Get past the name and go see Wonkachild tonight at the Record Bar
By Nadia Pflaum in Tonight's Show
Wed., Oct. 14 2009 @ 3:45PM
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| Wonkachild is in the building |
Yeah, 23-year-old Jaqwan Sirls picked a stupid-ass name on which to hang a music career. But even if he went by Fetusmuncher, I'd be encouraging attendance at his show tonight at the Record Bar. Why? Because I listened to his whole album online and didn't skip a single song. It is, as they say, all good.
I can clown on Sirls' moniker all I want, he says, because, "If you really think about it, Willy Wonka didn't care what people thought of him."
Sirls imagines himself as the son of the candymaker from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because as a kid, he could relate more to characters in books than to people, he says.
He considered going by "Wonka," but says, "That sounds like I could be some rapper from the 'hood, so if I add 'child' to it, it separates me from them."
The distinction is necessary because Wonkachild's music is far from thuggy. The soon-to-be Rockhurst grad raps about Argyle sweaters, and the title track from his debut album, Urkel, features the chorus, "I dress like Urkel but I look like Carlton/ and I'm cooler than you."
Hear a couple for yourself after the jump.
MP3: Wonkachild, "Argyle Sweater"
MP3: Wonkachild, "Blush"
The album is entirely self-produced, Sirls says. He uses a Mac program called Logic, a keyboard and "third-party sounds" (samples and the sounds of him banging on things that sound cool, he explains) to create his music.
"I'm inspired big time by Michael Jackson, but a lot of people didn't really understand him and it pisses me off," he says. "What he was trying to tell people was, don't stop creating new stuff. I'm focused on what can be, not what has been."
Tonight, he performs with two of his cousins who are artists in their own right: Dutch and Atilla the Beatsmith. Daniel Ordonez, aka Nez, will also take the stage, as well as Dae Ahzae, who runs an all-ages, open-mic night on Tuesdays at 1809 Troost (the building with the Michael Jackson tribute mural by Alexander Austin).
It might be wise to catch Wonkachild now. On the 6th of November, he's off to Remix the Runway in Chicago -- other performers at the event include Amerie and Omarion. The following week, Wonkachild will rub elbows with Jay-Z and N.E.R.D. at the University of Illinois. He's got an agent looking to get him a record deal.
How about that? He says, "I'm nervous. Happy. Scared."
See how the hype stacks up to the real at the "Return of Fresh" show tonight at the Record Bar, 10p.m., 21+, $7 at the door.
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