What do Women's Olympic Figure Skating, The Great British Bake Off, Meatloaf and my Music Video have in common? aka... just me and my Asperger's...

OK, so last week I promised a full-on Asperger’s mind journey, and that’s just what you’re gonna get this week. For those who don’t know, I have Asperger’s which is basically means I’m high-functioning with low-level Autism. Because I’m lower on the spectrum, the symptoms aren’t quite as obvious to others (or myself, for years) but they’re mostly all still there in their various shapes and ways they rear their ugly heads. Like repetitive behavior (like how I eat the same thing for lunch every day: two eggs, shredded chicken, spinach and salsa verde evenly divided between three corn tortillas with tortilla chips on the side. Or how after a show, I always come home and have a glass, or two, of bourbon and big scoop of cottage cheese. Weird, I know but that’s what I have to do), obsessive/repetitive interests (how late at night, before going to bed, I need my fix of Rick & Morty despite having played through all the episodes at least 12 times, with some episodes nearing 50 views or how I once listened to nothing but Open Mike Eagle’s “VERY MUCH MONEY” for almost a month. Luckily, no one had to share a car with me on any road trips that month…) and difficulties with social interaction/non-verbal communication (how small talk is extremely difficult, but if you wanted to, say, MAKE LISTS OF UNIMPORTANT THINGS or hear me rant about how much I hate plastic and the oil industry or hear a profanity-laced rant about HOW FIGURE SKATER MEDVEDEVA GOT SCREWED OUT OF A GOLD MEDAL AT THE LAST WINTER OLYMPICS, yes, I’m still pissed about that; all of those would be easy for me). All of which is to say, I’m wildly off topic and we haven’t even started… So, we might as well get going…

1) The Great British Bake Off - Season 10 - Why does Paul Hollywood hate Steph so much?

I know, you’re like “what?” Bradley likes baking shows? Well, kind of. I like this one (especially since the reboot with Richmond from IT Crowd, or whatever his real name is) and the holiday ones that are coming up soon. But that aside, Paul continually tries to put Steph in the middle to possibly going home range but she’s won star baker like 4-5 times this year, including a three in a row run in the middle of the season. Why is he looking to boot her out? He even snubbed her a handshake, which is a big deal for those who don’t watch, happens only 1-2 times per year for doing really fantastically well, then had what appeared to be a make-up handshake the next week and gave out a second right after to make it not seem as important. Seems like he was told by the producers he had to, so he did another to water it down. I’ve never like Paul but I especially don’t after this season. Why can’t Steph just be awesome and kick ass this season? Why is he trying to poo-poo her as the clear front-runner? I don’t get it but it’s been bothering me so I’ve been bringing it up unprompted as much as possible to try and uncover the answer to this riddle.

2) Why isn’t Meatloaf more revered as an artist?

In his heyday, he was essentially a mix of Elton John and Bruce Springsteen. I mean, come the fuck on WITH HOW AWESOME THIS SHIT IS. What a voice. I love every minute of this. I actually just had to stop writing so I could just sit and watch this in its’ entirety (for like the thousandth time…). Though it is a kinda bullshit that they replaced the actual singer for an actor for the video because she was “prettier” but that’s for another rant. And he had some other huge hits as well. Sure, his reign at the top was short-lived compared to his peers and most people my age remember him for either Fight Club or as the bouncer in Wayne’s World. And that’s fair, he was awesome in both of those. But artists that burned this bright, for however long they did, should be celebrated. Maybe I’m wrong but most of the time when I bring up Meatloaf I get scoffs or blank stares. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s like Peter Frampton, you had to be there. And if you were, you bought the record and the T-shirt, but if you weren’t, they didn’t stand the test of time for one reason or another.

3) World Series - Why did everyone assume the Astros would roll over the Nationals?

Look, this series isn’t over, though it could be tonight, but I was astounded to see how heavily favored the Astros were. The Nats proved they can hit anyone, have high-level pitching and ran through the National League (including my Brewers in the Wild Card game). Juan Soto is already a star who looks like he got Ted Williams plate discipline (at times), David Ortiz’s knack for big hits in big games, and a swing like Ken Griffey Jr.’s. (OK, it doesn’t really look like that, but the ball jumps off his bat in a similar way and I can tell the kid is having fun like Jr. did). And the Nats have a big 3 when it comes to pitch, same as the Astros. I still think the Astros will win the Series but I always assumed it to go 6 or 7, where the more talented team wins out. Still fucking weird that a home team hasn’t won a game yet.. And, props to the Nats fans for their “reception” of Trump. There’s a reason he rarely ventures out into the public in the D.C. area…

4) It’s Almost Halloween so… The Music Video for “Let’s Go Out Tonight” is back in season!

