Name: William the Conqueror
Members: Ruarri Joseph (vocals, guitar), Naomi Holmes (bass, vocals), Harry Harding (drums, vocals)
Interviewee: Ruarri Joseph
Nationality: British
Current release: William the Conqueror's Excuse Me While I Vanish is out via Chrysalis.
Recommendations: People should read Only Americans Burn in Hell by Jarett Kobek if they want to bear witness to someone writing themselves into a corner, both creatively and professionally. He really lays into the hypocrisy of the liberal arts and in particular the world of publishing and Hollywood, all the while being aware of how it might damage his chances of ever writing another book.
Music, you can’t go wrong with recommending Karen Dalton’s Something On Your Mind.

If you enjoyed this William the Conqueror interview and would like to stay up to date with the band and their music, visit their official homepage. They are also on Instagram, Facebook, twitter, and Soundcloud.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I have mild synaesthesia, which is the cross-pollination of senses, in my case I hear colour.

So, it doesn’t matter if my eyes are open or closed or whether the music is good or not, I get a sense of a dark, chalky, mostly retro colour-palette in my mind’s eye.  

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

My first steps were experimental, inquisitive little pads across unknown terrain, probably around 7 or 8 years old. Twanging strings on a guitar that was just in the house (though no one played), hitting pans, banging cupboards etc.

When I was a little older, maybe 11, I was taught a few chords, enough to play most early Bob Dylan songs, but what I really liked doing was making stuff up. So that experimental, inquisitive, self-taught thing never really went away.

I don’t know if you can teach being an artist like you can teach being a musician? I think artistry is primarily about the way you think — how you interpret and what medium you use to express those thoughts is secondary.  

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

It meant everything and I couldn’t understand anyone that didn’t feel the same.

I think when I was that age, I was naïve to the realities of what it meant / took to be in a band, especially a successful one, or at least one that made a living from it. Music was like a magic potion I could drink that took me off on wild daydreams about the future and detached me from reality in a way I could get addicted to.

What’s different? I daydream a lot less these days. And 17 years in the music industry has probably taken its toll. It’s rare something will make me lose myself like it used to. Still chasing though!

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

Creating has always been the conduit for processing that which I can’t otherwise articulate. The motivation is the desire to figure something out I suppose.

Having said that, the best stuff always comes when I’m not consciously trying to do anything at all. The conscious stuff goes in the bin. Then when I’m not thinking, I’ll suddenly nail it.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Good one Bruce Duffie. Well you could argue a case for both. The universe is inside the mind after all, and anything created by humans was at one time nothing more than an idea waiting to be realised in the material.

So, it would make sense to me that ideas are there to be discovered in the same way a sculpture is contained within a block of marble before a chisel has even grazed it. This is the kind of thing that keeps me up at night!  

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

I can concur with what Mr Simon says, but I’m not sure it has anything to do with defining my personal sound. It’s more that I’m looking to be surprised by it or that I might learn something if I listen to my own records.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I can’t think of a single experience right now, but I’ve always thought and interpreted the world in rhythms.

I grew up in a farming village that rumbled and cawed in my young ears; livestock, machinery, birdsong etc. It all combined into strange symphonies I was always drawn to.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

I’m drawn to them all but that doesn’t mean I’m any good at executing them.

Performing or writing as William I suppose I lean into louder, deeper territories as that’s where my own voice tends to work best.

Simplicity in chord structure with complex melodies on top is another go to. I love repetition and groove and the way it can hypnotise you when you’re playing.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

As I said before, the most satisfying creations come about when I finally let my guard down and stop trying to second guess what someone else might be expecting from me. The whole of the William project has been about embracing the idea that I don’t know what I’m doing, but that I’ll find a way if I’m patient enough.

Writing is like torture followed by a massive shot of adrenaline that takes all the pain away. Recording with the band is like the shot of adrenaline without the torture beforehand. Anytime we get to be in a studio together is dear to me.

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

Science doesn’t come into it for me, but experimenting, and being free to fail is everything.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I feel like making music is quite a selfish endeavour. It takes me away from my normal life, doesn’t include my wife or my family duties.

As William, my opinion and desires are centre stage, whereas in life I’m pretty much an idiot that needs constant reminders that there’s more to the world than the latest idea I’ve just had.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

With mundane tasks there’s usually a checklist of things to do that you simply follow in order to get the desired result. Music, at least the way I approach it, doesn’t have a checklist to follow. It’s random as to where you start and where you’ll end up, you just have to be open to everything being possible.

If I made coffee that way I think my wife might have something to say.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

I think my instinct would be to figure out why it affected me because I might be able to integrate it into my own ideas. Like wanting to peek behind the curtain after a magician blows your mind.

I don’t seem to be able to just enjoy it anymore. It’s a drawback for sure.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

Less of the college or university made music and more music from the fringes of society?

I’m not putting a downer on the education system, but I’ve done some guest lectures at colleges lately and spoken with the students about their goals and ambitions, and there seems to be an awful lot of emphasis on how to promote and market yourself through social media, and a lot less emphasis on how to express and discover yourself artistically.

It’s as if being a musician is the same as making a great cup of coffee. Follow these steps and off you go!