'American Horror Story' star Zach Villa on his latest track's overwhelming fan response
Most people might know him as the infamous Night Stalker on Ryan Murphy's ongoing season nine of 'American Horror Story: 1984'. To others, he is one half of the electro-pop duo Rebel and a Basketcase.
But 2019 has not only seen musician-turned-actor Zach Villa slash and stab people on screen as the serial rapist and killer, Richard Ramirez. Out now is the first single 'Revolver' from his 2019 solo album and he does not disappoint.
The journey to being struck by inspiration for 'Revolver' to actually creating that song has been quite an interesting journey for Villa. "When I write, sometimes it's not straightforward in terms of a concept, or a message that I want to impart," he shares in an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW).
"It's a bit more complicated, and 'Revolver' particularly really grew on a stream of consciousness moment," he says.
"I was literally between destinations in Atlanta, Georgia at an airport and a friend of mine sent a track to me that I thought was okay. But I thought there's something there that I want to explore and the next thing I knew I had written the entire lyrics in one sitting of about 15 minutes."
"I don't really know what I was channeling at that moment — just something on my mind and I had to just get it off my chest," Villa recalls.
A firm believer in people making what they want to about the songs they are listening to or the first time, Villa's 'Revolver' suits his character's arc on 'American Horror Story' to draw an intriguing parallel.
Surprisingly, the initiation for 'Revolver' happened much before he hopped aboard Murphy's twisted world of horror.
As for the possible link between the track and his character on the show, "If there's any crossover or influence it's probably instrumentation and some of the production choices that were made (in the track) later on because you're writing from the past, as well as the present."
"But when we were in the studio, we definitely took some influences just from where I was mentally and you know, when you're playing serial killer on TV, that's the brightest, happiest place to be," the 33-year-old actor quips.
For Villa, who broke up with his fiancée and former band-member Evan Rachel Wood, one of the biggest joys right now is balancing his art as a musician and an actor.
"I get to be busy and that means that I'm doing something right. I get to be stressed about releasing a record while I'm on a hit TV show I'm not mad right now," he gushes.
The fan response to 'Revolver' has been insane too. "People have picked it up like wildfire and I haven't really done any sort of official promotion," Villa shares.
"I don't have a label. I don't have a lot of support in the music scene right now and I'm very used to an indie artist DIY approach and that's basically what it's been for this."
But it is the ardent support of his fanbase and the community, especially with an ear for a new sound that helps him sail successfully.
Villa spills that 'Revolver' was the first of many tracks to come from his end this year. "I actually have a body of work that I've been collecting for some time," he shares.
"I've got a few more songs that may be out before the end of the year, but I'm just trying to decide if that is the move. Releasing 'Revolver' was kind of a test the water situation to see how people would respond to the new sound, to know what they were feeling, but it's been going really well."
'So now it's just about finishing up those extra couple tracks and getting them out there," he adds. Exciting times for the entire fandom indeed!