"Let's Go Out Tonight" by Bradley Wik and the Charlatans

From the album "In My Youth, I'm Getting Old..."

Written and Directed by Kevin Pietila

Starring Alysse Fozmark with Gina McCammon and Jade Swim as the friends/zombie dancers

Thanks to: Jon Fickes, David Solomon and Sara Morris for backing me up on stage

Man, that was fun to make. I know, the Michael Jackson references may seem weird these days, but we shot this just before the new doc came out. I’m not trying to state my preference one way or another, just trying to honor one of my favorite artists and their impact on me as an artist. That aside, my favorite memories of this video shoot:

  • How excited I was when the amazing director/writer Kevin Pietila came up with this zombie theme for a song about two people trying to figure it out in a relationship. I was an immediate “yes” and so excited to do something I could have never thought of myself.

  • Digging the grave (my own grave, as it were) was way fucking harder than it should have been due to the stupid clay/rocky soil in the Northwest. It was fun though and I don’t think a Coors ever tasted so good than after 4-5 hours of digging/picking that damn ground.

  • 2+ hours into and over an hour to get out of the makeup wasn’t my favorite but it was fun to watch the awesome makeup artists do their art on me and the others. I love to watch passionate people do their thing and I got an up close and personal view of that during this process.

  • I felt I did a pretty fucking good zombie in this video, raising the number of my acting skills to 3: looking sad/confused/bereft of emotion (aka my picture face. Check out the intro to the “LOOKIN’ AT LUCKEY” MUSIC VIDEO when “Luckey” walks in to see what I’m referring to), leading an unplugged/pretend band in videos (though we actually did finally play a show together last year) and being a zombie.

  • How people generously let us use their house and land to film all through the night. I’m sure people had other things to do from 6pm-7am but we’re so grateful for their awesomeness and support.

  • Finally, how when I finally crawled into the grave, had the dirt shoveled on top of me, was literally buried underground and got ready to shoot the coming out of the grave scene, of course, the generator went down; so no lights, smoke, etc. Because it looked good, we decided I should stay underground to save time so we didn’t have to restage it. Unfortunately, it took what I thought was an hour (probably more like 15 minutes) to get everything back ready to shoot. But, worth it.

Anyways, I have other things to do, so I’ll leave it there.

(dictated but not read)

Kevin and I digging my grave. Turns out the Northwest has super shitty soil, unless you’re trying to grow grapes to make wine.

Kevin and I digging my grave. Turns out the Northwest has super shitty soil, unless you’re trying to grow grapes to make wine.

Music Video Notes and shit...

So, the Packers shat the bed once again. Just like last week, they had the chance to dethrone one of the best teams in the league and decided to fuck themselves over. I don't want to rant and rave about it (I've done that for at least 4 or 5 hours over the past 24 hours) but it's so goddamn frustrating to give games like this away. It's also weird that our defense is playing better than our offense, which has Aaron Fucking Rodgers. Color me confused as fuck. That's a phrase, right? Anyways, some good/music news...

Many thanks to Adobe and Teardrops (click HERE or on the image below):

And to Americana Daily (click HERE or on the image below):

For supporting the release of our newest music video for “Let’s Go Out Tonight.” Here’s a few thoughts I had about the making of the video:

“Turns out it’s not easy to make a zombie-themed music video.  From finding the right DP and makeup artist to bring our zombie rom-com to life, to finding the perfect “Thriller” looking house, the director and I digging a real grave in someone’s backyard (Oregon dirt is mostly clay with lots of rocks in it…), the 2+ hours of having alcohol-based makeup, since it was still raining in July (God bless Oregon), slathered on my face, neck and hands plus the 1+ hour of washing my skin with alcohol to get it back off, practicing “Thriller” dance moves in my apartment and injuring my hand so badly that I now have a scar for the rest of my life (long story), to all the overnight shoots, it wasn’t your typical music video.  I was buried underground for 20 minutes while we waited for the lighting, effects and weather to all play together for the perfect shot, and I loved it; which was good since that was only the first of many takes…

 

But, God bless Kevin Pietila, the director, since he had the vision and the passion to keep the cast and crew focused and performing at our best, not an easy task at 4 or 5am when everyone is starting to feel the lack of sleep and we’re trying to beat the light for one last shot. And God bless the crew, keeping the generators, lights, effects, makeup and playback going while moving everything in and out of tents due to the intermittent rain.  And the Holocene in Portland was great and patient as we shot for much longer than anticipated there.

