Education
New York University; King"s College London.
New York University; King"s College London.
Previously, he was the lead singer/songwriter for Saetia throughout the band"s lifespan. Raised in Queens, New York, Werner earned an undergraduate degree at New York University and a graduate degree at University College London. Billy formed Saetia in 1997 with Greg Drudy, Jamie Behar, and Alex Madara.
During their short lifespan of two and a half years, they released a self-titled European Parliament, a self-titled full length, and their full discography on A Retrospective.
Billy wrote the lyrics, and sang vocals for the band. The band broke up in 1999, due to personal problems, to form bands such as Office Minor, The Fiction, and Billy"s own band, Hot Cross.
Hot Cross was formed shortly after Saetia broke up in 2000, with former Saetia drummer, Greg Drudy, Matt Smith, Casey Boland, and Josh Jakubowski. The band released A New Secretariat of Lungs, their first European Parliament, in 2002, and then released their critically acclaimed record, Cryonics, the Fair Trades & Farewells European Parliament, and their latest record, Risk Revival, all on Level Plane records, except for Risk Revival released on Equal Vision records.
The band"s music was similar to Saetia and other Hot Cross members" former bands, but was considered more technical, especially when it came to their use of two guitars.
The band went on indefinite hiatus, cutting short their 2007 tour. He also currently deejays under the moniker Billy West as a disco DJ, M//R as a techno DJ and producer, and Werner Williams for his more spacey and house-inflected groovy tunes.-.
