Coming out of a particularly dj/femcee/hip-hop-centric Philadelphia, it's refreshing to have Boy Wonder recently fallen on our ears. With a rockin' new wave sound, Boy Wonder's tracks are at times, reminiscent of the sexiest of Lenny Kravitz and the funkiest of Carlos Santana.

Have a read on as to how Boy Wonder got started and why he owes Adam Levine of Maroon 5 a big thank you.


1. Who is Boy Wonder and how did you come to the point where you decided "this is what I want to do"?
Man that's an interesting question for 9AM. I'm more orless a mild mannered guymost of the time and noticed very early on that whenever I performed (singing, acting etc.) I became a different person well more accurately an amplified version of myself. Sort of like the superheros I read about growing up. So Boy Wonder is basically Andre Coles with the volume turned up to 11.

I've always wanted to be some sort of entertainer and have always loved music but as far as my rock star dreams, you can blame Maroon 5 for that. I was at a concert in Philly on their first headline tour and Adam Levine pulled me up on stage and handed me his mic and I sang with the band for a few minutes. There were about 1,000 people or so and they were all feeling me and I was feeling them. Making that kind of connection is very addicting.


2. Did you have musical roots growing up?
I grew up listening a lot of my family's records Motown, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince etc. My Dad's band opened for Sly Stone in the 70's so there was a lot of that around as well. But the first music that really turned me on was The Police, I found a copy of their greatest hits on a shelf at home and began to gravitate towards rock music particularly Power Trios. I've always been attracted to music that's sweaty and visceral.


3. Do you have a dayjob?
I'm an Audio Visual/Video Conferencing Technician at Drexel College of Medicine.


4. What is your songwriting process like?
It all usually boils down to me in a room with a guitar. It has to be a complete fully formed idea there first before I bring in my band. If you can't perform it with just you and an acoustic guitar it's probably not worth further exploration


5. What are your ultimate goals with your music career? Is longevity or massive appeal a bigger attractor for you?
Since longevity is a certainty (I'll be making music till I stop breathing) I wouldn't mind rockin the top of the charts. Popularity even on a massive scale doesn't increase or diminish one's talents or skills it just means people like your music, like everything it has it's drawbacks but there's a lot of good you can do as well. I would ultimately be content with being big enough to make a living making music.


6. Are you influenced by pop culture/mainstream radio? Does popular media make you decide to go one way or another with song choice, etc...?
Not in any direct way I'm sure some things I see on TV/Internet and hear on the radio find it's way into my music. But I think we all are influenced by pop culture, it's inescapable, you soak it up and then you decide to go towards it or away from it.


7. If you had the opportunity to play any venue, who's opening for you and where are you playing at?
Wembley Stadium sharing a bill with The Police.

Many thanks to Boy Wonder for taking the time to chat with us. Have a listen to his track Body. It's soulful and sensual and guaranteed to get you in that mood. Jump over to his MySpace for more streaming tracks and then catch him live on August 19 at Rittenhouse in Philadelphia, sharing a bill with Sheena Beaston favorites, Menya.

mp3: Boy Wonder - Body (featuring Lacey)