Ex-Pat Electro Artist WCB Unveils Video For 'Control' (+ Interview)

Sydney-based artist WCB (aka William Cooper Barling) has unveiled a striking video for 'Control', a track lifted off last year's excellent offering EP1. Directed by Rebecca Coleman-Smith, and starring Barling alongside burlesque phenomenon Leda Petit and stunt performer Genevieve Aitken (Mad Max: Fury Road), the clip is a powerful metaphor for how we often relinquish control in intimate relationships, as Barling elaborated in our interview which you can read below...

Hi Will! So, ‘Control’ is your second video [watch 'Overdone' here]… Can you tell us a little about the song and the clip and how they tie together?

The song came from the feeling of losing yourself in an intimate relationship ... whether that be good or bad. The kind of toxic need you have for that person - short or long term - and in a deeper sense our need as people to have constant control of our lives. The clip is kinda my interpretation of the internal conversation you have with yourself throughout said relationship/s, which almost always strays from dialogue to figurative violence. There is something sexy, twisted and deprecating about that.

‘Control’ is taken from EP1, what was the creative process behind that offering?

A lot of coffee a lot of whiskey, haha. It was my first foray into writing something to be released as an EP so heaps of learning went on, learning about who I am as a producer, what kind of stories I want to tell and how to get the most out of the software I use (AbletonLIVE). Creatively, when I am working on a track the most important thing for me is the feeling I get as I'm working on it like how the chords come together or when the synth rides just right... and what that evokes in my guts.

You’ve also released recordings that are ‘Live at Aotea Square’. How did you find yourself performing in that historical spot?

It was dope! I have performed there before in the evening as part of the Auckland Arts Festival's iHeartRadio Soundstage, but something about that day was right. You know those days when everything just clicks into place? It was a cool gig, my folks came up as well so that was cute, and quite a few of my friends I hadn't seen in a while came along, so it was cool to perform for them and a different crowd than I normally see.

You’re originally from New Zealand but are currently based in Sydney. What took you over the ditch, and how has it affected your songwriting?

I moved over to study at Ableton Liveschool. I felt I had to separate what I was doing as a performer in NZ, mainly dance and theatre work... which I loved but people had a hard time letting go of seeing me as anything but that. Also the anonymity and I suppose loneliness I felt in Sydney (when I first moved) pushed me to focus and gave me the freedom to fail.

What’s next on the cards for WCB?

Well I'm hoping to release another track very soon (keeping self doubt at bay haha)! I have a few gigs coming up in Sydney, but I am definitely gonna head home for the summer so I'll be locking down some gigs in NZ later in the year coz summer in NZ is the bees woop.