SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ – Scotch Plains native son Billy Wilkins has released a new single, Trigger Finger, this week. The 27-year-old musician took a break from producing his own songs to tour with DragonForce, a British “power metal” band, that plays worldwide. (Want to hear the song? Here is the Spotify link.)
In the past two years, he has joined the band for several tours all across the globe. He began working on his new music last summer in his studios in Scotch Plains and on the Jersey Shore. Trigger Finger is his first new song in years, and Wilkins is excited with the result.
“I’ve been working super hard the past year on this next batch of songs and they’re all really special to me,” said Wilkins, adding that he spent “lots of sleepless nights and self-reflection and trying to make sounds that feel like my emotions.”
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“Everybody keeps telling me they think it's a breakup song, actually love song. I wrote that song about how, in the in a relationship, at the beginning, everybody's kind of looking for a way to leave,” he explained. “When there is something wrong, you pull the trigger and say, ‘Okay, next!’ That's why I called it ‘Trigger Finger’ because I was in a relationship where we both kept looking for the first little thing to get out.”
“It ended up being a pretty stable relationship for a long time. I wrote this one when I was in the middle of that,” he said. “I realized that I never really wrote any happy songs, so I figured I'd try.”
Unlike his previous works, there are some explicit lyrics in the song.
“It's just the words that came out in the middle of the song. Like, Oh s**t, I'm in trouble.’ That’s how it came out.”
DragonForce
For the past couple of years, Wilkins has been a touring member of DragonForce, a British “power metal” band. The group is known for the high-speed dual guitar sounds of Herman Li and Sam Totman, its fantasy-themed lyrics, and video game-influenced sound. Formed in 1999, the band gained widespread popularity in 2005 with the release of "Through the Fire and Flames," which is featured on the video games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and Guitar Hero: Smash Hits.
Wilkins has joined the on-stage guitar battles on stages at some of the world’s biggest music festivals across Europe, and North and South America. Last March, he completed a tour that took him to Berlin, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, Vienna, Budapest, Munich, Madrid, Milan, Paris, and London, among others.
“I used to dream of playing this stage someday when I was a little kid just practicing guitar in my room and watching videos of my favorite bands playing at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany. It was everything I imagined and so much more),” said Wilkins, adding that the experience he got playing at smaller venues like Darby Road in Scotch Plains and the former Sheelen’s Crossing in Fanwood helped prepare him for crowds in the tens of thousands.
“In more intimate settings, you learn to work the room,” he said. “You get someone who’ll walk up to you on a break and ask for a request. At a festival, you look out and see thousands from the stage.”
Related: Year of The Dragon: Scotch Plains Musician Billy Wilkins Finishes European Tour with DragonForce
Wilkins says that playing with DragonForce has brought him back to his roots as a guitarist, and he's incorporated more distorted guitars and technical guitar work into his new solo songs. Touring extensively with the band has given him a better understanding of how to balance his solo music career with the demands of touring and social media promotion, which was important in helping to take his music career to new heights.
The artist believes that interacting with an established band’s loyal fanbase has provided insights that he can apply more effectively when promoting his new work and engaging with his own solo audience.
What’s Next?
Wilkins says he is enjoying his time off the road. During the next few months, he’ll be releasing other singles while he is home in Scotch Plains. There’s a possibility that he will join DragonForce on the road again this summer, but as of now, nothing is finalized.
So until that’s all settled, he’s enjoying the comforts of home.
“By the end of a tour, you’re just looking forward to being back home, sleeping in your own bed, and spending time with your family,” he says. “When you tour Europe, you sleep on the tour bus, wake up in the next city and then basically live in the (music) venues all day. Then, after the show is over, it’s on to the next city.”
Check out Billy's website at www.billywilkins.com, Facebook, and Instagram. Watch the video of Billy and Herman Li .
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