
Of course I'm good.
- [01:43]
Sarah Harrelson
So it sounds like you just moved to Nashville a few days ago, Right? So what brought you here to Nashville?
- [01:52]
Will Paquin
I would say love. Love brought me to Nashville. I met my now girlfriend. I was out here recording an album. The album that is coming out. Hahaha.
- [02:02]
Sarah Harrelson
Okay.
- [02:03]
Will Paquin
I was recording it here in Nashville because my friend lives here and he's an engineer, so he engineered the whole thing. But while I was here, I met my girlfriend Gabby and I was living in LA at the time.
- [02:14]
Sarah Harrelson
Okay, so you came from la, not Boston, right?
- [02:17]
Will Paquin
Yeah, I grew up in Boston, went to school in Boston, but was only in LA for a year.
- [02:23]
Sarah Harrelson
Okay, nice. How's your experience of Nashville been thus far, even though you're brand new?
- [02:29]
Will Paquin
I have spent a lot of time here.
- [02:31]
Sarah Harrelson
Okay.
- [02:33]
Will Paquin
I spent like three months maybe writing the album here and recording it. So I kind of got to see a little bit of Nashville. But I am still pretty fresh. I don't really know the spots yet. I Don't have many wrecks. People are always asking me, like, oh, what would you wreck? Like, what would you recommend going to? I just, I don't really.
- [02:57]
Sarah Harrelson
You're not sure?
- [02:58]
Will Paquin
I don't really go places, or at least I haven't been places. So.
- [03:02]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah, there's definitely a lot to explore in Nashville and a little bit about your backstory. Just curious, when you posted your music on TikTok in 2020, were you trying to go viral with your music at that time?
- [03:15]
Will Paquin
It's funny. Well, it's. It didn't. No. I guess short answer is no, because I didn't really. It was more just a fun pastime for me to do while Covid was happening and school was on Zoom. You know, I would just play guitar all day.
- [03:36]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah.
- [03:38]
Will Paquin
And my sister is the one who told me about TikTok, my little sister. And she was like, you should just make. You should put your videos up here. And I was like, okay. I guess so. So I downloaded TikTok and kind of. It took off pretty much within the first video that I made it.
- [03:57]
Sarah Harrelson
Wow.
- [03:57]
Will Paquin
It kind of caught on. It was kind of new to like be playing guitar, I think on TikTok when I came into it. So it was kind of like a new thing. I don't know. Within like four months. I think it really. It only took four months until Chandelier got released from then on. So it really only took four months for me to get that idea for the song and then end up recording it and releasing it. Yeah.
- [04:24]
Sarah Harrelson
At that time. Quick, before you went viral, were you trying to become a full time musician and make that your career?
- [04:32]
Will Paquin
No, certainly not. I was just going to school for advertising. I went to BU Boston University and I was just getting a degree in advertising, which I was like fully prepared to be in that industry. I had an internship. So it was definitely a switch when I had to make the decision to kind of stop focusing on that career path, which I'd been kind of prepared for my whole life. And within, like pretty much overnight had to really decide what I wanted to prioritize. And it took me a while actually to fully accept that maybe there is a chance that I could be a musician full time.
- [05:20]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah.
- [05:20]
Will Paquin
Because that. That was kind of a dream that I had that had kind of died years and years ago because I just. I don't know where I grew up, it seemed like not an option, like where I. People just didn't. They just like, weren't musicians. They weren't really playing music or listening to the music. That I listened to, so it just didn't seem like a thing.
- [05:45]
Sarah Harrelson
Right. So you could say social media definitely helped influence your career path in that way.
- [05:51]
Will Paquin
Yeah, it definitely created the career path for me. I'd say so. Yeah. I mean, that was. It was definitely a big shift for me that year.
- [06:01]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah.
- [06:02]
Will Paquin
2020.
- [06:03]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah. And advertising can definitely. Like, having that knowledge, I'm sure helps you a lot with your own career.
- [06:09]
Will Paquin
Yeah, it's probably subconscious. I don't. It's. I always think about how much that has helped me, and I think it has. It's just hard to determine what I learned in school and what I. I had just already known.
- [06:24]
Sarah Harrelson
Right. Yeah. So a lot of your music features finger picking and riffs on the guitar and even the recorder, which is cool. Who are some of your musical influences and what did you listen to growing up?
- [06:41]
Will Paquin
Well, I was kind of all over the place I grew up. I mean, my dad was really into music and still is really into music. So he introduced me to a lot of stuff from when I was like, born onward. He's still turning me on to new music, but 40s through 60s pop music was what I kind of grew up listening to. And I still listen to it, but that was really the foundation of where my earliest influences came from. I think, like, my first musical awakening was when I kind of started listening to the Beatles a lot.
- [07:24]
Sarah Harrelson
Okay.
