Nothingface Interview

HI BILL, HOW ARE YOU DOING?
I’m good, how are you?

I’M REALLY GOOD. I’M EXCITED TO TALK TO YOU TODAY.
That’s awesome, me too. It’s nice because I’m in a session today and I get to take a break, hang out and talk for a bit.

YOU HAVE BEEN QUITE BUSY IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS. I WAS READING SOME OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND WAS THINKING “WHERE DO I START?"
Yeah, there’s a lot of stuff.

20 YEARS IS A LONG TIME THOUGH.
Yes that’s true, if there wasn’t a lot in twenty years then there’s a problem.

FIRST OFF YOU WERE THE BASS PLAYER IN THE BAND NOTHINGFACE IN WHICH YOU CO-WROTE AND CO-PRODUCED ALL FIVE OF THE ALBUMS THAT WERE PUT OUT. IS THAT WHERE YOUR LOVE OF PRODUCING BEGAN?
I think it began even before that. When I was seventeen I was playing music and got my first 4 track. This was back in the day when a 4 track was on a cassette. I was immediately fascinated with all of the options and all of the different things you could do having control of the tracks like that. Without even realizing that I was producing at the time, I was recording my friend’s band, I was doing these things and I had these different ideas of things we could do with the recording that ultimately really was producing. It really began then, but it wasn’t until I was in Nothingface and we got into a couple albums that I realized that I have been producing all these years on a very small scale. I love to do it. I have always really enjoyed being in the studio and in that creative atmosphere.

YOU WERE IN THAT BAND KIND OF OFF AND ON FOR FIFTEEN YEARS, BUT STILL YOU WERE A PART OF EACH ALBUM.
Right, there was only one period that I was out of the band for about two or three months. The band was just out touring at that point. A few years ago they had reformed with a different bass player and they did a few shows. There was no writing or creative process going on while I wasn’t in the group. We always did all of the pre-productions, songwriting and recordings in my studios. I was always involved in the creative aspect.

DO YOU PREFER BEING THE MAN BEHIND THE SCENES PRODUCING OR DO YOU EQUALLY ENJOY GOING OUT ON THE ROAD AND PLAYING LIVE?
I think if I had to pick one I would prefer to be behind the scenes writing, mixing and producing, but I love playing live. I don’t think I enjoy touring all that much, the actual process of driving and spending those hours between towns. I love playing the shows. If I could take a private jet to every single show, I think I’d love touring. Time on the road was definitely not my favorite, but the shows were always great. To pick one, for sure, I’m a studio guy.

SOME OF THE SONGS WRITTEN WERE USED IN MOVIES SUCH AS 3000 MILES TO GRACELAND AND THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. YOU HAVE WRITTEN SONGS THAT SPAN OVER MANY GENRES, EVEN COUNTRY MUSIC. HAVE A LOT OF THE SONGS YOU HAVE WRITTEN BEEN USED IN TV AND MOVIES?
Some of the stuff that I have written has been used for television. Some of my music was in a few episodes of Ghost Whisperer. Other than the movie soundtracks you mentioned, I’ve had some songs in some indie films. One was called The Caretaker, which was a slasher/horror film. It was right at the beginning of the movie, in a really great scene where a guy is listening to it with headphones on, singing along to it and then he gets killed listening to my song. It was kind of fun.

DO MOST OF YOUR SONGS GET PLACED IN HORROR FILMS?
Now that you mention it, it seems like the stuff is getting placed in that type of stuff for some reason.

ARE YOU ASKED TO WRITE THEM SPECIFICALLY OR DO YOU WRITE SONGS AND THEN SEND THEM OFF TO BE CONSIDERED?
Well the stuff that has been placed was not written specifically for placement, but now I am writing specifically for placement. When I’m writing for other artists it’s always specific to the artist whether it’s pop or rock.

WHEN YOU ARE WRITING SOMETHING SPECIFIC, IS THERE A LOT MORE PRESSURE THAN IF YOU ARE TO CREATE IT ON A WHIM?
For whatever reason, the songs that I write for other people are much easier. I think it is because it is so defined right up front. You are starting with an idea already as opposed to starting from a creative urge. I think starting from a creative urge, you end up going through a lot more versions of something. I think a good analogy would be if someone said draw me a picture or draw me a picture of a house. I can draw the house, it will be easier because I know what you want me to draw.

