Will Butler

Not to be confused with Billy Butler (singer) or Billy Butler (guitarist).

William Butler
William Butler performing in July 2007.
Background information
Birth name	William Pierce Butler
Also known as	Cereal Guy
Born	(1982-10-06) October 6, 1982
Origin	The Woodlands, Texas, United States
Genres	Indie rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, Composer
Instrument(s)	Synthesizer, bass, guitar, Vocals, percussion, sitar, panpipes, trombone, omnichord, glockenspiel, musical saw, upright bass, concertina, clarinet, gadulka

William Pierce Butler (born October 6, 1982) is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who is best known as a core member of the indie rock band Arcade Fire. William plays synthesizer, bass, guitar and percussion. He is known for his spontaneity and antics during performances. He is the brother of Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler. Butler received his first Academy Award nomination for his work on the original score of the film Her in 2014.

Life and career

Born in northern California and raised in The Woodlands, Texas, Will is the son of Liza Rey, a classical musician, and Edwin Farnham Butler II, a geologist. His maternal grandfather was guitarist Alvino Rey. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 2001, where he lived in Wentworth Hall, and subsequently attended Northwestern University, majoring in Poetry and Slavic studies. While at Northwestern he worked as a DJ for the WNUR Rock Show, where he also hired Nathan Amundson of Rivulets to be a substitute DJ at WNUR. He also served as the poetry editor of Northwestern's literary magazine, Helicon. An excerpt of a poem from his senior thesis is quoted in Brian Bouldrey's book, "Honorable Bandit: A Walk Across Corsica."

In January 2008 Butler married dancer Jenny Shore.

In January 2014, Butler and Owen Pallett were nominated for Best Original Score at the 86th Academy Awards for their work on Her.

Solo Discography

Policy