It took only 45 minutes to change Michael Wansley’s life. The Seattle-based singer, known by his stage name Wanz, has found himself at the top of the charts with his bass-heavy credit on Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop,” which has now enjoyed two weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100.
Last July, the 51-year-old fielded a call from Street Level Records owner D-Sane , who got word that the hip-hop duo was looking for a Nate Dogg sound-alike to guest on their future smash. Wanz, who had heard of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis but never sat with their music, headed to the studio to lay down his catchy refrain at 1 a.m. The session went so smoothly that he was in bed an hour later.
Now, the former software test engineer is taking a shot at solo stardom. Having toured the country with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis over the past few months and performed with them on “The Ellen Show,” Wanz is building his brand on social networking sites and recording a six-track EP that he hopes to release before he joins the pair on their Australian trek next month.
Here, the Lakewood, Wash., native discusses his history with music, rediscovering Macklemore and how he hopes to crack the charts on his own.
What’s your background in music?
Music has always been a part of me. I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. I was always in church choir, I was always in school choir. I was always singing, always singing every song on the radio. I went to Central Washington University where I was introduced to jazz. At that time, I had only known classical and pop stuff. And then I went and discovered jazz in college and I studied that for seven years and did pretty well at that.
When did things expand beyond jazz and choirs?
When I turned 21, I had a band called Boys Will Be Boys. We did some INXS covers. [Later] I formed another band called Life Ring and was doing primarily originals, playing bass. Then … I got asked to front a band called the Ghetto Monks and saw a little bit of success. That band kind of went its way and fell off. Then it was about five or six years ago, I started investing in writing my own music because I wasn’t hearing what I wanted to hear. I didn’t see it in the clubs. I didn’t see what I was hearing in my head.
How did you get linked with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis?
Through a strange twist, I got connected with a guy named D-Sane, who is the owner of Street Level Records, and he was doing underground hip-hop here in the North End of Seattle. One of his guys called me and asked me to sing a hook on one of his songs, and everybody dug it. That led to my career in singing hooks. So that same guy calls me on Monday night in July and asks if I’ve heard of a guy named Macklemore and I said I’d heard of him, but I wasn’t familiar with the music. He was looking for a guy that sounds like Nate Dogg. For a decade, I’ve been known as the Nate Dogg of North End in Seattle in that little circle of underground hip-hop. He called me back like five minutes later and said they want to bring you in. So 45 minutes later I’m at the studio and meeting Ben and Ryan for the first time and talking about what my history is, Ghetto Monks this and my own originals and what I wanted to do. Ben showed me the hook for ‘Thrift Shop’ and said ‘Sort of like this.’ I sang a line to him and he said yeah, like that. I go in and get levels and 45 minutes later, I’m going home. Pretty quick, quicker than anybody imagined.
Read more: Billboard
