The Willowz
The Willowz are an American garage punk rock band from Anaheim, California. The band was formed in 2002 when Richie James Follin (guitar and lead vocals) and Jessica Reynoza (bass and vocals) were both 18 years old and attending the same college. They have toured the world and released four studio albums. Their influences range from rock n’ roll to folk to punk rock to soul to power pop to garage rock. History Their first release was a 7-inch on the legendary punk rock label Posh Boy Records in 2002. They followed it up with a full-length self-titled record on Dionysus records in 2003 produced by Paul Kostabi and Richie James Follin. The album blends energetic, brash punk rock with soulful garage rock. Their debut album caught the ear of the iconic French film maker Michel Gondry, who placed their song “Something” in his Oscar-winning film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as Kirsten Dunst dances in her underwear. Gondry also put a second song on the soundtrack which did not appear in the film entitled “I Wonder”. He flew the band out to New York and paid out of his own pocket to direct a video for the song. Shortly following the release of the Gondry-directed video for “I Wonder”, Gondry introduced The Willowz's music to Ben Beardsworth, the head of A&R at XL Records. XL flew the band out for a tour of the United Kingdom and released a 7-inch for “I Wonder” and “Meet Your Demise” on Rex Records (an XL Records subsidiary). The Willowz released their second album, Talk In Circles, in 2005 on Sympathy for the Record Industry. The album was a massive undertaking of 20 songs recorded in Follin’s studio garage in Anaheim. The album features a wide array of music styles. It extends on the energetic garage rock sounds of the first album while blending a more labored-over dream punk sound. This album saw Paul Kostabi and Richie James Follin teaming up again to produce. They introduced more instruments into the band’s sound, including a prominently featured Fender Rhodes piano, organ, horns, and woodwinds. It also contains audio samples of animals, church bells, and public chatter. The band said they were trying to make their own little suburban Pet Sounds. Sympathy also at the same time re-released their debut album with a few extra songs and re-titled it Are Coming. Talk In Circles was met with critical acclaim. Rolling Stone named it one of the “best albums of 2005". The song “Equation #6” was featured in another Michel Gondry film and soundtrack, for The Science of Sleep. Gondry said he wants “to be the Warhol to their Velvet Underground”. The band released an accompanying DVD of 20 music videos for Talk In Circles entitled See In Squares. The band was featured in a documentary about the founder of Sympathy for the Record Industry entitled The Treasures of Long Gone John. The band released their third album, Chautauqua, in 2007 on Steve Aoki’s Dim