Brett Wilder & occasional guest musicians. . . In other words, THE BRETTSTER reserves the right to play with WHOMEVER he wants WHENEVER he wants
(but just for the record...
...everything you hear on The Brettster's debut album "everything but why" was created by BRETT and BRETT ALONE!)
. . . oh, and by the way. . .
A BIG PORTION OF ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE BRETTSTER'S MUSIC SALES WILL BE DONATED TO CHARITIES HELPING PROVIDE FOR TEEN & PRE-TEEN RUNAWAY KIDS...
...so PLEASE, don't illegally download or trade these songs!
Influences
THE BRETTSTER TELLS US THESE ARE HIS "INFLUENCES" (but he prefers the term "INSPIRATIONS"...)
Neil Armstrong ("one small step for Man...")
The Beatles, The Beatles, The Beatles...
Bob Dylan ("he's my hero... and I like his son Jakob, too")
NIN
R.E.M.
Fall Out Boy
Goo Goo Dolls (sure they have a silly name, but there's nothing silly about their music)
My Chemical Romance (ditto)
Death Cab for Cutie (double ditto)
Bright Eyes
Beck
Bono
Pink Floyd, Pink Floyd, Pink Floyd (especially "Animals", "Dark Side of the Moon", and the very first industrial song "Welcome to the Machine")...
Portishead
Dave Mathews, Jerry Garcia and Trey Anastasio (Phish)...
The Beatles' White Album (from start to finish, but especially "Happiness is a Warm Gun", "I'm So Tired", "Blackbird", "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?", "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey", "Helter Skelter", "Long, Long, Long", "Cry Baby Cry" and "Revolution 9")
...also "Hey Jude", "I Am The Walrus" from "Magical Mystery Tour", "It's All Too Much" from the "Yellow Submarine" soundtrack, "Come Together" from "Abbey Road" and "A Day in the Life" the absolute greatest song of the 20th century...
David Bowie (what an incredible career! from "Space Oddity" and Ziggy Stardust through "Low" and his heart-stopping vocals in "China Doll")
Lou Reed ("Walk on the Wild Side" is one of the great songs of all time, including Bowie's soulful sax solo)...
Procol Harem's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (another one of the great songs of all time)...
Simon and Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" (again one of the great songs of all time)...
Jean-Michel Basquat (yea, of course his paintings, but check out his groundbreaking rap mixes he spun at The Mudd Club in NYC during the early 80s)...
...and along that same vein, Edgar Allan Poe (think "Tell Tale Heart" or "The Pit and the Pendulum" and you'll begin to see the connection)...
Jim Morrison's dark side (the spell he weaves through "The End" is where time stands still)
Conor Oberst's bright side ;-) especially "Easy, Lucky, Free" (from "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn") and "I Want a Lover I Don't Have to Love" & "From a Balance Beam" (from "LIFTED or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground" - what The Brettster calls "the most incredible work of art I've ever witnessed")
...and lest we forget Neil Young and Crazy Horse when they're blasting so far into the red you can't believe their amplifiers aren't melting
Sounds Like
HELL. . . seriously, folks. . . this is what "hell" sounds like. . . The Brettster will take us right to the edge and we'll look over together ! ! !
[Postscript: We just received word from The Brettster that while he sees the humor in our description of what his music "sounds like" he wants us to remind everyone that all he ever really wanted was just to follow in the footsteps of his role model Pink Floyd and create "a collection of great dance songs" ;-]
... ... A coast-to-coast 12-city tour with more than 25,000 attendance ?
... ... ... 3,000 "Best of the Brettster" CDs sold on tour?
... ... ... ... All for an "unsigned" artist ?
WE MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT!!!
THIS "WE LOVE THE BRETTSTER" MYSPACE IS LOVINGLY MAINTAINED BY MICAH WAHLBERG & NATASHA KOMINSKY, co-presidents of Brett Wilder's loyal & growing fan club!
... FIRST OF ALL ...
When you get a chance, you should take a few minutes to check out
The
Brettster's
VERY 1st VIDEO!
(also available at YouTube)
... by clicking on the image right below here...
It's awesome!
Sort of an atmospheric cross between David Lynch & "The Blair Witch Project"...
(just don't forget to hit the "pause" button at the top of this home page, since one of Brett's songs is probably already streaming through your speakers!)
If you happen to be visiting our site for the 1st time, you may be asking yourself...
"What exactly is a 'Brettster'?"...
THE BRETTSTER is Brett Wilder’s Alter Ego & Computer-Generated Back-Up Band...
"THE BRETTSTER" is sort of like "MR. HYDE" (a character from the classic novel "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" where Dr. Jekyll’s alter ego Mr. Hyde runs amuck through the streets of 19th century London...
FAST FORWARD 120 YEARS and Brett Wilder’s "alter ego" and back-up band "THE BRETTSTER" is running amuck through the musical landscape and underground party scene (a.k.a. "raves") of present day 21st century Chicago ;-)
In other words, boys and girls, THE BRETTSTER explores music which may be too edgy, controversial or downright danceable for Brett’s "Dr. Jekyll" personality...
