Cape Girardeau transplant and rapper Joey Zichler strives to make it in music business

Please God don't let me down

Would you please help me and my partners

'Cause I wanna make history now

I don't wanna be the one to preserve it

I wanna be famous

And I want my songs to be on every single playlist

And I'm starting to lose patience

Sitting here wondering if I will ever make it

Singer's still in high school, 1.0 GPA, community college, soon can get in the universities

I never claimed I'm cool, I'm just trying to reverse my fate

I will never battle or straddle the fence between this hate

You see this life has never been that easy

Zichler works at his home studio Thursday.BEN MATTHEWS

The above lines are from the song "I Wanna be Famous" from then-named rap artist Joey Z Wilde, recorded and released by Joey Zichler in 2013.

They're pronounced in a fast, rhythmic style to layered tracks of thumping bass, drums and techno sound, all created by the then-17-year-old.

Zichler is now 21 and recently has rebranded his name more concisely to "Wilde."

While his name has changed, his story and ambitions are much the same.

The former high-school dropout from Francis Howell North in St. Charles, Missouri, is ambitious as ever.

The kid with the "1.0 GPA" is big into motivational speakers, attends Cape College Center and is looking to graduate with an associate degree in general studies from Southeast Missouri State University next spring, then move to New York to pursue his musical dreams further.

True to his songs, he itches to be famous, and he's made some progress.

Joey Zichler works at his home studio Thursday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

While he can walk down Broadway in Cape Girardeau anonymously for the most part, he can take on celebrity status at times.

Such occurrences are most likely to happen at night at such places as Pour House Pub, where a transformation can take place. The flat-screen TVs and sound system are vital in the metamorphosis, where Zichler and the rest of the crowd can see and hear Wilde's music videos, such as his most popular song, "Toast 2 the Exes."

It's one of three music videos Zichler has created in Cape Girardeau with the help of Reggie Miller, a former Southeast student who now lives and produces music videos in Atlanta.

For Zichler, captivated by marketing, promotion and the human psyche, it's an intriguing experience. He works for a marketing company -- J&L Marketing -- based in Louisville, Kentucky. Places such as Pour House can be somewhat of a petri dish for someone filled with ambition and fascinated by the making of image and fame.

His self-recorded music is targeted toward college-party crowds. At places such as Pour House, he's at ground zero.

"I'd say I'm a little more on the edgier side, a little too edgy for radio," said Zichler, who will be performing from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday at The Tiki Hut in East Cape Girardeau, Illinois.

"I shot my first video, and Pour House started playing it on their TV screens, and from there, everything just kind of took off," Zichler said. "I was flying in the faces of all the college students. I'd go drinking at the bar, and people didn't know who I was at first, so you get to drink and hang out and actually see the vibe and see whether or not it changes when your song goes on. It was actually testing it on the people you want to hear it."

He said it's a surreal experience to see people mouthing the words to his music in public places, something he never envisioned when he started out as a bass player in a metal band at the age of 15.

He claims to have been nothing special on the bass, the youngest member of a band that featured just one other member still in high school. By his description, he was "the guy in the back" who did no vocals. Young, with high-school connections, his area of expertise was promotions and arranging shows.

"I found it was so easy," Zichler said. "It wasn't easy, depending on the band."

Joey Zichler works at his home studio Thursday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

When his musical preferences began to change, however, he found an arena that catered to his true desires and strengths. While he first was exposed to some mainstream radio artists such as rapper Eminem and Lincoln Park, who combined rap and rock, the internet allowed him to explore a vast wilderness, where he found artists who resonated even more, such as Tech N9ne.

"I kind of stumbled upon hip hop, and it was something I could kind of do by myself," Zichler said. "I record myself. I do all the mixing and mastering. I saved up and bought all the equipment. It was necessary to do all that myself so I don't have to pay to use studio time."

It allowed him to be the front man, someone he always longed to be.

"When you're the vocalist, you connect emotionally with the crowd, especially the people up front," he said. "That was always something I was passionate about. And I'm not much of a singer. I sing a little bit, but not enough to make a career out of it, especially in rock or anything like that. So I kind of went this route and kind of fell in love. I love the music."

He said he first learned the possibilities of self-recording through a friend, who did so on a personal computer. They would create rudimentary songs, then make them available through social media.

Because they didn't know how to get beats or make beats, their first songs were a cappella.

"They were obviously really ridiculous songs, but, I mean, people were listening to them, and that's when Facebook and Myspace and everything just really started booming," Zichler said.

Through practice, trial and error and exposure to varying artists, his style and techniques evolved. He came up with the name Joey Z Wilde and released "I Wanna Be Famous" before moving to Cape Girardeau.

"That was the first song that I really liked," Zichler said. "I released it, and it was just so much me at the time."

He still can relate to the song and said he thinks the words connect with listeners.

Joey Zichler works at his home studio Thursday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

"I talked about how I didn't have a good GPA in high school; I didn't exactly finish high school," Zichler said. "I think that's what people want, is they want the raw, they want the real; there's so much fake out there, and it's so easy to fake. Everyone's social media seems like it's a personal advertisement of things in their life. I think when you do give people your actual thoughts, and that's what I try to do, they respond. I try to make that connection."

Not that you cannot play the image game, especially if your goal is to be famous. Image is the cornerstone of marketing, and video presentation and social media have become vital in that realm.

His three videos -- "Toast 2 the Exes," "I'm Gone" and "Big Dreams" -- can be found on YouTube, and he said they all woon will be on Vevo. His other platforms and outlets include SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.

He takes inspiration out of G-Eazy, who he said emerged to stardom from humble roots like his own -- a white, independent artist who was a college student (Loyola University in New Orleans).

"Just the way he did it; it just seems like one day he was nothing, and all of a sudden everything was working all at once," Zichler said.

In an age when independent artists have outlets like no other time in history, Zichler believes lightning can strike from cyberspace.

In all, Zichler said his music has received 200,000 views and hits over the last 16 months across all platforms, with the audience well beyond the Cape Girardeau city limits.

Zichler said he's had "tons of hits" in Brazil and Russia, and "just weird places," such as Saudi Arabia.

"I think that there's a huge market for people like me, especially in other countries," Zichler said. "I like rap because you can do so much with it. It can be translated in so many different ways, and somewhere, someone is going to like it. Maybe everyone is not going to like everything, but when you find something catchy, most people find it catchy, especially with that kind of music. It's worldwide. American rap artists are popular everywhere, and some of them are a lot more in other countries than they are here."

He's investing money in videos, with plans to make a fourth for his recent audio release "One of Us," which he said already has 40,000 hits since December.

Joey Zichler works at his home studio Thursday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

He has a close friend who moved to New York and has been making inroads in making connections and understanding the music market. The two collaborate, with Zichler trying to get a feel for the popularity of music and opportunities in that market, which he plans to join.

"We're going to start our own marketing company for music," Zichler said about his plans after graduation. "I'm kind of a guinea pig right now. Everything that we're trying to figure out to do with that company, we're trying with me. We're taking notes and seeing what works and what doesn't. Hopefully we'll make it a bit easier when we finally make that big step."

For now, he's doing his homework, toiling somewhat anonymously in the Midwest.

"There's nothing more fulfilling than just hanging out and seeing people you don't know, know your lyrics. That's crazy," Zichler said. "The first time I ever saw that was at a party back home. Somebody played one of my songs. Everybody kind of jokes, if I show up at a party they'll play one of my songs ... 'You're here.'"

It's a tantalizing taste of fame.

jbreer@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3629