It feels as though Auckland’s William Cooper Barling (aka WCB) is on the cusp of something special. Dropping tracks that boast deep atmospheric production and Barling’s urgent, raw voice, the singer-songwriter is combining hyper dynamic R&B, soul and electronica like no-one else, forging ahead through new musical territory as he goes. “Unique” might be an overused way of describing emerging acts these days, but it’s hard to find a word that suits Barling better.
Barling’s love affair with music began while he was singing with his grandma on camping holidays as a child. Along the way, he developed a love for movement, and for many years worked as a contemporary dancer. But although he loved it, he soon realised that dance alone was not enough – he desperately needed something more.
“I wanted to create stuff that I wasn’t hearing – stuff that I wanted to hear,” says Barling. “I sang my entire life; I didn’t learn to play any instruments. I guess I thought that you had to in order to be able to create music. But over a period of time, I created a sound that [was based on] vocals – I literally learnt how to make music without knowing how to play any instruments.”
Electronic production provided Barling with the key he needed, unlocking the opportunity to go it alone vocally and to express his ideals as purely as he could. With the help of his gadgets, he learnt to loop, creating “full moods” and vocal “landscapes” – the building blocks for his songwriting. This unique production style grew organically he says, and he describes the process as an “amalgamation of the people I’ve been around and the music I listen to.
“I really enjoy when people use vocals as an instrument. Then from there I guess I just get carried away with production. People like James Blake, the jazz singer Chet Baker – they were my biggest influences when I was first starting to write solo stuff. I just loved James Blake’s concept of electronic production. I heard him many years ago, and I remember thinking, ‘Can music be like this? Can viable music be like this?’ It was quite a cool moment. I know he’s indulgent, but I guess I am as well.”
Catharsis lies at the heart of Barling’s music, and he uses his art to come “full circle after bad things have happened.” Dance, for a time, used to fulfil this need, but eventually it failed to satisfy in the same way as “creating something from absolute beginning to end.
“For me [inspiration] comes from two places. It’s either nostalgic memories that influence what I’m writing, or it’s fucked up people: either fucked up people or people that have fucked me up,” says Barling. “Often it tends to be people in my past, because I’m having quite a good time currently with my life, so I guess I’m not that depressed anymore.
“But my music is all coming from a place of catharsis – it’s about cleaning out all the shitty memories and writing music about them. Essentially, my story is about how fucked up shit can end up providing a growth moment for you in your life. All of my music ends up being about growth – at this point anyway.”
EP1, Barling’s only release to date, is a five-tracker that explores the depths of these experiences and the dangers of love. Barling was in a very different place when writing the EP, and he sees it as a reflection of the personal turmoil he went through.
But as he currently puts the finishing touches to some new material, Barling now draws upon more recent, happier times. While he recognises that the music has undergone a shift in mood, he’s not worried about his sound straying too far from that which earned him attention in the first place.
“The new stuff that I’m working on is more about periods in time that make me really happy. It’s very much about day drinking with people that you really love – it’s a really different choice of influences for me. Even when I’m writing a happy song – a lot of my acapella songs are about my partner – it sounds sad but it’s actually really happy. I guess that’s not going to change. And if it does, then that’s a bridge I’m yet to cross.”
Barling is an accomplished performer, and he works hard to make his live show a fully immersive experience, largely through the aid of complex visuals projected onto a screen behind him. But what is the key to a good show for Barling?
“I guess I’d say nudity,” he says, laughing a little. “I mean I’m not going to be nude, but I think I am the best version of myself when I perform my music; the authentic version of myself. It’s weird: I don’t get particularly nervous when performing live, but I feel it’s very telling of who I am as a person when I perform live.
“I mean, I don’t like to perform live, as in have keys or drums or whatever, because I feel like I can’t deliver the song, or set, the way that it should be. So, I like to have as little onstage as possible so I can stand there and be a bit naked. I think that’s what people deserve. If you’re going to tell a story then tell the story – be the storyteller. I enjoy that.”
EP1 is available now through Spotify. WCB will perform at the Oxford Art Factory this Friday September 1.
