ROCKWiRED iNTERViEWS MR. GNOME

MR. GNOME’S music is like the ocean and its big-blue, endless mama-drama. Melodies and high-swelling vocals waver at monumental heights and sometimes it’s chilling what can come crashing—the musical equivalent of bubbles, light, foam and all. But you find yourself pulled too, even dragged at moments, with the rolling undertow of guitar loops and drums, to somewhere you’re not sure you’ve ever been. Always moving, always spinning, you surprisingly end up floating on your back, cloud gazing. NICOLE BARILLE’s vocals have been described as “ethereal,” “haunting,” “echoing,” “keening,” “howling,” and “bellowing.” Her guitar playing, coupled with SAM MEISTER’s drumming, is layered and complex; yet they maintain a freshness, almost an innocence, as the name MR. GNOME might imply. Innocence: not as in chimes, bells and nursery rhymes. But innocence: maybe more like an attitude of novice, of discovery, of, “Look, this is what we are doing now. Let’s try it out. Let’s see what happens. Let’s grow.”

Here’s what NICOLE BARILLE had to say about inspiration, acclaim, the process of writing, her communication with SAM MEISTER, being weird and staying grounded:

You were at the top of my list of people to talk to.
Thank you so much, that’s so awesome.

Yeah, thanks for agreeing to the interview. And this interview is starting a series I’d like to do on female-fronted bands and female artists.
That’s cool that you’re providing a place for people to check out girl musicians, because, I don’t know, you can’t really find them. There’s just very few, you know what I mean.

I think that’s actually one of the things that really drew me to MR. GNOME. The first song I heard of yours was, “NIGHT OF THE CRICKETS.” But it wasn’t actually on your album, I saw you play it on a YOUTUBE video.
Oh really? Very cool.

Yeah, someone said to me, “you have to check this out.” So I was watching it, and thinking, “Oh my God!” I couldn’t believe so much sound was coming out of just the two of you [NICOLE BARILLE and SAM MEISTER].
Cool, thanks!

I was wondering if you could tell us a little about the impetus or emotion you were playing from on your first album, DELIVER THIS CREATURE? Because as a listener, your music created a response in me that went back and forth—I felt excited, I wanted to get up and move, just go out there—and at the same time, I wanted to stay still and dream

So I thought if you were playing in front of a whole audience of people who were feeling like that, like me, then it must have been a charged atmosphere and really rewarding as a musician.
That song specifically, “NIGHT OF THE CRICKETS,” and the whole album, DELIVER THIS CREATURE, … when we wrote that, we were living in Cleveland and we threw all of our stuff into storage and went out to the West Coast. All of our friends had moved out there and we thought it would be cool to just float around for a minute. We didn’t get a place to stay or anything, we were just crashing on couches.When we were heading out there, we had this really weird incident happen in Wichita Falls, Texas. We stayed in this hotel and there was a cricket infestation. That same night, there was this gun fight going on outside in the parking lot and our car got roped in and everything. So that’s where the “NIGHT OF THE CRICKETS” song comes from.I think a lot of songs that were written on that album—because we had just relocated and we were floating around for a bit—they were written like the way you described it: with a feeling of excitement but almost, a sort of apprehension.I think you kinda’ nailed the vibe of it. We’d kinda’ tapped into a sound that we hadn’t tapped into before. But then there were also those feelings of being lost… you know, not having a solid place of residence.

When was this?
This was two years ago, when we decided to record DELIVER THIS CREATURE… the second half of 2007. We just had a lot of friends that were living there [the West Coast] at the time and we got turned on to a couple studios out there. So we made the plans to try and record. But in the meantime, we needed to crash and finish writing the album. So that’s what we did for a couple months. We kinda’ went insane, but it was a good insane at that moment.

Did you take your gear with you?
Yeah… that’s pretty much all we brought—our gear and a suitcase filled with clothes. We just did our thing for a couple months and experienced this different way of living and made music our jobs.

