Ohio not only lays claim to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, but the Buckeye State has been making waves in the music industry since the golden-age of garage rock. Enter mr. Gnome. What is becoming common knowledge is that this two-piece out of Cleveland is more than up to the challenge of rocking your brains apart.
Fronted by the sometimes melodic, sometimes ferocious vocals and occasionally placid but usually intense guitar work of Nicole Barille — and backed by the always-on-time, never-a-dull-moment drumming of Sam Meister — mr. Gnome has cultivated a sound that is at once dreamy and playful, while also frightening and dangerous.
Although mr. Gnome certainly isn’t the first rock act to rely on the two-piece formula, Barille’s haunting vocal presence makes for a presentation that is disarming to say the least.Local iQ caught up with mr. Gnome’s Barille for a few minutes during a lull in what is a perpetually chaotic tour schedule, and the singer had the following to say about the shifting terrain of playing live versus recording as a two-piece:
“In a live setting it’s so much more punk rock and on the fly. (On a record, we spend) a lot of time just figuring out what we dig and what kind of sounds we really like and what we’re trying to go for,” Barille said. “The fun part’s taking what you’ve made, with so many layers, and trying to make that sound good live, having it come across in the best way. ”
Still, for all its filthy rock ‘n’ roll flare, mr. Gnome isn’t just guts and sounds. This is definitely an act with a vision. In addition to the music itself, the duo is also responsible for all the band’s art and video work, while actively promoting the long forgotten artist’s best friend, vinyl. While it may sound trivial, the fact that mr. Gnome sells more vinyl copies of their albums than of CD format is telling in that so much of the band’s appeal comes from their own appreciation of music and all things art.
“People dig ‘em,” Barille said, speaking about the appeal of vinyl. “People like that big, physical piece of art. There’s something very different about it in the weird digital age that just kind of shoots music out of the speaker and that’s it, you’re left with nothing.”
Barille said vinyl also gives the band a way to put out music that otherwise might get left behind. “With the last record (Keep Your Skeletons) we put out a 7-inch b-side that had two songs that didn’t make the record. One of the songs is just super weird, it just wasn’t fitting, and the other is a really quiet song; they both kind of have a softer edge. We’re titling itSoftly Mad – it’s kind of the softer look of the record, of the stuff that didn’t make it.”
If, after listening to all of mr. Gnome’s albums and b-sides, the craving for more savage sonic snacks has yet to be satiated, fear not: Barille and Meister put as much thought into their videos as they do their rock.
As the ease of Internet-based, Do It Yourself videos has nearly consumed all creative thought pertaining to the unique identification of oneself with the rest of the world, many artists have succumbed to the always present pitfall of confusing quantity with quality. mr. Gnome has side-stepped this snare by taking the time to meticulously plan out every aspect of the production process, turning their videos into short films.
This is why bands started making videos in the first place: as a kind of visual representation of the music they’ve created, meant to be as inspired and meaningful as the music itself (see: Michael Jackson’s Thriller). Barille on the video-making process:
“I graduated with an art education degree, and Sam was doing videos before we started mr. Gnome, he was doing corporate jobs and stuff like that, but he was always making his own videos on the side,” she explained. “When we started making music, that was the awesome thing that came along with it; most people would outsource to do the covers and videos, but we could already do it all.”
It’s hard to imagine that such a powerful, dynamic sound could emanate from such a small package, but the reality is: mr. Gnome rocked my face off harder than any other band I saw in 2011. Definitely see this band.
It’s hard to imagine that such a powerful, dynamic sound could emanate from such a small package, but the reality is: mr. Gnome rocked my face off harder than any other band I saw in 2011. Definitely see this band.
mr. Gnome
with Leeches of Lore
9p, Sat., Mar. 31
Launchpad
618 Central SW, 505.764.8887
$6