In fact, The Brettster is widely touted as...
THE Rising Star of Chicago's Underground Party Scene!
You can check out Brett's life story, his blog series "FLASHBACK" from his 1st days as a 15-year old Alaskan runaway living in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and "singing for his supper" as a street musician on the streets of Haight-Ashbury, his other blog series from summer 2007 when he was recording his 1st solo album "VANISHING POINT" while hitchhiking cross-country, as well as his solo music by clicking on his photo just below this "About The Brettster" box.
(One of Brett's solo songs "These Streets Alone" is featured on the home page of 1-800-RUNAWAY. You can visit there by clicking on the icon just below this box, and we would like to encourage you to add that incredible organization as one of your "top friends" on your own MySpace home page to help spread the word.)
THE BRETTSTER's debut album "EVERYTHING BUT WHY" was also started during Brett's hitchhiking adventure last summer and it was completed early this year while Brett was holed up in his Uptown Chicago studio apartment.
"EVERYTHING BUT WHY" is intended to commemorate this year's 40th anniversary of the release of the Beatles’s White Album...
TOGETHER these two debut albums sort of tell a continuing story...for example, Brett Wilder's debut album "vanishing point" begins with a short acoustic song titled "A Space in Time" which Brett recorded on a mono tape recorder at age 11 in his bedroom back in Alaska, and the song begins with his 11-year old voice saying "take one"...
...meanwhile, The Brettster's debut album "eveything but why" begins with his adult voice saying "take two"...
ALL SONGS FEATURED ON THIS MYSPACE ARE ON SALE NOW AT THE SNOCAP STORE near the top of this homepage, just look for the heading "Buy tracks directly from this artist"
(A BIG PART OF ALL BRETT'S MUSIC SALES AT CDBABY & SNOCAP WILL BE DONATED TO CHARITIES HELPING TO PROVIDE FOR TEEN RUNAWAYS)
YOU'RE INVITED!!! Audience Members from any of Brett's performances are invited to submit a review or recap of the show to be included in our Blog Space.
LAST, BUT NOT LEAST...
Be sure to Check Out our Two Newest Blog Entries...
THE BRETTSTER'S SUMMER TOURFAN CLUB MEMORY BOOK!
ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT for MEDIA & MUSIC EXECUTIVES!
(and find out some of the reasons why The Brettster is THE HOTTEST UNSIGNED ACT ANYWHERE in the WORLD!
i simply cant tell u how much i fell in love with u & your music when u played @ our sorority a couple months ago- i'm afraid i was 1 of the silly 1s who didnt come 2 c u the 1st time u played here- thought u were jus some silly teen runaway, couldnt understand why theyd ask some1 like that 2 play 4 us- but once i met u i toally understood how kimmie could fall in love with u- u're gorgeous!
my brown eyes cant wait til the next time they meet with yours as u sing 'baby close those big brown eyes'
hi natasha, i was wonderin bout that- glad 2c therez been such a big response- as the old saying goes- strength in numbers! i made a big announcement @ th monthly sorority meeting bout that dam promoter ordinance & a bunch of th sisters pledged there support
hi brett! i dont know if u remember me, but we met when u played our sorority pajama party earlier this year- i jus want u 2 know whatever we can do 2 help fight the event promoter ordinance, jus let us know!
Micah, here (ahem) co-prez of our We Love The Brettster fan club,
And I just wanted to thank everyone who's been dropping us MySpace-emails asking what you can do to help fight the Event Promoter Ordinance that the "Sharp Darts Dude" expects to rear its ugly head again and try to devour Chicago's underground music scene.
I promise to try and respond to you all individually - it's just taking a while cos, well, I'm a high school kid, its the middle of a semester, and there's no rote answer that can satisfy all your various curiousities. So please bear with me and I'll get back to you all just as soon as possible.
In the meantime, thanks for answering the call to arms, and to answer Kimberly's question:
Yes, as far as I know our form of government is still a democracy... (ahem) even in Chicago.
Conclusion to be drawn, Kim: Yes, when "the people" are heard it makes a difference.
we dont call him "the big kingpin" 4 nothun- if the kingpin ok'd the fan club memory book, thats all that matters- now fellow ravers, lets join up w/the brettster & the sharp darts dude & help fight that goddam event promoter ordinance- it'll kill our scene if it passes, so- come on, get off your asses!
jus read th latest thread twixt u & yolk & all i can say iz i'm glad 2c peace n r times, brettster! curious? didnt u know bout how some uv th other ravers felt bout our fan club memory book? lotsa ravers thought u'd broken th kingpin's 1st commandment- glad 2c thats been put 2 rest once n 4 all!
peace n r times? lets hope so!
i'll help 2 spread th word, startin w/my cuz sawyer whose been sayin u were like the benedict arnold uv r scene
glad 2c u&yolk made up, brettster- jus so u know- he's not bullshitting u- ive heard alotta ravers say that- thanx 4 ur response- ive been passin it along 2 my rave buds 2 help bring peace back 2 th family
read your response, brettster- can't say i agree w/you, but as the old saying goes, i'd fight to the death to defend your right to be wrong- thats jus my way of saying u have the right to your opinion & i respect that- thanx for takin the time to respond- i respect u for that (btw, i like your music again, sorry for the disagreement & for the way i bit your ass off)
Thanks for sharing your feelings, a little over the top though they may be.