- [07:25]
Will Paquin
I'd say the Beatles were like, the first musical, like, major musical influence in my life. And that was when I was like 11 or something. And my friend Will, who produced this album, he's my childhood, like, best friend. His name's also Will, but he's the one that got me into the Beatles. And we just spent 4th and 5th grade just only listening and talking about the Beatles. That's like, all we did.
- [07:52]
Sarah Harrelson
Were you playing guitar at the time?
- [07:55]
Will Paquin
Yeah, Yeah. I started playing guitar when I was around 8.
- [07:59]
Sarah Harrelson
Okay. So you could just emulate the Beatles on guitar at the end.
- [08:02]
Will Paquin
Yeah, we would, like, write like, Beatles, copy songs and sing harmonies.
- [08:09]
Tide Pods Advertiser
Nice.
- [08:11]
Will Paquin
But yeah, I started playing guitar before that. It was kind of a. My dad played guitar before that, but he hadn't really been playing since I was born, so it was kind of. I didn't really associate guitar with him until, like, he showed me he had, like, an old guitar that he had from when he was in school and playing in bands. It was kind of like a classic. I pulled it out from under his bed and would like, play a secret.
- [08:40]
Sarah Harrelson
Nice, Special.
- [08:42]
Will Paquin
Yeah. And I kind of did just fall in love with it immediately I was like obsessed with it, like pretty much that day forward and I still kind of am. I'm still learning new stuff as much as I can.
- [08:56]
Sarah Harrelson
Were you doing shows at all at that point before you started doing TikTok?
- [09:02]
Will Paquin
I mean, shows is a stretch. I was playing like in my friend's backyard sometimes. I had a little band that was. Oh, I was in two bands early on. I like had my own band where we'd play like bluesy covers, like rock Led Zeppelin. What else do we play? Like Freddie King? But then I was. I played drums in my friend Will's band and we were doing more like Beatles Y type things. So I was kind of doing both of those at the same time. And then once I hit middle school, I pretty much stopped writing my own music and like taking my own creative stuff seriously. But I still played drums in my friend's band and that was just like a nice creative outlet.
- [09:59]
Sarah Harrelson
Well, you definitely wear a lot of hats. Between songwriting, playing multiple instruments and also audio production, you've been known to record songs in unconventional places like your car and a closet. So did you teach yourself audio production and why did you choose these places to record versus a studio at the time?
- [10:20]
Will Paquin
Well, my friend Will. I keep giving my friend Will shout outs, but he got really into recording music around 12 or 13. He had like a little four track that he. I remember when he showed me the first song that he ever recorded back then, and I was just blown away that it just didn't seem like a possibility that you could just record your own songs. I just wasn't aware that you could do it right. So that kind of turned me on to recording really early stuff. Like I recorded some demos when I was like 13 on GarageBand. That was like my first intro to recording. But I mean, the unconventional places was a lot of. Out of like insecurity, I'd say, because I have always kind of kept my music stuff a secret because a lot of my friends don't. They're not really music people. They're not into music. It was just always like a. Or my own writing has always been such a, like, personal process. So I think back then I was like really scared to have someone hear something that wasn't finished yet.
- [11:50]
Sarah Harrelson
Right.
- [11:51]
Will Paquin
So I would like record in my basement closet when I was like 13 or I would turn my amp up really loud and play and then record vocals on the slide so that no one would hear me singing.
- [12:08]
Sarah Harrelson
Like, was your earlier music self produced? Like chandelier?
- [12:12]
Will Paquin
Yeah, yeah. So this was all When. I'm only talking about when I was like 13, but I. I mean, I pretty much stopped through high school and pretty much into college until Covid hit. But yeah, Chandelier. I recorded a lot of it, like, in my car because that same type of insecurity. Like, all my friends were rugby players. Like, I was on the rugby team and they were very. Not like, music forward people. So I was like, again, just finding myself keeping it a secret from everybody. I recorded most of my. My first, like, four songs I recorded in my car.
- [12:52]
Sarah Harrelson
That's cool.
- [12:53]
Will Paquin
Just at night.
- [12:54]
Sarah Harrelson
Well, it shows you. You don't always have to record in a studio because the quality of it is. Sounds really good.
- [13:00]
Will Paquin
Oh, well. I listened back. I'm like, oh, God. Yeah. That was definitely. It was always. I always had like a DIY approach. I always thought that a DIY or it was the only option that I had. So I didn't really consider doing anything else.
- [13:20]
Sarah Harrelson
Right.
- [13:21]
Will Paquin
I really just had, like a computer back then.
- [13:24]
Sarah Harrelson
Was this your first time in a studio recording your new album? Okay.
- [13:30]
Will Paquin
Yeah.
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Sarah Harrelson
How was that experience compared to, you know, you're used to doing everything on your own?
