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ahoylost1 found an interview with Bill from the Barrington Courier-Review. For those lucky ducks going to the show it says he'll be playing TAI songs, some "rare b-sides", a few covers and Winter Passing which (the article states) he wrote when he was stuck in a blizzard - makes me wonder if it was the time they almost didn't make their flight to South America because Denver weather and DIA screwed travelers over AGAIN. aahhh, memories.
November 22, 2010
Barrington High School graduate William Beckett, lead singer for the rock band The Academy Is..., always makes a point to come home for the holidays. This year it's easier than usual -- the band is on a break from touring while it gears up to begin work on its fourth studio album next year. In previous years, the band scheduled tour breaks near Thanksgiving and Christmas so the members could spend the holidays with their families.
William Beckett performs with The Academy Is... last year at his alma mater, Barrington High School. | Dave Shields~for Sun-Times Media
William Beckett performs with The Academy Is... last year at his alma mater, Barrington High School. | Dave Shields~for Sun-Times Media
"For the past couple years we've made a point to be home for Thanksgiving," he said. "It's important to us."
The holiday weekend will not be all turkey, football and relaxation. Beckett will perform a free solo acoustic show for shoppers and ice-skaters at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Arboretum of South Barrington, 100 W. Higgins Road.
Beckett said the set will include stripped-down versions of The Academy Is... songs, rare B-sides, a cover song or two and his solo song, "Winter Passing," that he wrote a few years ago when he was snowed in due to a blizzard.
Becket said he looks forward to returning to the Barrington area, although the contradiction between life in the place that he grew up and life on the road can be a bizarre adjustment.
"Sometimes it kind of feels like a double life," he said.
Since The Academy Is... formed in 2003, two of the band's three studio albums have appeared in the Billboard top 50 for album sales. The band gained mainstream success with its 2007 album, "Santi," which was produced by singer/songwriter Butch Walker. Beckett and his band mates are also close friends with fellow Chicago-area native Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, and The Academy Is... toured with Kiss in 2009.
Beckett admitted that with a rigorous touring schedule it's been difficult to stay connected with friends in the Barrington area.
"It's been hard to balance my friends at home with being on the road. I've been trying to do better at that because I feel like I woke up one day and realized I lost all my friends," he said with a sincere chuckle.
Yet for Beckett, his connection to Barrington has always been evident in his music. The band's third album, released in 2008, was called "Fast Times at Barrington High." The Academy Is... bassist Adam Siska also was a Bronco.
Beckett said the album references Barrington High School because high school experiences kept popping up in the lyrics he was writing at the time. Beckett is also a big movie buff and had been watching 1980s comedy films at the time, including "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."
"I was amazed at how (the filmmakers) captured the experience of youth and how those experiences stay with you for the rest of your life," he said.
Beckett has spent the past year penning lyrics for the band's next album, but the subject matter is much different than the last album. Instead of nostalgic odes to wandering the halls of Barrington High School, Beckett now writes about life as a husband and father to his 3-year-old daughter.
He said the band will enter the studio this winter and hopes to have the new album out by next year at this time. But the band members aren't in any rush.
"This is our fourth album and we really want to make sure it's exactly what we want," Beckett said. "We have a good opportunity to make something special."
He added that he's been listening to a lot of Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie albums recently, so it's possible those influences will be reflected in the songs on the band's next offering.
"I've always liked Bowie, for instance, but I didn't realize how great of a songwriter and performer he was until lately," Beckett said.
Despite seven years together, Beckett said the friendships between the band's members remain strong.
"We're almost completely different people, but at the same time at the core of things, we haven't forgotten where we came from and the roads we've traveled," Beckett said.
Becket said the band members have grown as musicians and as individuals over the years, but they have always remained a family.