William Pierce Butler (born October 6, 1982) is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who is best known as a former member of the

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...

. He plays synthesizer, bass, guitar and percussion. He is known for his spontaneity and antics during performances. He is the younger brother of Arcade Fire frontman

Win Butler Edwin Farnham Butler III (born April 14, 1980) is an American-Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. He co-founded the Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire with his wife Régine Chassagne. Early life Butler was ...

. In 2014, Will Butler was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by t ...

for his work on the original score of the 2013 film ''

Her Her is the objective and possessive form of the English-language feminine pronoun She (pronoun), she. Her, HER or H.E.R. may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Music * H.E.R. (born 1997), American singer **H.E.R. (album), ''H.E.R.'' ...

''.

Life and career

Born in

Truckee, California Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 16,180, reflecting an increase of 2,316 from the 13,864 counted in the 2000 Census and having the 316th highe ...

, United States, and raised in

The Woodlands, Texas The Woodlands is a special-purpose district and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Texas in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area. The Woodlands is primarily located in Montgomery County, with por ...

, Will is the son of Liza Rey, a classical musician, and Edwin Farnham Butler II, a geologist. His maternal grandfather was guitarist

Alvino Rey Alvin McBurney (July 1, 1908 – February 24, 2004), known by his stage name Alvino Rey, was an American jazz guitarist and bandleader. Career Alvin McBurney was born in Oakland, California, United States, but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Early i ...

. He graduated from

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

in 2001, where he lived in Abbot Hall, and subsequently attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, majoring in Poetry and Slavic studies. During this time, he worked as a DJ for the WNUR Rock Show, where he also hired Nathan Amundson of

Rivulets Rivulets is the stage name of minimalist singer-songwriter Nathan Amundson. Biography Rivulets was the first artist signed to Low's Chairkickers Union record label in 2001. He then released his first, self-titled album in 2002 and DEBRIDEMENT ...

to be a substitute DJ at WNUR-FM. He also served as the poetry editor of Northwestern's literary magazine, Helicon. An excerpt of a poem from his senior thesis is quoted in Brian Bouldrey's book, "Honorable Bandit: A Walk Across Corsica." While at Northwestern, Butler lived in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. He moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec, Canada in the mid-2000s to join his brother

and band

. In January 2008 Butler married dancer Jenny Shore. In January 2014, Butler and

Owen Pallett Michael James Owen Pallett (born September 7, 1979) is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their erstwhile moniker of Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album '' He Poos Clouds''. Palle ...

were nominated for Best Original Score at the 86th Academy Awards for their original score of ''

''. Butler was a student at the

Harvard Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

where he pursued a Mid-Career Master in Public Administration. In March 2022, Butler announced he had left Arcade Fire at the end of the previous year, stating "there was no acute reason beyond that I've changed—and the band has changed—over the last almost 20 years. Time for new things." The band's album '' We'', released on May 6, 2022, was Butler's last performance with Arcade Fire on a studio album. Despite leaving Arcade Fire, Butler does not expect to leave the music scene and has "a few other projects percolating."

Solo career

On March 3, 2015, Butler's debut solo album ''Policy'' was released under

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

, accompanied by an international tour alongside Arcade Fire drummer

Jeremy Gara Jeremy Gara (born June 6, 1978) is a Canadian drummer from Ottawa, Ontario. He is most well known as the drummer of the band Arcade Fire. Gara is an active performer in a number of other projects, including work as a solo performer. Career Ga ...

. According to Butler, ''Policy'' is intended to reflect his omnivorous musical taste. Butler wrote five songs for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', based on news headlines, with each song created and shared a day apart. They were mixed properly and released on ''Policy Deluxe'' in May 2015. Butler's song "Sun Comes Up" from the 2016 solo album ''Friday Night'' caught the ear of DJ B-Roc of

The Knocks The Knocks is an American electronic music duo consisting of Ben "B-Roc" Ruttner and James "JPatt" Patterson. They have released 3 full length albums Big Beat Records, Neon Gold">Big Beat Records (American record label)">Big Beat Records, Neon ...

, and subsequently the Knocks-produced remix of the song was released alongside a video directed by Butler, filmed in part on the New York City subway system. Butler has written original songs for the new David Adjmi play ''Stereophonic'', scheduled to premiere on Broadway in 2021.

Solo discography

Studio albums

* ''Policy'' (

, 2015) * ''Friday Night'' (Merge Records, 2016) *''Generations'' (Merge Records, 2020)

Singles

* "Anna" (2015)

Music videos

* "What I Want" (2015) * "Anna" (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, William 1982 births Living people Arcade Fire members Northwestern University alumni Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Musicians from Houston American indie rock musicians Grammy Award winners American expatriate musicians in Canada 21st-century American composers 21st-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American double-bassists 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American keyboardists American multi-instrumentalists 21st-century American singers 21st-century double-bassists Harvard Kennedy School alumni Merge Records artists