- [13:35]
Will Paquin
It was really nice, honestly. It's like I did miss aspects of having full control over stuff. And also the real major difference was I'm playing with a full band on this.
- [13:49]
Sarah Harrelson
Okay. So there's other musicians on it.
- [13:52]
Will Paquin
Yeah, we're just doing like, live takes and that's the foundation of the song. When before, I would have to just do everything. Like, I'd play the guitar and then I'd. I didn't have a drum set, so I would have to figure out some way to go around making a beat or making some sort of percussive element. That's why none of my songs have drums in them until now.
- [14:16]
Sarah Harrelson
Okay. And you're a co producer on the album, right? With your friend Will? Okay.
- [14:22]
Will Paquin
Yeah. But, yeah, I mean, Will kind of took control over the engineering aspect. My band, I've been touring with for years, so we're pretty gelled already. And I just sent demos to them that I did my. I did my little DIY demo album that I sent to the band. So I got that little, like, I. I was able to scratch that DIY itch.
- [14:51]
Sarah Harrelson
That's cool. And you recorded it here in Nashville? What studio?
- [14:55]
Will Paquin
At Last Dollar Studio. It's very nice. Very nice studio. My friend is the. He's the engineer there. So we were able to get in there.
- [15:05]
Sarah Harrelson
Cool.
- [15:06]
Will Paquin
For like a month.
- [15:07]
Sarah Harrelson
Did your band come into town with you or Are they already in Nashville?
- [15:11]
Will Paquin
They are spread out. My bassist Abby, lives in LA now and then my drummer Seb lives in Seattle.
- [15:21]
Sarah Harrelson
Cool.
- [15:22]
Will Paquin
But they're coming to Nashville in a few weeks to rehearse for this tour coming up.
- [15:28]
Sarah Harrelson
Nice. What inspired you to write this album? What does this album mean to you?
- [15:35]
Will Paquin
I was kind of feeling a lot of angst post releasing this EP that I recorded last summer. It was all like really acoustic, really quiet, introspective, thoughtful songs that I really love and I really love the way that came out. But I think I just, after releasing that, wanted to do like the total opposite.
- [16:04]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely a big contrast. Definitely more rockin. I've heard the singles that have come out already and Hahaha is a fun one to jam to.
- [16:15]
Will Paquin
It's definitely more rocking. I was listening to like a lot of fugazi and just more loud stuff.
- [16:21]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah.
- [16:22]
Will Paquin
As well. So I think that kind of inspired it. I was also about to go on tour and wanted songs that I could have fun playing on tour.
- [16:31]
Sarah Harrelson
Okay.
- [16:31]
Will Paquin
And that was like a major inspiration for the sound of the album was just I wanted it to sound like we were just playing it live because that was kind of a thing I've never really done before. It's not meant to be listened to like in a live setting. Like a lot of the songs that I'd recorded I didn't have live in mind. Right. So then going to try to convert them into like live performance songs. I had like kind of a lot of trouble.
- [17:07]
Sarah Harrelson
Right. Especially if there's so many different layers of instrumentation on it.
- [17:11]
Will Paquin
Yeah. Some of my songs have, you know, four guitar layers and I can't have four guitars on stage. So I had to either cut the song off my set list or try to come up with a way to make it work live.
- [17:24]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah.
- [17:25]
Will Paquin
So this album, I didn't want to do that with this album. I just wanted to be able to play the songs live. And that is essentially what the entire song is.
- [17:35]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah.
- [17:36]
Will Paquin
So kind of minimal production on it.
- [17:40]
Sarah Harrelson
Do you ever play the recorder on stage? I see you play it on your TikTok videos.
- [17:44]
Will Paquin
No. That is a new hobby of mine that. Who knows how long that will last.
- [17:49]
Sarah Harrelson
It'd be kind of fun to pull that out on stage.
- [17:51]
Will Paquin
I know. I thought that recorder would be an easy thing to learn. The basics of it are it's really easy to first begin playing it, but then if you want to get more complicated with it, it's actually such a hard instrument to really learn. And I'VE hit a wall, I think, on my recorder playing.
- [18:12]
Sarah Harrelson
I think that's most everyone's first instrument from taking it in like elementary and music class.
- [18:18]
Will Paquin
I still have mine from when I was in kindergarten or whatever.
- [18:22]
Sarah Harrelson
Nice. That's cool. Well, you mentioned you have a tour coming up in a few weeks. Is there a stop on the tour that you're most excited for?
- [18:32]
Will Paquin
Boston? Because I've never played a headline show in Boston before.
- [18:37]
Sarah Harrelson
Cool.
- [18:37]
Will Paquin
So this will be my first. And all my friends will be there, my family.
- [18:43]
Sarah Harrelson
What's the venue again?
