About

William The Contractor

“Tall Stories” (Crying Bob Records/Sony)

William the Contractor is a mercenary of the soul. Armed with an acoustic guitar and a bass drum he delivers euphoric songs about subjects such as death and the evil witch from the residential association where he lives.

It all began in church. In 2006 Markus Bergqvist’s father died of a heart attack, at the mere age of 53. He suddenly collapsed after a bike ride to the beach. -When mum asked me to sing at the funeral I felt it was the least I could do. I’ve always been scared of singing but at that moment it felt like the right thing to do, it was an awakening.

In the packed church were his father’s old friends, the football team, colleagues and the family. In the midst of all this sadness, Markus sat at the front and sang:

“and you will always be above the clouds I see If I just could go back and hold you once again Your arms would heal my heart of steel”

That day they didn’t just bury Markus’ father, it’s also when William the Contractor was born. -This would never have happened without my father. It was almost manic, I instinctively felt that I had to, had to, had to record my ideas to see what could come out of it, says Markus.

William the Contractor became an emotional entrepreneur, a mercenary of the soul, who struggles with finding words for the impossible, to reach the unreachable and to say with music what cannnot be said with words. -I wanted to create something that was mine, straight from the heart. And I wanted to write lyrics about things from deep inside, things that affect me, things that I couldn’t find in my record collection.

William the Contractor is the entrepreneur who works and walks amongst us but who has never really fitted in. He lives in a parallel universe and watches the world around him; his job at the warehouse, the junkie on the under- ground, the tours, the woman in charge of the residential association (‘Dirty old witch’), the silence:

“Sweden is a place I would like to call the quiet hole no one ever talks, they never laugh, don’t say hello -Hello?”

William the Contractor has created his own unique way of making music. Markus plays almost every instrument on the album and there is a rhythm and beat like nothing else, an incredible love for life with themes oscillating between extreme sadness and euphoria. -To me the album is about crossing a line and provoking myself. I wanted to create something that evoked strong feelings, whatever those feelings might be. I wanted to create an album that could help me find my way back to life again.

Markus Begqvist also used to play guitar with Stompin Souls and are playing drums with Friska Viljor. ………..

“Contractor (noun); a person or company that arranges to supply materials or workers for building or for moving goods” /Cambridge dictionary

Crying Bob Records Daniel Johansson daniel@cryingbob.com

crying bob records