Boy Wonder

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.

- Sheena Beaston

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.

- Sheena Beaston

On a Monday night, musicians sit cross-legged in the vibrant lobby of World Café Live in West Philadelphia. Backpacks and guitar cases lay on the sprawling granite floor nearby. Some read the Metro, Philadelphia Weekly, CityPaper or paperback books. Others scribble lyrics or doodle in notebooks, just to pass the time.

The time is 6:29 p.m., and the performers begin to stand, ready to choose their time slots. A man in his 20s, his hair styled in cornrows, strolls into the lobby carrying a clipboard.

“Sign-ups will be starting now,” he says. “No cutting in line or anything. I’m trusting you.”

This man is Andre Coles, but on open mic nights and on any other performance night, he goes by his more renowned stage name – Boy Wonder. He hosts, and also performs at, the weekly Philly Rising Open Mic, held at Upstairs Live, one of two concert stages at World Café Live, which is also an upscale restaurant.

Boy Wonder sits at a table, hastily eating a bowl of spaghetti and looking over the schedule of performers. A young musician with long hair and glasses approaches him.

“Hey, our bass player isn’t here yet. We’re trying to get a hold of him now,” he tells the host.

“No problem man,” Boy Wonder says. “I’ll just bump the list up until you’re ready.”

With a quick fist pound, a minor problem has been averted.

As a working musician, Boy Wonder has a real understanding for the performers he meets every Monday.

“You could say I’ve been in ‘showbiz’ since I was about three,” he says. “I started out with acting, doing some commercials, and some plays.”

From 1996 to 2000, Boy Wonder attended the Philadelphia Creative and Performing Arts High School. There he focused on acting, started his first band, and became seriously engaged in music. He attended Temple as a film and media arts major, and graduated in 2004. He now works at Drexel University during the day as an audio-visual technician.

Coles took over the hosting job at the World Café Live’s open mic just this past January, after performing regularly at the event for almost three years. When former host Bruce Torres took some time off, the café called Coles to fill in. After getting positive feedback on his style from the audience, Coles was offered a full time job, and jumped on the opportunity.

Boy Wonder finishes his pre-performance meal and heads to the stage for a sound check. Once he gets the OK from the sound board, he begins strumming on an acoustic guitar and – without a word – breaks the ice with his first song. He plays through a few of his original songs, which feature his unique, creative chord progressions. His emphatic vocals fill every corner of the room, and he occasionally switches to a falsetto, adding another dimension to his sound.

“I would say my music is a blend of funk, rock, post-punk, new wave, R&B, soul,” he said, pausing after each genre to think of another. “I’ve always been into music where the lines are a little blurred.”

His songs describe relationship attempts, infatuation and the ups and downs of life and love.

“Sweatin’ bullets like a semi-automatic / I can’t get you out of my head,” he sings in one song.

After performing a few songs to start off the show, Coles assumes his position as host, providing on-spot introductions for all the performers, and encouraging the support of the usually abundant and diverse crowd.

“What I think we have that nobody else has is that people come here thinking they can really get somewhere,” Boy Wonder said of the open mic. “It’s really a kind of proving ground. It’s a good stepping stone.”

At the end of the night, Boy Wonder and the rest of the World Café Live staff choose the best performer, and that person or group moves on to the monthly “CREAM: The Best of Philly Rising” competition. Monthly winners end up in the “Cream of the Cream” showcase at the end of the year.

“It’s a competitive night, but he really tries to keep it fun and make it more about the music than the competition,” said Katie Taylor, a sophomore at Temple who also works as a hostess for the Upstairs Live restaurant.

Boy Wonder has recorded three albums’ worth of his original material and performs a few nights a week, usually around Philadelphia. While he is looking for a serious record contract, he enjoys his role at the open mic.

“Every Monday night, I get to see 20 local acts,” he said. “It’s great to see people grow as performers. This is my chance to contribute to the local scene, and if I can make the Philly music scene just a little bit better, I’m cool with that.”

