Milwaukee duo Immortal Girlfriend are a staple in the city’s music scene. Affectionately named the Dark Knights of Synth, brothers Kevin and Will Bush have an alt-electronic sound heard around the world, including your favorite Netflix series.
But, recently, one of the Knights shared a battle that went beyond the stage and screen — one that led the group to postpone their first-ever U.S. tour, set to begin March 13.
“We live in an imperfect world, but the biggest thing is realizing you’re not alone,” Will Bush said. “That’s why I’m sharing.”
In 2018, Will was diagnosed with colon cancer. After years in recovery, he started “feeling off” last fall and experienced gut issues linked to his previous treatment — “more than just a stomach ache,” as he put it. Loved ones encouraged him to get checked out.
“It’s one of those things, you just gotta really monitor your health,” he said. “I’m really grateful for the people around me that are saying, ‘You should not let this go’.”
Now, Will must get surgery to improve his quality of life. A GoFundMe was created to help with medical and other related expenses. Recovery is expected to be about six to eight weeks, after which he looks forward to creating new music and relaunching their tour.
“At the end of the day, I have this body to take of for a lifetime,” he said. “Right now, whatever I’m going through, I have to get through to the next moment. I have to do what I have to do in order to get better.”
A day before his surgery, Will spoke to me about his health journey, the incredible support he’s received and how he’s staying positive — not just for himself, but for others facing similar challenges.
The following has been edited for length and clarity. Beyond the GoFundMe and purchasing Immortal Girlfriend merch, you can also show your support via CashApp, Venmo
First question, or first thing I should say is thanks for talking with me and talking with us because I know dealing with health issues in any kind of capacity, it's a personal thing. And even though you're a public figure because of your passion with music, you and your brother, there's still a line there, right?
Yeah, there can be, you know? And I think that's one thing I kind of was thinking about is: It really is up to the individual to share as much as they want. And I just know that for myself and being in the public eye that I wanted, no matter what I was going through, good or bad, I liked that transparency, you know?
How are you doing? I understand that you have something coming up tomorrow (March 7) or that you'll be going to surgery soon. How are you feeling?
Yeah, well, I guess I'm just looking forward, you know? I’ve got to get some surgery done to really just keep living and just to have a better quality of life.
I guess 2018 was back when I had cancer. So I'm coming off of that, and there's just been a bunch of complications with that and a lot of stuff that's landed me in the hospital recently. So I'm just going to have to have some surgery done to be able to not only correct it, but just also be in the clear for the future.
Can you mention what kind of cancer you had?
So I had colon cancer back in 2018, and they did a resection, and I did a few rounds of chemo. I played a couple of shows wearing a chemo pump. It was kind of crazy. But there's no cancer now. And so I'm grateful to God for that. But there are other complications with it. So it's just kind of one of those things that, you know, we were getting ready for tour, and we were getting ready to head out to the West Coast and East Coast and get on these dates.
It's a setback, but I think in time we're still going to hit those cities and do our thing. But, for right now, I'm okay. Mentally, I'm doing well. I've had a lot of support from a lot of people across many different walks of life. It's been really cool just to see the community, not just here in Milwaukee, but just around the world.
When did you learn that you had these troubles? When did it actually become an issue that you had to go and take care of?
It was kind of like around the fall [of 2024]. I was kind of starting to feel a little bit off and, you know, went in to get looked at and was just having a bunch of different gut issues and blockages and from scar tissue and stuff like that.
So it's just kind of one of those things. You just got to really monitor your health, and I'm really grateful for the people that are around me that were saying like, “Hey, you should just not let this go. You should really be kind of checking in on your health.”
Let's talk about your love of music, the passion of that and just how this has put that secondary for the moment.
I've had to take a step back from creating just because I haven't felt good for the past few months. Music is definitely an outlet, and it's healing, and I realize even now I can't wait to make new songs, you know? I can't wait to get back to it. Taking a break from it, I feel like it's almost good. It gives me a sense of … I guess a little more perspective and clarity.
But I guess, as a songwriter, you also have to go through these valleys. I feel like sometimes that's where some real gems come out, so I think there's going to be some beautiful music on the other side of this, but also just having the ebb and flow of life just happen.
It's kind of why I like to be an independent artist: I feel like I don't have to make music out of obligation. It's not like I have this label saying I have to do this or do that. So I've always been creating from a place that was genuine, and it was just an outpouring of what was in my soul at the time, you know?
What was your mindset in 2018? Because I talked about how this is impacting your music and your flow and just having you reset. How did you do that back in 2018? And are you taking any of those lessons into this experience?
It was pretty shocking to find out that it was cancer and all that, but I also feel like I realized something during that time: No matter what, you can still choose your mood, you can still choose how you feel, even in the midst of whatever is going on. You could view it as good or bad, or you can be indifferent to it. But it doesn't have to dictate how you feel. You can still choose joy in the face of sadness.
And also it's okay to feel. It's okay to be sad. It's okay to feel all the feelings and go through the emotions of it, because we're not robots.
That’s a beautiful perspective.
Thank you.
Let's talk about this tour. So the tour was going to happen March 13; that was going to be the first date in California, and y'all were going West Coast, East Coast, coming back to the Midwest. This was going to be the first time that you guys did a U. S. tour?
Yeah.
That's major, right?
Yeah. It was a lot of months of planning. We were working with an agency out of Minnesota called Favorite Son. They helped us out with a lot of those dates. Our drummer, Brian, he also was very instrumental in helping us get a lot of these dates. And so we've just been reaching out to a lot of different venues, and they've been liking our music, and we're getting a lot of shows set up. So, God willing, we're going to get back to it.
I want to go back to the point that this was your first U.S. tour. I mean, how cool is that though?
Yeah, we've been a band for, like, over seven years. It's just crazy, the amount of listeners that we have all over the place, you know?
Your sound is so distinct. It's so unique. And especially coming out of Milwaukee, just out of the Midwest, that in itself is just dope.
It's funny because people always wonder, like, “You guys from England? You guys from L.A.?” They didn't really know where we're from, but I'm like, “No, we're just some Midwest guys, you know?” So, for us, we're excited. We're repping 414 all day, you know?
What is recovery going to look like for you?
If everything goes according to plan, it should be about six weeks or so, maybe six to eight weeks of recovery just for the body to heal and for me to adjust. We’re still looking to play some shows possibly in April. I just can't speak to how far into what that looks like right now. I think we'll probably just be rescheduling some dates, but our hope is still to, probably at some point, hit the road later this year.
But, for sure, Milwaukee is going to be getting some IG shows coming up soon. All of this really puts everything into perspective, just the brevity of life in general. That's one thing that we talk about at our shows is just persevering and getting through. But it doesn't happen alone. So I would just say thanks everyone.