- [18:44]
Will Paquin
It's the Red Room.
- [18:46]
Sarah Harrelson
Is this your first time playing there?
- [18:48]
Will Paquin
Yeah, and I've seen a bunch of shows there. I went to shows when I was in college there.
- [18:52]
Sarah Harrelson
Nice.
- [18:53]
Will Paquin
So it'll be cool to be on the other end of, you know, that venue.
- [18:59]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah. Are you looking forward to your Europe tour? Your Europe shows?
- [19:03]
Will Paquin
Yeah, yeah, we went to Europe in the spring and it was super fun. It's like a very different energy playing shows there. So, yeah, very excited to go back there.
- [19:16]
Sarah Harrelson
Very cool. Well, you have certainly achieved a lot at a young age. So after this album and this tour, what do you hope to accomplish next with your music career?
- [19:28]
Will Paquin
I know I've been thinking about that. It's hard to think about it because I kind of have such a daunting thing ahead of me that it's hard to think what I'm gonna do after it. But I am thinking about it. I mean, I think I wanna settle down into Nashville for a little bit. And I've kind of been running around for the past like two years, either touring or being somewhere else, recording. Like, I lived in LA for a year and a half, but I pretty much wasn't there ever. So I haven't had a place to just sit down and write for months on end. That's kind of what I want to do after this tour in the new year. Just kind of relax for a sec and kind of think about what I want to create and what I want it to sound like and what I want to say. Do you write and just get to working on the next one?
- [20:29]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah. Do you write most of your songs yourself or do you collaborate and co write with others?
- [20:36]
Will Paquin
I've never really co written something before. I've never really done like sessions with people. Well, that's not true. No. There is a collaborator in la, Gabe Greenland, that I wrote some songs with. I would like take an idea and he would help me just finish it out and produce it and that was fun. I do enjoy collaboration. I want the next project to be a little more collaborative with my band before, I kind of had the parts in mind and they would kind of do their thing on it, but it was mainly just the part I had in my head. It'd be nice to sit down with a band with no real direction. I've never really done that before and.
- [21:24]
Sarah Harrelson
Create something from scratch. Yeah.
- [21:28]
Will Paquin
Yeah. I've never done it, so I've never really had the opportunity. There's. I have never lived in the same place as my band before.
- [21:35]
Sarah Harrelson
Right. Yeah. That can make it a little bit challenging.
- [21:38]
Will Paquin
So I'm trying to get some time and wrestle them all together so that we can sit down and do something together. Yeah.
- [21:48]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah. Well, we wish you luck on your upcoming tour and everyone should give a listen to Hahaha, which is out on streaming platforms. And again, we're here in East Nashville at the Russell Podcast Studio. And, Will, since we're on Taking a Walk Nashville today, I know you're new to Nashville, but since you've explored it a bit, do you have a favorite place you have liked to take a walk in Nashville?
- [22:14]
Will Paquin
Yes. Shelby Park. I'd say that's a pretty obvious one.
- [22:19]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah, we're right near there, too.
- [22:21]
Will Paquin
Yeah, I've done. I walked the entire run of Shelby park last week, and it's a good one. It's finally getting a little cold out, so. Well, not cold, but temperate at least.
- [22:36]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah.
- [22:37]
Will Paquin
It's not overbearingly hot.
- [22:39]
Sarah Harrelson
We call it false fall in Tennessee.
- [22:40]
Will Paquin
Yeah, I know. I'm ready for it. The next heat wave to come.
- [22:44]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah. Sometimes I wish we had Boston weather down here.
- [22:47]
Will Paquin
Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, Shelby park is great. The airfield in Shelby Park I like a lot.
- [22:53]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah, there's definitely so many parks here in Nashville that you'll have to check out while you're here. But thank you again, Will, for being here today. On Taking a Walk Nashville. Is there anything you'd like to end by letting our listeners know?
- [23:08]
Will Paquin
Yeah. Going on tour. I'm playing. Where am I playing in Nashville? Dark Matter.
- [23:13]
Sarah Harrelson
Cool.
- [23:14]
Will Paquin
In Nashville. Should be a good time.
- [23:16]
Sarah Harrelson
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Look up Will's upcoming shows on his website. If you're in Nashville, check out his show here in Dark Matter and his other stops on the tour. Thank you again, Will, for being here today.
- [23:28]
Will Paquin
Sweet. Yeah, thank you for having me.
- [23:30]
Podcast Narrator
Thanks for listening to Takin A Walk Nashville with singer songwriter Sarah Harrell.
- [23:35]
Will Paquin
So.
- [23:36]
Podcast Narrator
And check out our other podcasts, Music Save Me, Comedy Save Me, and Taking a Walk, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [23:48]
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- [24:17]
Will Paquin
This is an I heart podcast.