I KNOW THAT NOTHINGFACE DISBANDED, BUT IS THERE ANYTHING GOING ON WITH THE BAND CURRENTLY?
Not with Nothingface specifically, but Chris Houck who is the original drummer for Nothingface plays on my In For The Kill record. Tom Maxwell who plays guitar for Hell Yeah and I have been talking for a few months now about doing another heavy record together like Nothingface. It has always been the same problem for all of us, which is finding the time to get together and do it. We are talking about doing something, I don’t know if it will be Nothingface, but it will be something heavy.

OH, SO IS THERE A POSSIBILITY OF A REUNION?
It’s difficult to say, everyone is sort of living their own lives. Over the years when you know people long enough, you are sort of in an emotional relationship, which is what being in a band is. You have your ups and downs, you get pissed at each other and then you are happy with each other. If we just find the right moment where everybody is happy and content with each other, then maybe we can get together and make a Nothingface record. That is if we can find a way to bury the hatchet all at the same time. When you spend enough time with people you learn how to get under their skin. When you are in a band, on a bus, it can be pretty damaging.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR WORK WITH LEVEL 7 ARTISTS.
I think just recently the company disbanded. The company doesn’t exist anymore. It was a company that was started by Dr. Henry Nicholas, who is really wealthy and he started this music production company. They were developing artists and they were also developing music technology too. There were two sides to it. They would bring in a band and do everything in house, like management marketing and recording all under one umbrella. They had everybody in the company whether it be band members, managers or producers all helping each other. It was a very cool concept. I was working for the company singing for one of their artists but I was hired as an in house producer and songwriter to work with any of the artists. I did that for about a year and a half, but for whatever reason, companies don’t work out and it didn’t work out for the company.

FROM THERE YOU WORKED AT MOREY MANAGEMENT GROUP WHERE YOU HELPED BANDS WITH THEIR CAREERS ALSO.
Right, in between Level 7 and Morey Management, I went back to the same thing I’m doing now, which is songwriting. I ended up going over to work at Morey Management with Bobby Collin who was Nothingface’s manager. Management was something that I had been interested in. The whole classic story for bands is that they never think their manager is doing enough for them. There is no way to know unless you’re in the middle of it. At least from my stance of working in management for a little over a year and a half, managers do an incredible amount of work. It’s just so difficult to get anybody to get anything done. So your manager can be banging his head against the wall for years trying to get other people to do their job and that is just the way it is. After about a year and a half of working there, I definitely realized that it was not a world that I was built to be in. You had to be able to take a lot of abuse. I needed to get back into the creative. That is where my skills are and what I’m best at. Up to that point I had not taken the financial plunge, gone all in and got my space together. I needed to get that done to really work properly as a songwriter and producer. Some of the stuff that I learned over the years from different companies really helped me set up the guidelines for how I was going to set up my production company.

GMG PRODUCTION COMPANY.
Right

WOULD YOU SAY OWNING YOUR OWN PRODUCTION COMPANY WAS THE ULTIMATE GOAL IN YOUR CAREER?
Yes, it definitely was. I wasn’t even sure what that was really called. I knew what I wanted to do, but I wasn’t sure what that company would be. Where my skills lie I think, are in developing songs, helping artists develop and guiding on the business side of things. I’ve had my foot in a little bit of everything and I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on. The industry is changing weekly, but there are certain things that are just a smart way to do business as a musician. I feel like I can help coming up artists to make smart decisions business wise and musically. I can help develop their art to a point where they can make a living at their art.

DO YOU WORK WITH BIGGER BANDS OR DO YOU WORK WITH THE SMALLER BANDS ALSO?
It’s a combination. I just finished doing a bunch of mixes for Weezer, that’s just mixing, it’s not doing consulting. I work with developing artists, like there is this girl who came out of American Idol two seasons ago. I help develop music, sound and direction for record deals and stuff like that.

