Today we’d like to introduce you to Will Hawkins from the LA-based band Nine Mile Station.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
From an early age I was drawn to music and I threw myself into listening to anything and everything I could get my hands on. I memorized the liner notes off my favorite albums, went to tons of concerts and devoured magazines like Billboard, Spin and Rolling Stone. I started playing guitar at 13 years old and wrote my first song soon after and wound up singing in bands through out high school and college.
After graduating Fordham University in New York I got a job as an engineer’s assistant at the legendary Hit Factory recording studio and then became and that led me to be the studio manage for MCA Record’s in-house facility where I met music industry legend Tommy LiPuma had become president of the label I was working for. He and I had a special relationship and he was like a surrogate father to me. He was funny, talented, generous and kind and thankfully he saw something in me. One day out while working on Diana Krall’s “All For You” album he decided to promote me to being the Director of College Marketing…a job he made up on the spot for me. I had zero experience in marketing, but he told me trusted me “to figure it out”…and figure it out is exactly what I did that job jump started a 25+ year career in marketing that has served me since I left the music business and go on to work with amazing and iconic brands like the NFL, Capitol Records, Fox Sports and Heineken.
Having found a job that paid the bills I still kept up writing music and performing shows on the side and in 2003 I released my debut solo album “Next Stop Bedford Avenue”. The album got some radio airplay and created opportunities for me to tour the US, Canada and Europe opening for the likes of Norah Jones, Steve Earl, Ray LaMontagne and Cheap Trick. Sadly music just didn’t provide me with enough of an income to do it full time and in 2009 I stopped performing all together to concentrate on my marketing career.
We all face challenges but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was actually some life challenges and personal loss that led me back to music. The last couple of years have been filled with obstacles and challenges to overcome. In 2017 my mother had a stroke and I put everything aside to go back to New York and help care for her. Sadly she passed away eight months later and for the next couple of years I really struggled with that loss…and for a lot longer than I expected I would. But you can’t rush grief…it takes as long as it takes.
But it was during this time that I reconnected with my music, which my mom was a huge supporter of. Both my parents were big music fans and I grew up listening to all kinds of music from Frank Sinatra to Willie Nelson and Barry Manilow. And I leaned on writing and performing again to feel connected to my late mom and dad. And during the Covid crisis I hunkered down in the studio and recorded that music with a band that has become Nine Mile Station. It kinda feels like things came around full circle and the light found its way through the darkness.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As middle-aged guy who’s had three major career changes I now find myself at the precipice of another. And I feel very fortunate to now be doing exactly what I’ve always wanted to do since I picked up the guitar twenty something years ago.
In 2019, I started performing again and started Nine Mile Station with Fernando Perdomo who I met after watching him perform with Brian Wilson, Jacob Dylan, Fiona Apple and Beck in the amazing documentary “Echo in the Canyon”. I kinda stalked him on Facebook until he did a gg with us and we all clicked. Soon after we started recording a four song demo in his studio just before Covid hit and making music together felt effortless. And once things started opening up a bit we were joined by two legendary engineers and Grammy winners Al Schmitt and Niko Bolas…who I knew through my late mentor Tommy Lipuma who I mentioned earlier had given me my first real job. In October we started releasing singles from those sessions and they’ve been getting airplay here in Los Angeles on KCSN and KCRW as well as radio stations across the US, Europe and Asia. Now we’re planning on releasing a full album of new material in the fall and hope to start touring when it’s safe again to do so.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
As disappointed as it might have been to have to wait so long to share this new music, I am incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to do it at all. And I’m thrilled to be working with my incredibly talented bandmates, who’ve all become like family to me. It’s heartwarming and satisfying to say the least. And I’m at peace knowing that all the pain, loss and challenges that I experienced over the last couple of years have put me exactly where I’m supposed to be. Right here making music. And I know that my late mother would have wanted me to get the most out of my life.
As an old friend once told me “the things in life that are meant for you will find you” and I believe that it’s up to each one of us to face each day to get the most out of it. And looking ahead I’m hoping that I get to spend the next 5-10 years writing and recording music and touring and performing with great musicians and spending my time with good friends and family. All while heading towards the sun.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.NineMileStationMusic.com
- Instagram: @NineMileStationMusic
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/NineMIleStationMusic
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/NIneMileStation
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ZeyMrwQrSl659Xm21FV6g
- Other: Spotify:: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3mpjmgUh62VeEqJFtOZipn?si=cUcQIuSsQEuKwt_bAzbGSQ
Image Credits
Robert Staley @StaleyPhoto