- The Temple News

On a Monday night, musicians sit cross-legged in the vibrant lobby of World Café Live in West Philadelphia. Backpacks and guitar cases lay on the sprawling granite floor nearby. Some read the Metro, Philadelphia Weekly, CityPaper or paperback books. Others scribble lyrics or doodle in notebooks, just to pass the time.

The time is 6:29 p.m., and the performers begin to stand, ready to choose their time slots. A man in his 20s, his hair styled in cornrows, strolls into the lobby carrying a clipboard.

“Sign-ups will be starting now,” he says. “No cutting in line or anything. I’m trusting you.”

This man is Andre Coles, but on open mic nights and on any other performance night, he goes by his more renowned stage name – Boy Wonder. He hosts, and also performs at, the weekly Philly Rising Open Mic, held at Upstairs Live, one of two concert stages at World Café Live, which is also an upscale restaurant.

Boy Wonder sits at a table, hastily eating a bowl of spaghetti and looking over the schedule of performers. A young musician with long hair and glasses approaches him.

“Hey, our bass player isn’t here yet. We’re trying to get a hold of him now,” he tells the host.

“No problem man,” Boy Wonder says. “I’ll just bump the list up until you’re ready.”

With a quick fist pound, a minor problem has been averted.

As a working musician, Boy Wonder has a real understanding for the performers he meets every Monday.

“You could say I’ve been in ‘showbiz’ since I was about three,” he says. “I started out with acting, doing some commercials, and some plays.”

From 1996 to 2000, Boy Wonder attended the Philadelphia Creative and Performing Arts High School. There he focused on acting, started his first band, and became seriously engaged in music. He attended Temple as a film and media arts major, and graduated in 2004. He now works at Drexel University during the day as an audio-visual technician.

Coles took over the hosting job at the World Café Live’s open mic just this past January, after performing regularly at the event for almost three years. When former host Bruce Torres took some time off, the café called Coles to fill in. After getting positive feedback on his style from the audience, Coles was offered a full time job, and jumped on the opportunity.

Boy Wonder finishes his pre-performance meal and heads to the stage for a sound check. Once he gets the OK from the sound board, he begins strumming on an acoustic guitar and – without a word – breaks the ice with his first song. He plays through a few of his original songs, which feature his unique, creative chord progressions. His emphatic vocals fill every corner of the room, and he occasionally switches to a falsetto, adding another dimension to his sound.

“I would say my music is a blend of funk, rock, post-punk, new wave, R&B, soul,” he said, pausing after each genre to think of another. “I’ve always been into music where the lines are a little blurred.”

His songs describe relationship attempts, infatuation and the ups and downs of life and love.

“Sweatin’ bullets like a semi-automatic / I can’t get you out of my head,” he sings in one song.

After performing a few songs to start off the show, Coles assumes his position as host, providing on-spot introductions for all the performers, and encouraging the support of the usually abundant and diverse crowd.

“What I think we have that nobody else has is that people come here thinking they can really get somewhere,” Boy Wonder said of the open mic. “It’s really a kind of proving ground. It’s a good stepping stone.”

At the end of the night, Boy Wonder and the rest of the World Café Live staff choose the best performer, and that person or group moves on to the monthly “CREAM: The Best of Philly Rising” competition. Monthly winners end up in the “Cream of the Cream” showcase at the end of the year.

“It’s a competitive night, but he really tries to keep it fun and make it more about the music than the competition,” said Katie Taylor, a sophomore at Temple who also works as a hostess for the Upstairs Live restaurant.

Boy Wonder has recorded three albums’ worth of his original material and performs a few nights a week, usually around Philadelphia. While he is looking for a serious record contract, he enjoys his role at the open mic.

“Every Monday night, I get to see 20 local acts,” he said. “It’s great to see people grow as performers. This is my chance to contribute to the local scene, and if I can make the Philly music scene just a little bit better, I’m cool with that.”

- The Temple News