Billiam: the tireless leader of an egg punk revolution
Nobody can orchestrate a revolution entirely on their lonesome, but Melbourne-based musician Billiam is certainly giving it a good go. For years now, the mononymous master of DIY has been a cornerstone of the local independent and punk music scene in Melbourne, Australia. Now, his infectious spirit and tireless dedication to the cause are finally earning Billiam a degree of the worldwide recognition he so richly deserves.
Billiam is one of those people who you can only imagine being a musician; he was never destined to work in an office or be a public servant, particularly not with that haircut. This DIY destiny first became apparent back in 2018, when a teenage Billiam released Younger, Louder, and Snottier, the debut album for his band, Disco Junk.
Gaining an audience for his unique brand of raucous, fuzzy punk rock music, Disco Junk had some pretty commendable success within the network of independent record labels like Roolette Records, Hozac, and Goodbye Boozy.
Even during his time with Disco Junk, Billiam worked tirelessly on a plethora of side projects – some more short-lived than others. Notable highlights of these side projects included egg punk bands like Collective Hardcore, Dot Com, and Sylvie S. He even created a fanzine, Magnetic Visions, to shout out the other bands in the Melbourne scene worth listening to. At one point, Billiam spearheaded a benefit compilation featuring notable Australian DIY artists like Alien Nosejob, Pinch Points, and The Vovos to raise money for the Royal Fire Service, speaking to his colossal influence and importance within the local music scene.
After Disco Junk began to die down in around 2020, Billiam began to throw himself more fully into the creation of solo material under his own name. It was during these early releases that the songwriter honed his craft, still focusing on creating innovative egg punk tracks but with a sense of polish and professionalism that took his music to the next level. Of course, being rough around the edges and lo-fi is an essential aspect of the egg punk scene, and Billiam remains close to that ethos; he is also taking the movement into incredible new directions.
Egg punk, in essence, is based around lo-fi recording techniques, a fuzzy garage rock sound, and a certain sense of humour, which Billiam’s music has in abundance. For the most part, this punk subgenre has remained in the shadows of mainstream punk, worshipped by a small community of Internet-dwellers and ignored by virtually everybody else. Billiam is one of a few artists currently in operation who are looking to legitimise that movement and subvert its expectations.
On his recently released debut album Animation Cel, for instance, Billiam – along with the undeniable talents of his current band – brings together all the disparate and varied influences that he has explored over the years into one fuzzy yet incredibly well-produced record. It is easy to be blinded by the lo-fi recordings and 60-second songs, but at the heart of that album is an incredible degree of musicality, which is often something of a rarity within egg punk.
If you look back across all the tapes, singles, and EPs ever released by Billiam, it tells a story of a musician constantly striving to achieve their ever-changing artistic vision. Rather than abandoning the sound of his early material, Billiam has taken its DIY atmosphere and inherent attitude and refined it multiple times over the course of years. In his current form, Billiam is among the most exciting young punk artists currently in operation, and if his track record is anything to go by, he’s only going to get better.
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