The Willis

The Willis-Bathtub, Lightbulb, Heartattack

Geek rock, whether by über-nerds like Weezer or more abstract purveyors of insignificant detail like Pavement, has rarely transcended the jab that it's music for and by losers, soundtracks for the dateless--in the end, guy music. The Willis seems fine with that. The five Wisconsin natives who make up this band easily fit within the nerdy confines of their own unhipness while celebrating a lifestyle that gives more weight to getting high with Saturday Night Live's Jimmy Fallon than scoring with even the most righteous babe. As a bonus, Bathtub, Light Bulb, Heart Attack rocks viciously, presenting its nerdish sentiments as unapologetic slabs of arty punk, like some mutant melding of XTC and X.
Besides a roaring deconstruction of "Good Vibrations," this debut centers around the hilarious "Jimmy Fallon: The Plan," where singer Stephen McCabe dreams up a chance meeting with Fallon where they all "get high... in Rockefeller Center" and proceed to make a demo that might get them on SNL. The song, like the entire album, is a glorious mess, a cheesy new-wave wink to inanity that confuses in the most offhanded and enjoyable manner conceivable. --Darryl Smyers

- Dallas Observer

Art imitating life was expected when The Willis released its debut album "Bathtub. Lightbulb. Heartattack" three years ago.

But in a delicious dose of irony that has the Oshkosh band bound for Rockefeller Center in New York City, life is imitating the same art that appeared to be nothing more than a dormant inside joke among friends.

The band's New York state of mind began when representatives from "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" contacted the Willis' Minneapolis-based label, doubleplusgood records, a little more than a week ago, and first reported on the osh24seven blog.

The most ready-made single on "Bathtub," "Jimmy Fallon: The Plan" chronicles a scenario where the band records and hands off a demo to the former "Saturday Night Live" alum through a friend named Salty who tends bar in New York. The grand gesture climaxes in the song's final, pulsating minute with frontman Stephen McCabe bellowing — in the most literal way possible — "Burn a CD-R … for Jimmy Fallon!"

"Really, the whole album is jam packed with silly ideas and language … and 'Fallon' was just another example of that," McCabe said. "It was kind of self-reflexive, partly a diary of making a record on one hand. On the other hand, it's about the silly conceit or notion that bands try to, through indirect connections, have a six degrees of separation kind of thing to someone famous."

The beauty of the situation is that unlike habitual namedroppers out to prove their self-worth through tenuous connections, The Willis didn't have to try. A job promotion simply worked out in their favor.

Fallon happens to be debuting his NBC talk show on March 2 when Conan O'Brien moves into Jay Leno's timeslot. Taking over those reins means scouting for talent, and out of the blue last week, Fallon's people e-mailed doubleplusgood owner Mike Siddall about the band's availability.

"I didn't really question if it was for real, but rather, how serious are they?" Siddall said of Fallon's people. "Because they were kind of vague, 'Hey, we like the band, we're interested in knowing more about them, have them on the show,' that kind of thing.

"My guess is that they were Googling (Fallon's) name on the Web. I know he's been doing a lot of web episodes for his show, and somewhere along the line, someone must have stumbled upon the song and said, 'Hey, what's this all about?'"

The deal is simple: the band will play a test show in front of a live studio audience on Feb. 26. Depending on how the performance goes, the unaired pilot could turn into a full-on appearance.

So while having to pay for airfare and lodging isn't exactly the red carpet treatment, the band has an unexpected foot in the door. Now, they just have to kick it open.

"For (the song) to actually come to life, it's just a cherry. Nothing more," said bassist and Allouez resident Eric Blumreich. "We're not over-thinking it. Anything that happens if we make it out there, or don't make it out there … it's still a pretty cool story."

That the band — McCabe, Blumreich, Dean Hoffman, Eric Van Thiel and Todd Farber — was technically on hiatus is also a moot point. A call from Jimmy Fallon's people will rearrange your schedule quickly.

"The fact that this is happening is an extra layer of absurdity regarding the song (and its origins)," McCabe said. "And it's pretty cool that, you know, we're just some goofy band from the Midwest and (Fallon's) willing to have us come out and play. That kind of spirit is promising on its own."
--Thomas Rozwadowski - Green Bay Press-Gazette

Oshkosh band The Willis has been invited to perform on a pilot episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in New York City.

The performance will take place on Thursday Feb. 26, in Fallon's new studio, which was Johnny Carson's original studio, in Rockefeller Center. The episode will be filmed in front of a live studio audience and may result in a return visit from The Willis on a future show.

The story behind the song The Willis will perform is perhaps the most interesting element of the tale. It's called "Jimmy Fallon: The Plan," according to a press release from the band.

The lyrics tell of a band with tenuous connections to a famous person (Jimmy Fallon) who decide to write, record, mix, and finally "burn a cd-r" to send to said famous person with the hopes of getting their big break.

The unlikely notion of "being discovered" by knowing someone, who knows "someone" has become kind of a cliché success storyline for small local rock bands that rarely ends in triumph.

Actually, most of the lyrics are factual, although The Willis never really intended to send a CD-R through backchannels to get Jimmy Fallon to listen to it. Somehow, though, fate or luck intervened and the song's story has come true. Jimmy Fallon heard the song and liked it enough to ask the band to fly to New York City and perform it on a pilot for his brand new late night talk show, The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Naturally, to actually be asked to go to New York to play is about as perfect a way for this song's story to end.

The song "Jimmy Fallon: The Plan" was released on The Willis's debut album, "Bathtub.Lightbulb.Heartattack." available on Doubleplusgood Records (www.doubleplusgoodrecords.com). The band is currently writing music for a follow-up.

Jimmy Fallon, who began his television career as the Weekend Update host with Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live is taking over the 12:30 (Eastern Standard Time) slot for television veteran Conan O'Brien, who moves to Jay Leno's 11:30 slot. Jay Leno will reportedly move to the 10 p.m. prime time slot with a show format similar to the Tonight Show.

The Willis is a small Midwestern local rock band made up of longtime friends Dean Hoffman (pianos, guitars), Eric Blumreich (bass), Todd Farber (drums), Stephen McCabe (vocals, guitar), and Eric Van Thiel (guitar, vocals).

The band has been on hiatus for the last year and a half as the band's singer Stephen finishes his PhD in literature/writing a la Rivers Cuomo (from Weezer) and the other guys continue to make great music and enjoy their families and lives. The band has done a few Midwestern tours and played with some of the coolest regional and nationally-known indie rock bands around.

You can hear the song "Jimmy Fallon: The Plan" as well as other tracks from the band at www.myspace.com/thewillis. - Fond Du Lac Reporter

THE WILLIS
BATHTUB.LIGHTBULB.HEARTATTACK.
DOUBLEPLUSGOOD RECORDS
The one thing the debut album from Oshkosh natives The Willis does not lack is energy. From the opening line to the closing tune this five-piece band will keep your toes tapping. The album is a combination of artsy rock with a bit of comedy, as is apparent on the clever "Jimmy Fallon: the Plan". The mediocre vocals can become a bit draining, and the music quality can use some stitching to tie up the loose ends. The Willis' sound seems to lack experience. Give them a few more years to fine tune, then give these hip nerds another listen.

--Amy June - Skratch Magazine