 

And damn, did I look awesome in that “Thriller” jacket or what…”

NEW MUSIC VIDEO AND VIDEO RELEASE PARTY!!

AHHHH, REAL MONSTERS (anyone love that show as much as I do?)! Why do I say that?? You’ll find out if you check out the WORLD PREMIERE OF “LET’S GO OUT TONIGHT” THE MUSIC VIDEO AT SURVIVING THE GOLDEN AGE BY CLICKING HERE OR ON THE PICTURE:

Also, our music video release party will be held at the Lake Theater in Lake Oswego, OR Friday, November 9th. Music from Sara Morris, Brianne Kathleen and Bradley Wik will start at 8pm followed by commentary from director/writer of said videos, Kevin Pietila, before we show both “Lookin’ at Luckey” and “Let’s Go Out Tonight” on the BIG SCREEN!!! Fun is guaranteed to be had by all. Music, booze, amazing music videos, what else do you need?! Oh, a sexy host, you might say. Well, don’t you worry, Bradley will be there and may or may not take his pants off… Just sayin’…

BWC Music Premiere Video Poster.png

Fucking music videos and being sick aka... fuck my (awesome) life...

Being sick sucks.  Like really fucking sucks.  I just might be the biggest baby when it comes to being sick.  I was sick before the music video shoot, kind of during (though adrenaline and the need to get it done are great masking agents; just like the double doses/four pills of NyQuil, a shot of bourbon and way too much coffee) and, of course, again after.  Staying up all night for two nights then waking up early (read:  six hours of sleep in three days) for the next day are not a plan for good health.  But, it is a plan for making a fun as hell music video.  The concept and script were fun as shit.  I felt bad as the director, DP (director of photography, also known as the camera operator, lighting director and eyes of the film) and second AC (second assistant camera), as well as the lighting and setup crew had to work their fucking asses off as I got to relish being an actor.

 

This video definitely allowed me to display my acting skills much more than the last one, by nature of the theme and script.  I fucking loved it.  I also happen to be really fucking awesome (read:  not bad) at it.  I am sad that we are almost done with the video (we have one more short night of shooting) but enjoyed every minute of it so far.  I wish I could tell you more but I don't want to spoil it and the surprises along the way.  Needless to say, it'll be great and you'll love it.

 

What you won't love is the Meniere's attack I had right before the filming, which went away during shooting (thank God!) and the fact that it's 8pm and I can barely keep my eyes open as the lack of sleep and illness is taking over.  Plus, somehow a wart on my face may (or may not) be getting infected as a barely visible mark is now swollen and painful...  Jesus, it's been a week.  Plus, I'm headed to Arizona to enjoy some of that 115 degree heat...  Not...  Well, I am going to Arizona, but no, I won't be enjoying the heat...

 

If I had more energy I would make one of those videos I promised on YouTube that I still haven't delivered on where I would rant about Kanye being the second most important artist of my lifetime or why I feel like all cats have autism...  Maybe next week.  This week, I'm glad I'm still alive and I'm going to go finish watching the new season of Kimmy Schmidt...  Fuck it...

 

But, here's a still of me and a beautiful girl in a car way too nice for the both of us from the (first) "Lookin' at Luckey" video which will be out in the next month (notice my doofy singing face. Singing is never graceful on stills...):

 

 

I know, that has nothing to do with the new video but you'll see this one sooner bitches...

Single Release/Feature - "Let's Go Out Tonight" - DOUBLE EDITION!!

 
"A Midwest boy searching for the music that once was and that could be once again, Bradley Wik is an outspoken realist and earnest romantic who sings of everyday men and women stumbling through life together."  - The Daily Country

 

"An unpretentious  heartland roots rocker that would make Mellencamp or Westerberg proud, "Let's Go Out Tonight," with its undeniably infectious melody and sweet harmonies, tells the real, relatable story of two people simply trying to figure things out."  - Tara Joan | No Depression

 

Click below for the full articles and to hear this exciting new track:

 

 

Amazing to have this song debuted on two sites!  So many thanks to The Daily Country and No Depression for supporting BWC!  Remember, early next week I'll be announcing SOMETHING AWESOME surrounding how you can see and hear moi, Mr. Bradley Wik himself, LIVE and how I'll be closer to you than you may think...