The Pride

Issue date: 2/12/08 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Amanda Andreen

A blaster and the master of ghetto-fabulous free-styling, the one and only Bushwalla is like no other local artist you have ever even heard of with his rhyme-filled flow, funkadelic acoustic rapping-and of course-his infamous and ever-growing 'fro.

The harmonious and self-proclaimed "original gangster from Cleveland," Bushwalla counts his past 22 years of performance as merely the foundation for his current career status. At the youthful age of nine, Bushwalla, or back then known as William D. Galewood, joined "Kids on Broadway," (a live musical theater group for youth) in which his love for performing, acting, singing, and bringing joy into the lives of others was first actualized.

Rocking the mic around town and across the nation, the former clown (yes, a professional clown for 8 years) beat-boxes and entertains at anywhere from low-key house shows to playing international festivals with his roomie and longtime friend, Jason Mraz.

This past weekend, I had the lovely opportunity to catch up with Bushwalla for a brief interview in the sun, overlooking the Oceanside Pier, as we contemplated the fate of the shabby house whose glory days of being in "Top Gun" have long gone. I have also been fortunate to attend several of Bushwalla's shows as of late, as he is wrapping up a month-long Sunday night residency at Mueller College, across the street from the former Twiggs Green Room down in University Heights. Don't worry; you can still catch him there this upcoming Sunday! Each show not only encouraged my obsession for live music, but it transformed me into a pivotal element in the show itself. You see, should you be so lucky to partake in a Bushwalla experience-and I should hope you would-you would quickly find that audience participation at shows is not only encouraged, it's mandatory! At any Bushwalla show, you might be pleasantly surprised to find Bushwalla trying to balance his guitar on his chin, and walk across the audience's chairs with everyone still seated-among other humorous antics-all of which cement his showmanship, his talent, and his affair with improv.

Therefore, without further ado, the following is an excerpt from the wildly amusing and singular interview with Bushwalla.

The Pride: How did you come up with the name Bushwalla?
Bushwalla: I used to listen to the Ghetto Boys when I was 16 years old. They had this guy, Bush with Bill, and I had a system in my car so I'd bump [it], and my friends started calling me Bush with Billy. So, when I moved to New York to go to school, I went to the orientation and I walk in and I hear "Bushwick!" and I'm like "what?" It was a guy from Cleveland, so then my friends up there started calling me Bushwick. And then I teamed up with Mraz and eventually we were writing together one day and he goes, "Dude, you can't be Bushwick, there already is one," and so I said, "What about Bushwalla?", and it was as simple as that. I didn't think twice about it. Maybe if I would have known then what I know now, I might not have chosen Bushwalla. It's a blessing and a curse. But what's in a name? You know what I mean? I could easily do the same thing under any name.

The Pride: What has been the biggest personal transformation in your music so far?
Bushwalla: Repetition, playing with different people, doing as many shows as I try to do, and confidence. The more confidence you have, the cooler you look. And I don't mean ego, I don't mean you're up there going "I'm awesome." It's a confidence you say to yourself. Affirmations are a big thing for me. It's all about taking down the fourth wall and being one with the audience, experiencing it with them. I think the discovery of that, that they're as much my audience as I am their audience-if I can get on a ride with them and we can surf together the hour I'm on stage-that's what it is, and that's where confidence comes from.

The Pride: Tell me about your new album.
Bushwalla: The new album is called "Autodidactical, Freestyle, and Radical." Autodidactical isn't really a word. It's kind of like a made up word, and I wrote it in a song years ago. "Autodidact" means self-taught, which I am. And "freestyle" is basically how I live my life, how I live my shows, it's just how we all should be doing it. "Radical" is just like radical thinking; the album is radical. It really captures the Bushwalla mentality, the comedy, the seriousness. The guy who produced the album, Andre DeSantanna, put his touch on the whole thing. He really let it evolve into an art piece and not just another merch item. I think it's a very honest album. I don't think there's a single; I don't even know what a single is. But I'll tell you what, I think every one of them is a song that someone could respond to. Like you may not like tracks one to eight, but you might really dig nine.

The Pride: How many tracks are on the new album?
Bushwalla: There are 11 listed, and then there are some surprises. I would say the last week of March it will be available online, on iTunes, CDBaby.com, bushwalla.net, a link through MySpace, and through live shows. The artwork is being done by John Morrow, who has done stuff for Brett Dennen, Ray LaMontagne, Tristan Prettyman, Jason Mraz; and he is not only a great friend of mine, he's a fantastic artist. It's going to be done on recycled, biodegradable paper with vegetable oil ink-totally green. Like when we put the album together, I said if there is one thing I want, I want it to be a green album. I went to San Francisco and did the Green Festival, and it's very important to me to not contribute to the waste.

The Pride: What is the biggest lesson you took away from your college experience?
Bushwalla: I don't know if you want to print that in your paper. The biggest lesson? Don't die your hair pink. I was going for another color, but it ended up that way. Live life. Live high. Experience. College gives you amazing things. Independence; that's what I got from college. I met some of the best friends I have to this day in college. It was the seed that planted my adult life. I went to New York and got crazy for two years, and learned how to write songs. I didn't have to try to be what I thought I was supposed to be.

The Pride: What does making music mean to you?
Bushwalla: You know, some things in life you don't know-you just trust. I don't know why I make music. If you asked me why I made music, I'd have no idea. If you talked to any of the surfers in front of us, they could try to explain to you what surfing means to them, but the only true answer is what's happening inside of them right now while they're on that board. And it's like after I'm done making music or doing a show, you just go back. But maybe if I stopped in the middle of a show, and you asked me that question, I'd probably be able to answer it, or I wouldn't even have to because you would just see what it meant to me. It's part of breathing. It's part of me. If I were to cut off music in my life, I would be an amputee. I would be disabled. There is no other option than performing [for me]. Performing is music, magic and making peace.

For more music, magic, and peace making, check out bushwalla.net

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