Walter Clark

by Gummy Soul

Wally Clark was born on the floor of a tiny house in Nashville, Tennessee. As a child he slid around the hardwood in his socks, dancing wildly and imitating James Brown. When he was seven, a friend introduced him to De La Soul’s Three Feet High and Rising album. In 6th grade he discovered Wu Tang, which became a huge influence on him. RZA’s use of southern soul and Rae and Ghost’s creative use of language, (as well as their affinity for a certain type of British moccasin), inspired Clark’s individuality, and taught him to add his own personal flavor to everything he touches.

In high school, Clark listened religiously to the 91.1 Emergency show, with Count Bass D and now Stones Throw label head Eothen “Egon” Alapatt. It was this show, that inspired him to get into radio. While in college, Clark DJed a hip hop show, focusing on the deep album cuts that are often overlooked on radio. To do this, he spent around 30 hours a week manually editing the curse words out of his favorite songs.

After college, Clark began making beats to fill the void of not being on the radio. Friend and fellow Gummy Soul artist Amerigo Gazaway, taught him the art of sampling. “I always wanted to be a musician,” says Clark. “The great thing about making beats is that you don’t have to know how to play anything to be dope. I trust my ear, and throw a little of my flavor into it, and it’s turns out that I’m nice with it.”

In January of 2006, he moved to Atlanta to focus on making music. While in Atlanta, he worked with mix tape DJ Tommy Ill, selling tens of thousand of mixes, in over a 100 stores across the Southeast. A crack down in the mix tape industry by the RIAA, led Clark to pack his bags and move back to Nashville.

In 2009, a mutual friend suggested that Clark meet up with Kurtis Stanley, a rapper and fellow Nashvillian. The chemistry was immediate. “Out of the four beats I gave to him, he wrote to three, and two of them ended up on the album,” says Clark. In december of 2010, the duo released their first album Gummy Soul.

On any given night, you will find Wally Clark making cocktails and chopping up records, to make his unique brand of hip hop. “When you get that soul up in you, it’s hard to let it go,” explains Clark. “It sticks to you. That’s where the name Gummy Soul comes from. Well, that and these comfortable ass shoes on my feet.”

Follow Wally Clark on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/TheWallyClark

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gummysoul