SHOWS

09/13 Renegade Craft Fair (Chicago) (w/ Northern State, Mahjongg)   Chicago, IL

BIOGRAPHY

"hey willpower" was conceived one night in july on 3rd street in san francisco when amy linton and i were at a tussle show and i was still smoking. we were talking about our love for r&b pop/hip hop and how she had lived in the same building in harlem as Sean Paul the summer before and our favorite songs on kmel. i gave her a ride home and the Busta/Mariah song "i know what you want" came on and we just listened in awe. as if she was reading my mind, she said we should get together and make a song using all the elements of pop that we've ever loved.

a couple of days later we started working on a song in her basement. i came up with some vocal melodies and keyboard/guitar parts and left amy overnight with them. the result was the backing track for "onthefloor". after exhaustively stalking amy and trying to convince her to drop everything and work on this project, she told me she had to go on tour with her band the Aislers Set. i was left despondent in sf with a new computer and this music in my head. i met tomo through a friend and we hardly even asked each other on a music date before we were on a regular practice schedule furiously writing and recording music. tomo loves blippy bleepy yet melodic landscapey music the most. i had to coerce him a bit into some ass-shaking, but he eventually caved in. whether it's a hot beat or bass part or a strangely beautiful keyboard melody, he always brings something unique and inspiring to the music. we'll be hanging out and he'll be tapping out a beat with the keys in his pocket and we'll record that. i grew up listening to Michael and Janet and L'Trimm and pop that my sisters would turn me on to. as soon as I heard Sonic Youth and the Velvet Underground my world turned inside out and I started voraciously ingesting anything other than what was played on the radio.

i became immersed in the indie music world with my band Imperial Teen, all the while reveling in the latest greatest pop/hip hop songs and records. "hey willpower" feels like something new and exciting and postmodern without being smug or ironic. although it's different from Imperial Teen, it makes perfect sense to me to be making the music we're making because it comes from what i love about music. when we're performing live and people are doin' their dances and making noise, we know it's right. dance is becoming a big part of our live show. erin rush and justin kelly are on dance detail and we have a good time synching up. i'm good with the chin scratchers and musicologists and philosophers too, but sometimes you have to let the emotions take over. let's dance now and we can talk about it later if you want.

“Whether or not this music makes you pause to ponder the meaning of pop in your life depends on the kind of person you are; if it doesn’t make you want to walk the dinosaur, though, you may consider checking to see if you have a pulse.”
~ San Francisco Weekly

“On hiatus from Imperial Teen, Will Schwartz has been busy performing infectious, Jacko-informed jams in hey willpower and turning typically straight-faced rock audiences into the indie equivalents of ‘Nsync teenybopper fans.”
~ San Francisco Guardian

“’On the floor’ is hotter than anything Jacko’s released since 1992’s ‘In the close’ and – if it were released as a proper, slickly produced single – it would, along with ‘too hot’, undoubtedly hold its own against much of what’s played on mainstream radio.”
~ San Francisco Guardian

“The seriously playful songs and spirit of hey willpower are what pull the cute kids and get our booties off those bar stools. Unlike other dance-happy but craft-deficient acts out there, hey willpower fulfill the dream of waving your hands in the air like you just don’t care and enjoying solid pop songwriting.”
~ San Francisco Guardian

“Will Schwartz is indulging his pop heart full-throttle with his electro-friendly side project, hey willpower. Their program includes the flirtatious, falsetto-flecked ‘Double Fantasy II’ and ‘Too hot’, which bounces along to the same booty beat that propels the best of L’Trimm and Fannypack.”
~ The Stranger