Will Crewdson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | London |
| Genres | Rock, electronic, new wave |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
Will Crewdson is a London-based guitarist/writer/producer best known for his work with the UK band Rachel Stamp, US singer Johnette Napolitano and Adam Ant.
Crewdson spent 10 years touring and recording with the rock band Rachel Stamp [1] which, at one point, became the only unsigned band to sell out the London Astoria. [2] [3] [4] They also played gigs with Iggy Pop, Korn, No Doubt, The Tubes and Cheap Trick, among others. [4] They had several record deals, the biggest of which was with WEA. [2]
After this period, Crewdson concentrated on writing and recording with Johnette Napolitano, [1] [5] the former singer with LA legends Concrete Blonde. The critically acclaimed Napolitano solo album Scarred was released on Hybrid Recordings in 2007. [4] [6] [7] He also collaborated with the US director/writer Tom DiCillo as one half of The Black and Blue Orkestre. [8]
In 2010, Crewdson played live, recorded and musically directed for Adam Ant's solo band. Gigs included a sell-out show at London's Scala. He also helped organize a tribute to the late Adam and the Ants guitarist, Matthew Ashman again at the London Scala on 21 November 2010. Crewdson played lead guitar on the night with the remaining members of Ashman's bands, Bow Wow Wow and Chiefs of Relief (featuring Paul Cook from Sex Pistols on drums and Billy Morrison on vocals) as well as performing another set with Adam Ant. [1] [4]
He also continues to work in the US with long-term collaborator LIVAN and has completed support tours with this artist opening for Alice Cooper, Aerosmith and Peter Murphy. [1] [9]
As well as these projects, Crewdson has also played guitar for the following: Bow Wow Wow, [10] Malcolm McLaren, [4] Tom Jones, [1] [11] Bryan Ferry, [1] Martin Degville, Celine Dion, [1] Appleton, Pigface, Tyler James, T-Rexstasy and Dragons. [12]
In 2013, Nick Marsh announced that he was forming a new line-up of Flesh for Lulu which included Crewdson on guitar. [13]
Crewdson rejoined Adam Ant in early 2014 as joint lead guitarist for his UK live shows which included a one-off Hammersmith Apollo gig. Ant's classic Dirk Wears White Sox album was played in its entirety at this show, which was later released as the concert DVD Dirk Live at the Apollo. He was also featured in Jack Bond's full-length documentary about Ant, The Blueblack Hussar which was released on DVD in July 2014. Crewdson was sole guitarist for Ant following the sudden death of bandmate Tom Edwards during a US tour in January 2017 until the recruitment of replacement Adam Leach later that year.
In 2015, Crewdson joined The Selecter on guitar and also released his first album with electrorock duo She Made Me Do It which features Shaheena Dax from Rachel Stamp on vocals.
In August 2023 Will started playing with Gaye Bykers on Acid commencing with a high profile set at Rebellion Festival. For these gigs he goes under the pseudonym Billy Boy Byker.
Crewdson has also released eight solo albums under the name Scant Regard. This is mainly instrumental electronic-led guitar-driven music taking in influences from punk, techno, dub, surf style rock'n'roll and Spaghetti Western soundtracks sometimes featuring guest vocalists.
Rachel Bolan, born James Richard Southworth, is an American musician, best known as the bassist and main songwriter of the metal band Skid Row.
Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant, is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten hits from 1980 to 1983, including three UK No. 1 singles. He has also worked as an actor, appearing in many films and television episodes.
Bow Wow Wow are an English new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band with then 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on lead vocals. They released their debut EP Your Cassette Pet in 1980 and had their first UK top 10 hit with "Go Wild in the Country" in 1982. The band's music was characterized by a danceable new wave sound that drew on a Burundi beat provided by Dave Barbarossa on drums, as well as the subversive, suggestive, and sometimes exuberant lyrics sung and chanted by their teenage lead vocalist.
Chiefs of Relief were a British rock group with a unique electro-punk style, punctuated by the guitar work of vocalist Matthew Ashman, and also featuring drummer Paul Cook. The Chiefs fused rock with hip hop and electronic elements from the era but it was as a live outfit that they excelled.
Dirk Wears White Sox is the debut studio album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released on 30 November 1979 by record label Do It. It was the first number one album on the UK Independent Albums Chart when the chart debuted in Record Week in 1980.
Marc Moreland was an American rock musician. He was the former guitarist for rock band Wall of Voodoo, punk band The Skulls, and rock bands Pretty and Twisted and Department of Crooks. He also released a solo album under the name Marc Moreland Mess.
Johnette Napolitano is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and bassist for the alternative rock group Concrete Blonde.
Rachel Stamp are an English rock band formed in London in 1994. Their debut album, Hymns For Strange Children, was released in 2000, followed by Oceans of Venus two years later.
Annabella Lwin is an English-Burmese singer, songwriter and record producer best known as the lead vocalist of Bow Wow Wow.
Gaye Bykers on Acid (GBOA) are an English psychedelic rock band from Leicester, and one of the founder members of the grebo music scene. They later released both thrash punk and dance music albums under various aliases.
Bow Wow are a Japanese rock band formed in 1975. Originally consisting of guitarist and vocalists Kyoji Yamamoto and Mitsuhiro Saito, bassist Kenji Sano and drummer Toshihiro Niimi, they were one of the first Japanese metal bands. After releasing nine studio albums, Saito left in 1983. The band then adopted a mainstream sound by recruiting lead vocalist Genki Hitomi and keyboardist Rei Atsumi and renamed themselves to Vow Wow. They relocated to England in 1986, before Sano left the band the following year and Yamamoto invited former Whitesnake bassist Neil Murray to replace him. After Murray left to join Black Sabbath, studio bassist Mark Gould played on Vow Wow's last album before they disbanded in 1990.
Leigh Gorman is an English rock musician, record producer, and composer, best known for his work as the bass player for Bow Wow Wow.
Matthew James Ashman was an English guitarist with Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow. He died in 1995 after lapsing into a coma due to diabetes, aged 35.
David Barbarossa is an English musician and author. As the drummer in both Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow, he was instrumental in creating the highly influential and innovative tribal drumming style that was popular among British and some American bands from 1979 to 1983.
Agent Provocateur were a British electronica band, consisting of John Gosling, Matthew Ashman, Dan Peppe, Danny Saber and Cleo Torez. When Ashman died in 1995 he was replaced on guitar by Lance Burman.
Adam and the Ants were an English rock band that formed in London in 1977. The band existed in two versions, both of which were fronted by Adam Ant, between 1977 and 1982. The first phase began when the band were founded in May 1977 and were called the Ants until November of that year. They later changed their style from punk rock to post-punk and new wave, and released one album. The final line-up of this version consisted of Dave Barbarossa, Matthew Ashman, and Leigh Gorman—all of whom left the band in January 1980 at the suggestion of manager Malcolm McLaren to form Bow Wow Wow.
LIVAN is a UK-based alternative rock band founded by Greek-born singer Livan that also features guitarist Will Crewdson and drummer Damon Wilson. The band has toured with artists like Aerosmith, Alice Cooper and Peter Murphy among others.
David Ryder Prangley is a Welsh musician best known for his work with the glam punk band Rachel Stamp, and as bass player for Adam Ant.
"C·30 C·60 C·90 Go" is the debut single by English new wave band Bow Wow Wow. It was written by Malcolm McLaren, Matthew Ashman, Leigh Gorman and Dave Barbarossa. Originally only released on cassette, it was the world's first-ever cassette single.
Dream 6 is an extended play by American rock band Dream 6, released by Happy Hermit Co. in 1983.