Yes, to answer your question, I have seen the oversized commemorative tickets the ravers purchased to attend our raves (small correction: they typically read "YOUR full ticket price will be refunded").
That said, Mr. You, I truly do appreciate how you feel. The spirit of The Big Kingpin's raves is that it's a unique experience shared by those who attend and everyone should feel free to be yourselves in secret and in private.
Speaking of the Kingpin, he read your comment and sent me an email early this morning asking me to let you know that he too appreciates your feelings about all this, BUT - It was HIS idea that our fan club provided a controlled space to share their thoughts about MY performances, with the strict understanding that ALL comments that strayed into other subjects (e.g. the other acts on the bill, the "strange" goings-on on the periphery of the dancefloor, etc., etc., etc) would be deleted by our webmaster.
If you read through the comments that were approved by our webmaster, you'll see one from Wyatt (one of our regular contributors) asking why one of his comments never appeared. AND you'll see my response explaining why.
Yolk: Performing at these raves is probably the most meaningful experience of my adult life.
That I looked offstage at the end of every performance on our summer tour, welling up with tears as my eyes met with the Kingpin's, is my personal testament to how deeply moved I was - knowing how ill the Kingpin was becoming, watching his health decline to the point where he will hopefully soon qualify for an organ transplant - knowing with every performance that we were one day closer to the end of our scene.
And knowing how much our scene meant and still means to you - and 25,000 other people - is something I will always treasure and cherish.
And knowing how committed you and everyone else is to respecting the Kingpin's wishes is very highly commendable. Keep up the good work!
In closing: everyone should carpe diem (seize the day) and sign up to be an organ donor - I have.
Best wishes, Brett Wilder a.k.a. The Brettster
P.S. The Kingpin also asked me to thank everyone for all the well wishes you've been leaving for him on the "fan club memory book" blog space. He sends his love.
you're full of bullshit, brettster, and a real world class asshole - i used to love your music, thought u were the greatest thing to ever hit our rave scene - then i visited your myspace & found out you're betraying the cardinal rule of our rave scene - if you EVER FUCKING BOTHERED TO READ ONE OF THE TICKETS the rest of us have to purchase jus to get in the door, you woulda seen the bold face lettering "what happens at the rave, stays at the rave - if you can't keep a secret DON'T COME (and the full ticket price will be refunded)"
Your so-called "fan club memory book" totally betrays that rule!
Jus so you know - I'm not the only raver who feels this way - this memory book shit is alienating a lot of your former fans!
I'd like to share my concern with you about that Chicago Promoter Ordinance, but since I live in Boston, I'm not sure what I could do to help.
Sure am glad I got to see one of your raves a couple months ago there in Chicago, can't imagine why anyone would want to shut down your scene. Can't wait till you come back to Boston, though - I just know you'll always be welcome here! Love, Micah
Brett, This who thing about the Chicago Promoter Ordinance has me REALLY concerned about the future of our rave scene. But at our last rave a couple months ago, I thought that big tearful scene at the end where everybody gathered on stage was signalling that the Big Kingpin was planning to retire anyway due to personal reasons. I understand your deep deep love and loyalty to our scene, but you're a big star now - can't you just start playing at clubs and larger venues? I know dozens of kids who'd die to see you do all-ages shows, but I'm sure there's lots of older ravers who'd be sure to follow your career whereever you go. Just a thought, Sammy
brettster - unlike the other commenters here, i find your myspace from visiting the sharp darts column you're asking your fans to check out - thanks for helping defend our rave scene!
i've seen you @ a couple raves, really like you, but this is the 1st time i've visited your site - think i'll leave a comment over on the fan club memory book sharing my thoughts about your performances...
I just answered your call to arms on the Chicago Promoter Ordinance by visiting the Chicago Reader web site and leaving a comment on the blog, but I'm just wondering... Have YOU visited there lately? Didn't see a comment from the object of our affection, but have YOU seen the response from your fan base? Very inspiring!
i just sent an email to the sharp darts writer u're talkin bout askin him if theres anyone i need to vote against today whose behind that promoter ordinance bullshit, but dont know if he'll email back, so do you know? or does anyone else? as my abuelo used to say, when in doubt vote the bastards out!
Just read your bulletin about the Chicago Promoter Ordinance, and while I agree with you about it's danger to the rave scene in your hometown, I have a simple question / suggestion:
As you'll remember, last summer you played "the Rave Shall Rise Again" in "Atlanta" - with one big catch - it was actually on a remote farm about an hour outside the city limits. Aren't there plenty of suburbs in the Chicago area where you could put on raves without Mayor Daley looking over your shoulder? Just a thought.
