Bill Bressler
“I was born into the suburbs, had an average uneventful kind of youth.” This was true about Bill Bressler, taken from the song, Normal Boy on his semi-autobiographical album of the same name. Baseball, the Atari 2600, piano lessons, staying out with neighborhood friends until dark, that was his life in the late 70’s and early 80’s living a half hour north of New York City. That is, until about the age of 12 when he happened upon a radio broadcast of a Genesis concert that changed his life forever. ‘I recorded it from the radio and became obsessed with the ‘Cage Medley.’
On his 13th birthday, Bill got his first synthesizer and music came to the forefront of his life. ‘I discovered that on my Korg POLY800, I could make the same sound as the keyboard solo from Zeppelin’s “All of My Love,” and I learned it note for note by ear.’ This newly discovered talent led him to take on learning music by Genesis, Yes and Rush, absorbing it like a sponge. By his mid-teens he had acquired a 4-track, drum machine, another synthesizer and the desire to write his own music.
Fast forward many years later, when Bill noticed Progressive Rock going through a resurgence, the idea for an album in the genre was born. Vintage gear was played alongside vintage replica plugins with modern production techniques. Friends were brought in to play guitar, bass and vocals, and Normal Boy was released at the end of 2018. Confidence was boosted after receiving an excellent review on Sonic Perspectives.
Speaking of Fast, a chance meeting with keyboard legend Larry Fast and a friendly request to listen to one of the songs off the album, Guitarist, got Bill the response, “It’s really good. I wish I still had A&R guys down the hall I could bring it to, but we live in a different musical world now. Whatever it is you’re doing, keep at it.”
The album was also noticed by Camel and Tiger Moth Tale’s Peter Jones, as well as White Willow’s Jacob Holm-Lupo who offered up high praise as songs from the album started to gain recognition on Prog Rock internet radio stations and various streaming services.
Bill now has his sights set into the future while completing his next album about time travel into the past set to rz.
