Of all of the members of the class of 2013, Will Feinstein may be among the most WesCelebrated. As a frontman for countless bands, he’s probably gotten you moving, shaking, and moshing at least once during your time at Wesleyan, even if you don’t remember it. The Argus sat down with Feinstein to talk music at Wes, film, and the amazing collaborative spirit of his colleagues.
The Argus: So, what makes you a WesCeleb?
Will Feinstein: A lot of really great people on campus have over the years allowed me to collaborate with them and be a part of a lot of great things and work on some good projects together and try to get involved with as many things as possible. So that’s fun.
A: Like what? You’re in Top 40 Cover Band, right?
WF: Top 40 is a band that I was actually in freshman year that was started by some seniors back then. I was the only freshman in it at the beginning. I was just rapping, and it only existed for that year. We restarted it last year, and with the help of everyone else in that band, we’ve made it a really big thing. It’s a nine-person band now. We like to play big shows and have a lot of fun.
A: Static Stamina’s your other big band, right?
WF: Static Stamina was a band, or, is/was a band—hopefully we’ll have a reunion—that I did with a bunch of people. Me and Danny Sullivan (’13) wrote a lot of the songs, really that’s his…it’s me lyrically, often, and him musically. He’s a genius recorder, producer, and songwriter. It was basically a super positive place where we could do the most high-energy shows ever, and that’s what it was about. Hopefully a high level of self-awareness, and just quality. So hopefully we’re doing a reunion show for that in the next couple of weeks.
A: What other stuff have you done within Wesleyan’s music scene?
WF: I don’t really know…when I came to Wesleyan, I didn’t think I would be a big music person; I don’t play an instrument or anything. I just met a lot of really awesome musicians and have collaborated with them on real bands, bands just for fun, and different projects. I’ve done a couple of collaborations for Awesomefest and just for fun. There’s been a lot of them, too many to name, but somehow I got really involved with the music scene here. Not so much this year. Oh, booking concerts too, Spring Fling Committee, stuff like that.
A: How did you start rapping?
WF: I started rapping in eighth grade as a joke, sort of. I wasn’t listening to that much rap then, a little in middle school, and later in high school I got way more into it. But yeah, I started rapping sort of as a joke and got a little better at it. I’m not really good at freestyling or anything, but I can write some raps for different purposes in my own stuff. Yeah. It’s still not really not a joke. I don’t do a lot of my things all that seriously.
A: You’re also a film major. Can you tell me a little bit about your thesis film?
WF: Sure. I’ve always loved movies, film and stuff, so I came here knowing I’d hopefully be a film major. My thesis is very me; it’s a comedy. It’s got Jason Katzenstein [’13] in it, in the lead, and some other great actors. It’s a high school comedy, and it’s about a shy high school kid who impresses a girl with a song, I guess. It’ll get a reaction, and I think people will think it’s funny. Everyone who worked on that was awesome. I try to do other film stuff sometimes.
A: You also had the Wes Pacific we series.
WF: Yeah, that’s really fun. We’re gonna do one more of those before the year is up. We’ve got a couple of music videos coming out, one for Tonsil Hockey that I directed—that’s a band with Adrien DeFontaine [’13], Zak Malik [’14], and Jason Katzenstein. So that’s gonna be fun. We’re writing a sequel to “Ain’t Tryna Say Good Night”—me and Danny Sullivan and Henry Molofsky [’13] are working on that, so that’ll be another music video with Adrien featuring William or whatever, at the end of the year.
A: Anything else you want to comment on?
WF: I’m in Burlesque this weekend, in a small capacity. I don’t know, I think I owe any WesCelebrity to everybody else at Wesleyan, being there and doing stuff with me. It’s been a good four years. People are great.