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The Revelations - He's A Hustler
Remember a time long before the digital age, when in order to get a piano sound, you had to actually play the piano? The times when Blues existed and R&B is almost extinct so fittingly enough that The Revelations bring back that feeling of Johnnie Taylor and Harold Melvin. The thought of being able to relate to the songs and angst of a lost generation of music is a beautiful thing. Some might call it a Revelation of sorts. We sat down with lead singer Tre Williams and producer Bob Perry to get to the heart of what makes this eclectic group.illRoots.com: Why the name the Revelations?
Bob Perry (Revelations Producer)- I was watching television one night, Battlestar Galactica. The episode was called Revelations. I thought to myself “That’s a great name for a band – I gotta remember to tell Tre…”
illRoots.com: With Deep Soul what should we expect?
Bob Perry- Deep Soul is a reach back to the roots of soul music. Not an imitation of old soul music, but our attempt to make new music that combines classic sounds and timeless concepts with our own personal experiences.

illRoots.com: How did you this entire band come about?

Bob Perry- I had been introduced to Tre by a friend of mine and had begun producing songs for a new album on him that we intended to shop to the labels. Tre had an idea for a song with a blues sample. Wes Mingus (now The Revelations guitar player) came up with the blues lick we needed for that track. People really responded to that song turned out to be the seed for this whole project. That particular song evolved into “I Don’t Want To Know” which is our first single.

illRoots.com: This one is for Tre & Rell. There has been an overwealming amount of success with the autotune and such processed sound, why do we need your music now in such a digital age?

Tre Williams (Revelations Lead Singer)- Our music is about really about emotion, about telling these stories we have. Our voices are how we express these emotions as we tell the stories. If we pumped all that through a computer program (that doesn’t have any emotion) our music would lose a lot of its impact. Sometimes those little imperfections that the computer would fix are what make the story more interesting.

illRoots.com: Tre, I was particularly interested in your album after I heard "I-95" with Styles P., how come that project was never released? As well have any songs carried over in some form or another?
Tre - Yeah, “I-95” was a great record. It had a lot of potential. One of the things that being in this game for a few years has taught me is that it isn’t just the songs that break you as an artist, Its also about being part of the right team that has the same vision and same priorities that you do. So far only one song called “Behind These Bars” has carried over from my older material, but I’m definitely going to come back to a lot of those ideas in the future.




illRoots.com: As a collective you guys have quite a number of years in the music industry under your belt. Is there something that should be seen that after all of these years you can come together and make music?
Tre - Well I guess its that if you write good songs and that you believe in yourself and you believe in your talent eventually you’ll find your audience.
illRoots.com: Projects that you are looking forward to hearing in 09'?
Tre - The Revelations full length album. It should be out in April of ’09. I’m also looking forward to Jamie Foxx’s album. I want see if can duplicate the success of his last album. I’m a fan of the last one.

illRoots.com: In such a politically charged year we saw the music being released reflecting that. With a new president what law should be passed by President Obama?
Tre - The Revelations aren’t really a political group. Our songs are more about personal issue that folks deal with in their day to day lives. But I guess if I have to pick something, I’d say he should focus on that safety net. Make sure nobody falls through…
illRoots.com: What cut off this album is the most personal to each of you?
Tre - “I Don’t Want To Know” cause that the song that set things off for this project.
illRoots.com: The Revelations are ______.
Tre- The real thing.