I added you guys on my Facebook page and I saw your posting… where mr. Gnome’s second album HEAVE YER SKELETON was included on PASTE MAGAZINE’S list of “EIGHT CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED ALBUMS FOR 2009.” When I saw that, I was really excited for you. But in personal conversations, I’ve heard really good things about your new album too. For example, I have a friend who is a writer and she was telling me that she plays your song, “SPAIN,” non-stop because it’s helped her get into a creative space, to be able to write. To me, it’s a really high compliment when your art inspires others to create. What kind of attention of acclaim, since you put your work out there, has meant the most to you?
I think it definitely means a lot to get recognized by certain avenues of the press and what-not; getting mention for your work. But if you dwell on all that a little too much… I don’t think that’s a good way. I mean, to put all your eggs in one basket. It’s not good if that’s what inspires you: what other people think of you.So there’s definitely one level where you’re trying to fulfill whatever artistic drive that you have for yourself. You’re trying to almost excite yourself when you’re writing. But at the same time, I think, just touching people—people that are music lovers. And like what you were saying about your friend who puts on our music to write, that means a lot. Just because I know what inspires me… what helps that drive. And all of it turns into a community of people helping each other, you know.That’s definitely what means the most in my writing though, when people just get it and appreciate it.

Your vocals have been compared to a lot of other artists. I’m sure journalists and writers do that to give people an in-road to your music, as they’re reading about it. Some of the people or bands you’ve been compared to are PJ HARVEY, BJORK, BLONDE REDHEAD, PORTISHEAD, MAZZY STAR, even SCOUT NIBLETT. As I was compiling these names, I was really amazed. I thought, “Wow! That’s a cool list of people to be among!” But of course, your voice is still, and will always be, uniquely yours.
Aw, thanks!

When your vocals were compared to PORTISHEAD though, I thought of an interview I read a long, long time ago. It was with the band members of PORTISHEAD and they were talking about BETH GIBBONS’ vocals. As I remember it, they said when she first tried out for the band and began singing for them, that her voice was very different. But as they worked on their songs and developed their first album, GIBBONS sort of grew into her sound. And her voice became one that is immediately recognizable, right from the first note. Do you think you sort of found your “voice” or your sound as you and SAM MEISTER started playing together?
Oh yeah. When we first started playing together, I hadn’t really sung in a band or anything. SAM had a bunch of songs that he was writing, so we started doing a different project where I was doing back-up vocals for him and playing guitar. We had a couple of other people playing too. But before that, I’d only sung on a few 4-track recordings.When we started MR. GNOME, which was shortly after we started playing Sam’s songs, that was the first time I tried working on my voice, or tried to “find” it, or even thought I could sing in any way. If you listen to our older EP’s, I sing a lot lower. I think I’m probably so nervous with the vocal part that I’m just trying to get through it without screwing up in some way, versus getting really comfortable and knowing where you want to take something. So that’s interesting what you said about PORTISHEAD, because I definitely think that’s what happened for us… just because I hadn’t done anything [vocally] before that; neither had SAM. So the first time we stepped on the stage as MR. GNOME, that was the first time we’d played live. I think his drumming and my guitar playing as well, really grew with MR. GNOME. Just because we have a really good relationship, we’re very open with each other. I think we grew a little quicker than we would have with other people because we can be pretty honest about what we were doing, what we liked. I think it helps you grow and get better if you’re not afraid with each other, or holding back in any way.

Right. I know from personal experience, when you first start playing music with someone, at least for me, it can be a little like dating. In the sense that you’re figuring out if you have the right chemistry; figuring how much you should say or when to hold back; deciding for yourself whether this is going to work, if this person is someone I could play music with long-term, etc. Sounds silly. But… when did you and SAM decide that a 2-piece band was enough for you? That you wanted to make something of it?
I think the whole 2-piece thing happened naturally. Like I said, we were playing in another band. We’d both just finished college, we were both in this weird transition stage of figuring out what to do next. We had some free time and started playing as a 2-piece. And the stuff we were writing was really exciting to us, so there weren’t really any limitations, you know. And there was no one else telling us they didn’t like where we were going [with our music].So the writing process was that much more natural. To add someone else would’ve been just another opinion, and I don’t think we needed it at that moment. Even now, I don’t think we’re really opposed to having someone else join the band, but I don’t think it’s really necessary. Especially with our live shows, we’ve been really building it up without having anyone else. Our whole set-up has really grown; we’re able to get more things on stage, like getting loop pedals involved to build up the guitar and what-not. I’ve gotten reverb and delay on stage too, for the vocals. It’s definitely been cool to be able do that, because I don’t know if we would have grown as much with other people always filling that other sound.

