Journalistic writing for Shockwave Magazine

While in Baltimore, I had a column in Susie Mudd's Music Monthly Magazine and was an occasional writer for Shockwave Magazine. The work would included album reviews, articles, and profiles of musicians and producers.

INTERVIEW, BILL GAAL

Shockwave Magazine

Older. Wiser in the ways of the musical world. A comfortable workspace in Van Nuy's Sound City Center complex, where major albums such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Fleetwood Mac's Rumors were recorded. Not a bad predicament in which Bill Gaal, Maryland native and former bassist for Nothingface, finds himself these days.

After Nothingface disbanded, Gaal left for LA to pursue a career on the industry side of things. He began writing for television and movies, writing songs and producing for other artists, and took a job working with MMG. His management roster there even included former Nothingface bandmate Tom Maxwell's Knives Out.

In 2010, Gaal decided that it was time to begin working on new personal material. Joined by Nothingface drummer Chris Houck, he began a project band called In For the Kill. The band is not the metal staple Nothingface fans may expect; instead, it's a refreshingly unique, gritty, heavier rock act.

Since they were young teens, Gaal and Houck have been close friends, and despite the characteristically metal sounds of Nothingface, they both grew up together on rock music.

Gaal recalls one of the most influential performances of his young life. "I was maybe thirteen and caught Jawbox at The Black Cat," he laments, nostalgic with his ties to the mid-Atlantic. "I was absolutely blown away by the melodic aggression. It introduced me to a whole new genre of music. That show set me on the musical direction I'm still going in this day."

In his private life, even at the peak of Nothingface’s notoriety, Gaal's cd collection was always comprised of mostly rock music. Currently, he states that The Raconteurs, Arctic Monkeys, and The Refused are all on heavy rotation.

But even though the genre may be a little bit more mainstream accessible, setting a foundation for a band in LA is much different than building a following in the Baltimore/DC music scene.

"As a young band, I'd much rather be in Baltimore. In LA, no one is paying attention," Gaal explains. "Everyone is busy doing their own thing. A band like Nothingface could have never come up out here in LA. With In For the Kill, it's a much more intensive media campaign than touring around and throwing it in people's faces until they take notice."

And so he sought out a good home to explore his creative musical pursuits. He needed a comfortable place where he could gather together an arsenal of gear and invite all the musicians with whom he wished to work to create the In For the Kill album. A gaudy, pink suite in the acclaimed Sound City Center was a perfect match. And though he never intended it to be a commercial space, his first client was Lita Ford, and he currently is working on a 200 song bootleg project for Weezer.

As a fairly introverted person, he finds the creation process slightly more satisfying than actually performing. "I've always been an in-the-studio, focus-on-the-music type of guy. I love writing the album and getting it out there. Performing I love for a completely different reason. It's the challenge, especially with later Nothingface stuff, just to be fully engaged in the performance and at the same time manage to not butcher the songs."

As for a future incarnation of Nothingface, Gaal concedes that it is always a possibility, however he is most excited about his current project In For the Kill