Gordon Voidwell, "XO Boyfriend"

Gordon Voidwell, “XO Boyfriend”

Five years ago, for my job editing stories for XXL magazine, I would go in to the offices of Harris Publications for a week of afternoons each month. Sometimes when I was there, I would sit next to a young fellow named Will. I’m not sure if Will worked for XXL or one of its sister publications, like Scratch. (I think the former.) And I’m not really sure what he did there, either, other than wear noticeably cool, brightly colored sneakers. I don’t mean this as a criticism — he probably didn’t know what I did there, either, other than wear much less cool, earthtone corduroys — we didn’t talk about work a lot. We talked about other stuff. Music, which Will knew a lot about, and the news stories of the day or whatever. He was a particularly nice guy to talk with. But I wasn’t there that often. And after a few months, maybe half a year, I showed up and Will had disappeared. I never found out where he went. It was just one of those work things, it was a big office. You know. But the other day, this woman I know because our kids are friends at school told me I should check out this singer from the Bronx. This woman is from Minnesota, and she knows I work at a music magazine, and a friend of hers is friends with the singer. “He’s doing good,” she said. “Kinda like Prince.” I looked up his name and learned that he has a new video, and watched it, and, lo and behold, it’s Will!

Who now goes by the name “Gordon Voidwell.” (Kim… + the …’oids + Rock… ?)

I vaguely remember Will telling me he was a musician. But it’s not like he was always handing me flyers to go see his shows. (Like I said, he was nice to talk to.) I remember talking to him about LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver album, which had just come out around the time we sat next to each other, and which we both loved.

Will was born in 1983. And his songs and videos indicate that he was watching the world very closely for the first seven years of his life.

Here’s another one of his songs. This one came out last year. This one is most like Prince, I think. Controversy-era Prince, when he wished we all were nude. (Hahaha. As if Prince ever stopped wishing that!)

And here’s another one, from 2010. This one reminds me most of the Tom Tom Club.

I like them all!