Sometimes with a debut album, or even a second album, an artist might have certain hopes for how their work is received or the impact it might make as it’s shuttled out there into the world. Did you and Sam have any particular hopes as you released your last two albums—even simple ones?
I guess with us, we’re so weird that we just hope people understand what we’re doing or that it kinda’ makes sense to others. Well, I don’t know… we’ve never really written for anyone else but ourselves. Like, we’ve never written a song and said, “I don’t know, I don’t know, man. I don’t know if people are gonna’ like that.” I don’t think we ever cared about things like that. I think playing music for us was always just about playing and living in that moment, for the moment. It’s not about what other people are going to think. But I guess you always want people to dig it, and yah, it sucks when people hate it. [laughing] But as far as us getting as big as the JONAS BROTHERS, we were never about that. I think we always just want to put out an album, knowing that hopefully we can put out another one.

Was music something that was always there for you even as a child, or was it something you stumbled on, something you discovered down the road?
I started playing when I was like thirteen. And around that same time, I started losing all of my grandparents. So I think music was definitely the most immediate art form. I was really into drawing and stuff like that too. But especially because I was such a huge music fan at that time and I was able to play other people’s songs, mess around, sing and feel those types of emotions—music was so immediate versus the visual arts where you’re dwelling over a piece for a couple of months. I felt like music was a lot easier to connect with, it provided a crutch during that period of time. That’s when I started getting into it. But from that point on, music became more like brushing my teething every day. It became a part of what I needed to get through a day. And I think it’s like that for both of us [including SAM].

So, this might be a little cheesy, but I was thinking about the GOLDEN GLOBES awards ceremony, which we watched recently. And there’s this actress named MONIQUE who got an award for her role in PRECIOUS.
I haven’t actually seen that. Is it good?

I don’t’ know. To be honest, I haven’t seen it either! But her acceptance speech made me want to. Because I noticed that when she got up to accept the award… first, she thanked God. Then she thanked her husband, and told a story about how they first met and what they dreamed of together. After that, she thanked the director and lead actress—and she shared her award with others who have similar stories [to the movie’s narrative]. As we watched this, in our house, we started talking about the striking difference between her and other actors, many of whom just got up and thanked other people in the business i.e. their agents, directors, actors, stage crew, and people we’ve never heard of. As a viewer, MONIQUE’s speech made me feel much more connected to her and, somehow, more interested in her work. She seemed very human, very real. Last night, I visited “MR. GNOME’S SWEET-ASS BLOG,” and I noticed right away your sense of humor. Even though I already love your music, it made me feel more connected to you. It was hilarious. What helps you guys stay grounded, especially now, as I can imagine, that your new album and touring keeps you so busy?
I think that with the level we’re at, it’s easy to stay grounded; especially touring. Just because, in some cities we’ll do really well and in other cities, there will be, like, fifteen people at a show. So we always appreciate every show and the people that come to see us. I mean, we know how hard it is these days for people to even want to go out on a Sunday night, for example. Especially with the economy. And the internet too—there’s just so many bands out there [on the internet] and so many options, I mean why go out to a show? So I think just touring, in itself, keeps us grounded and we appreciate all the things that happen along the way.

Any bands or artists you recommend?
IF THOSE TREES COULD TALK—an instrumental, post-rock band from Acron, OH.

THE RECORD LOW—an indie-rock, folkie band from Chicago, IL.

MOSTLY BEARS—a psychedelic, rock-and-roll band from Tucson, AZ.