Joe Williams, the rowdy 23-year old behind White Williams, got his start playing piano at a young age, getting scolded by his mean German piano teacher for screwing around with the pedals making his own sounds without ever practicing. At 15 he moved onto his first project drumming for a noisy screaming band whose first show was opening for Black Dice and the Rapture in 1999. Playing in DIY venues exposed Joe Williams to a wild party lifestyle of fires, noise bands, art and performance. He had a growing interest in electronic music and wanted to take the noisy, screaming band in another direction, incorporating more electronics, sampling, triggered drums and machines. With no knowledge of studio recording or the basics of sound synthesis, he used the computer to recreate and evolve the sounds the band had been creating.

Smoke, White Williams first album, is nostalgic colorful art pop, often loose, imperfect, and ambiguous. The album title describes the lyrics, which fade in and out of logic the same way that smoke diffuses into the air.