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE VERY HANDS ON WITH EVERY ASPECT.
It is important to me. This is people’s art and life. I take what I do seriously and I take what I do for other people seriously too.

IT SOUNDS LIKE WE HAVE THAT IN COMMON.
Well that’s good to hear.

YOU HAVE A NEW PROJECT CALLED IN FOR THE KILL IN WHICH YOU ARE THE VOCALIST/GUITARIST. YOU DECIDED NOT TO PLAY BASS FOR THIS BAND?
On these songs I write all of the bass parts. In the studio, especially on this record, I am recording them all and playing them. When it comes to playing live I sing and play guitar. I’ve always written on guitar, especially for a band like Nothingface because it was a guitar centered band. The parts that I would write that I would present to Tom to do his thing were always on guitar. It was natural for me to continue to write that way. I’ve been playing bass for fifteen years live and I love playing guitar. I love playing bass too equally, but I decided to change it up a bit.

WHAT ABOUT VOCALLY? HAVE YOU ALWAYS KNOWN THAT YOU HAD A VOICE?
I’ve always loved to sing. At least in my mind, between loving to sing or if I thought I had a voice, I’m not sure that I ever thought that I had a special voice that everyone needs to hear. I enjoy singing so much. I love to do it and it feels good to me. In Nothingface I was always helping with writing vocals and singing some backing vocals. I never had the chance to sing or sing what I want to sing and let it all out. This was my chance to do it. If people dig it, cool, if they don’t well then that’s fine too. In For the Kill is a labor of love for me. It’s fine with me if I sell one copy and it’s fine if I sell a million copies. I just enjoy doing it.

YOU ARE CREATING THE MUSIC YOU WANT TO CREATE. YOU HAVE ONE ALBUM OUT RIGHT?
Yes, we have one that was done with the members of my band in between the two, which was Kingdom of Snakes that I formed with some good friends of mine from another band Molly McGuire. Nothingface played some shows with them back in the day and we are all big fans of theirs, so I was excited to do a project with them. The songs that I was writing at the end of that project became the songs for the In For The Kill record.

WHAT ARE THE CURRENT PLANS FOR THE BAND? ARE YOU GOING TO GO OUT ON THE ROAD?
I want to at least do a tour on it. I kind of want to get a feel for what the reaction is going to be to it. It’s a bit difficult for me to just get out and get on the road because I am busy with the studio. If I see a demand for it and a real reason to go out then I would love to go out and take it on the road. Either way it works for me. I can go out on the road with it or I can not.

WOULD IT BE HARD GOING OUT ON TOUR KNOWING THAT YOU HAVE A COMPANY TO RUN?
It may be a bit difficult. For me right now it is all about balance. I always have to think about tomorrow as well, I can’t just drop a bunch of work and go out on the road. It can be difficult, but I would really love to do it.

ARE YOU WRITING NEW MUSIC FOR IN FOR THE KILL?
Right now there are thirteen songs written, eleven of which I think are going to make the record. I’m just trying to wrap these songs up. The drums are all finished and I’m wrapping up guitars right now. In a week I’m probably going to finish up bass and vocals. I’m hoping to have it out by late summer/early fall. It is getting down to the wire here. Every time I try to finish, I end up having a bunch of projects come in to the studio.

WHICH OF THESE EXPERIENCES THAT YOU HAVE HAD WOULD YOU SAY YOU LEARNED THE MOST ABOUT THE INDUSTRY FROM?
I think it was the years in Nothingface. I learned a lot by default because we always did a lot on our own. The year and a half I spent working over at Morey Management really opened up my eyes to the inner workings of the music industry with where it looks like things are going and what’s possible to do and what’s really not possible to do as an artist. That company deals with very big artists, but it really made me aware of how much artists can do on their own these days. It’s about getting out there, doing the research, staying involved, staying of the front edge of technology and seeing where things are going. There is so much you can do to take it to the next level and maintain. There is so much opportunity out there that so many people are doing it, so you have to find a way to get to the top.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INTERVIEW. IT WAS GREAT TALKING WITH YOU.
It was a pleasure. Thank you!

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Tags:  Nothingface  , Bill Gaal, interviews

Shauna O'Donnell    July 11, 2011