Billy Tibbals talks creative process, upcoming EP ‘Nightlife Stories’

Ahead of his second extended play (EP), musician Billy Tibbals reached out to The Panther to talk about his upcoming EP ‘Nightlife Stories,’ touching on his musical inspirations and songwriting process. Photos courtesy of Miranda Penn Turin

Throughout his youth, Billy Tibbals explored a variety of outlets to express his creativity. At first, it was through putting on magic shows for kids in his town. Growing older, he developed a desire to become a film director. In high school, he found his true calling to write songs.

Tibbals, who grew up listening to bands like The Beatles, Queen and ABBA, focuses a lot of his music on topics like youth culture and relationships.

Tibbals’ musicianship has produced multiple singles and two EPs: “Stay Teenage” in 2023 and the upcoming “Nightlife Stories,” which will release on April 26. Three of its six tracks — “Burn Out!”, “The World Revolves” and “Dream Away” — are currently available to stream. 

“It’s a rock-and-roll record, but it’s a lot of stories. The songs tell stories about little situations and characters and things,” Tibbals told The Panther. “I guess (listeners) can expect a kind of wacky, off-the-wall, crazy, melodic, rock-pop record.” 

On March 26, Tibbals sat down with The Panther to discuss his musicianship and “Nightlife Stories.” Tibbals will join hard rock band The Black Crowes for five shows on their tour, including a performance at The Greek Theatre on April 12.  

According to the musician, fans of rock-and-roll will enjoy what he has to offer onstage. 

“(Audiences) can expect a lot of energy on stage and just a really fun show. I think they can expect a good time,” Tibbals said. “If they like rock-and-roll music and they like melodic songwriting, then I think they’ll have a good time.” 

While believing that “Nightlife Stories” is somewhat different from “Stay Teenage,” Tibbals doesn’t think that the sound listeners initially heard on the first EP is completely gone. Despite its differences, the musician’s signature sound is still there. 

“(“Nightlife Stories”) is definitely a more lively, wild collection of songs, I would say. I think on the whole, I think some of the songwriting is slightly better…” Tibbals said. “I’m always trying to do something different just for myself because if I really just kept doing the same thing, I would kind of get bored pretty quickly.” 

Tibbals believes his biggest influences come from his youth. Some of his childhood favorites include The Beatles, Queen, the Scissor Sisters, ABBA and his dad’s favorite band, The Clash. As he grew older, his music knowledge expanded, exploring different genres and falling down music rabbit holes. Recent artists he’s grown familiar with include The Quick, Donovan and Momus. 

“I’m always looking for new music and listening to music all day,” Tibbals said. “I think it all seeps in there — seeps into my songs kind of naturally.” 

However, when Tibbals writes a song, specific influences don’t always make themselves apparent. 

“I think they’re just kind of there already in my head,” Tibbals said. “The influences that might be more recognizable to people are then combined with some stuff that maybe less people are listening to or just things that I’ve picked up from my life.” 

Narratively, much of Tibbals’ work revolves around topics like youth culture and relationships, to name a few. The musician enjoys songs that tell stories, and when he crafts a piece, the music comes before the lyrics. Sometimes, a single lyric can inspire the rest of a piece’s lyrics. He cited his song “The World Revolves” as being about the importance of having fun. 

“(‘The World Revolves’) is sort of a song about escapism and looking at how dire and dreadful the world around us is and how tough it can be just to get through the day sometimes. (It’s also about) how it’s important to just put all of those worries aside and have fun and go out and laugh and drink and have a good time with your friends and forget about it all for a while,” Tibbals told The Panther.

He continued: “I think that’s important. Not to not be aware of what’s going on around you, but just don’t forget to have a good time. For me, you’ve got rock-and-roll music. That’s a good time.” 

Tibbals’ advice for aspiring artists is advice that can be applied to any creative endeavor.

“If you wanna be good at anything, just keep doing it. The more the better,” Tibbals said. “Write ten songs every day. Just write and write and write, and then you’ll get something good out of all that.” 

Students can find tickets to Tibbals’ performance at the Greek Theatre through the venue’s website. More information on the musician can be found on his Instagram and Spotify pages.