FAITH NO MORE

Selected Discography

Exclusive Interview

Espen Jørgensen and Justin St. Vincent from Xtreme Music received responses to an e-mail interview with Billy Gould on August 5, 2005 and August 8, 2005.

Xtreme Music: After Faith No More split up, most of the guys went and joined or established other bands, while you established the label Koolarrow. Were you tired of being in a band?

Billy Gould: Well, I was tired of being in “that” band. I think anyone who’s in a band probably understands that it is more than just a group of guys making music, there are also very strong personalities involved, and in the unique situation of Faith No More, every person was an extraordinarily strong minded individual. In our case, that meant that virtually everything we did required debate of some sort or another; and if you put that into the context of seventeen plus years, you can see how exhausting that can be as a work method. But most people that follow the band know this already. Probably what kept me from making music after the split was the fact that when we began this group, we were a very tight unit. Even with Jim Martin, though admittedly we did fight a lot, there was a “big picture” focus that brought out the best in us collectively. As Mike Patton came into the band as an outsider, a different kind of energy slowly came into play. We made our most successful albums, and I like all of them, did some amazing shows and maintained a fairly robust work schedule. And somehow, we managed to create a fairly large creative space for ourselves, where we could play whatever we wanted and still get away with it.

Still, at the very end of the band’s life, it was very sad to see that the “brotherhood” part of the band was all but gone. That was the tragedy, because to me Faith No More was greater than the sum of it’s parts and that was what made the music work on a deeper level. It wasn’t so much about musicianship as it was about having a soul, and it certainly was what made it worth it for me to go through all the touring and other bullshit during those years. It was something real. So, to me, it wasn’t just a matter of losing one band and joining another, or swapping and interchanging musicians. My mind doesn’t work like that. If that were to be the only focus, I’d rather not do it at all, because there’s enough noise pollution out there in the world without me adding to it. It had to mean something, and who knew what the odds are that I’d find another chemistry like that again? Would it happen next week or it would take twenty years? Still, I loved music. There isn’t a day that I can remember when I haven’t had music playing in my head, and I figured that until the time came along to play in another group, something like Koolarrow could enable me to continue working in that medium.

Xtreme Music: Ok, let’s talk a little bit about Koolarrow. The label focuses on foreign bands who tend to sing in their own language. Why did you choose to go the hard way when shaping the profile of the label?

Billy Gould: Well, it seemed to me that if I didn’t do it, who would? Secondly, I love a good struggle, and this road had “fight” written all over it. Oh yeah, and, I saw enormous drive, soul, and potential for growth in these bands and it energized me to be a part of that.

Xtreme Music: Koolarrow is quite an interesting label as it crosses between so many genres. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about the different bands you got signed up?

Billy Gould: All of our bands are very, very different from each other but they all have similarities as well. Right now, the currently active Koolarrow bands are Flattbush, Alexander Hacke, Düreforsög, Kultur Shock, and Unjust. Anyone making an even cursory listen to the MP3 samples on our website will see that there are extreme differences between these bands. Kultur Shock both dissects and updates Balkan influenced music, but that’s only part of the story. It is a band of refugees from different parts, all talented musicians, trying to find their identity as outsiders in an American city dominated by predominantly Anglo-American sensibilities; trying to survive as outsiders in a music scene with often very cliquish and two dimensional tastes. Flattbush, though the music couldn’t be any more different, consists of first generation immigrants as well, but from the Philippines. Totally uncompromising both sonically and in message, half sung in Tagalog, a living product of the fusion of two cultures. Hard as fuck but not macho, music played with one hundred and ten percent commitment and totally human, and probably more than a little challenging to the average American listener. Tales of real darkness, forged through experience, not the middle class “Freddy Krueger-esque” nightmares of your generic metal band . Then we come to Alexander Hacke, who makes a departure from his main group Einstürzende Neubauten, with a very cinematic piece compiled from snippets he recorded on his Apple PowerBook, while travelling the world over a two year period. And lastly, Unjust are an American band who in spite of themselves managed to make themselves vulnerable and grow from metalheads into songwriters.

What do these things have in common? I think all of them confront issues of identity and confidence in a world driven by American media, independent as well as commercial. All of them work within the ideological framework that one does not define oneself by the products he buys or the music he listens to. As a result of these viewpoints, every single one of them understands and accepts that they need to work twice as hard to get their message out there, because it runs totally counter to how the music business works. All of them are willing to fight tooth and nail rather than let this corrupt business get the best of them.

Xtreme Music: One of my favourite bands from Koolarrow’s music porfolio is Düreforsög. How did you first discover Düreforsög and decide to sign them to Koolarrow Records? In addition, what qualities do the band members share that makes Düreforsög a great music discovery?

Billy Gould: Believe it or not, Düreforsög opened up for Faith No More in, I believe, 1996. They were fifteen years old at the time. I liked them but they didn’t blow me away. Then they sent Koolarrow a CD for review, “Exploring Beauty”, and I loved it. In fact, I’ve signed a couple of bands that were submitted to me as demos, an in general the quality of submissions has been pretty high. What I love about Düreforsög are several things: they have a cool “sound”, they don’t try to be anything they’re not, and they are a very independent band..

Xtreme Music: For those who enjoy music from Koolarrow Records, what artists and albums are some of your personal favourites?

Billy Gould: Releasing ANY artist on Koolarrow requires a significant amount of energy and resources, so if I’m not one-hundred percent into it, I won’t do it. On the other hand, as most of the releases are so different, I can’t really pick a favourite.

Xtreme Music: I get a kick out of discovering new bands with a unique sound. When you hear a new band, which you might want to sign, what goes through your head?

Billy Gould: When I hear something I like, it motivates me. The first thing I do is establish contact to see where they’re coming from and if there’s anything I can do to help. By the way, Koolarrow is a small label with an even smaller operating budget; on top of that, label work is office work and with a staff of two, I’m not exactly running around trying to snatch up every cool band I can. But when I do get a demo or see a band that resonates with me, I become compelled to get involved.

Xtreme Music: Who would you say are your main influences that have helped shape your musical direction?

Billy Gould: Magazine, Roxy Music, The Fall, Slayer, and The Germs.

Xtreme Music: What bands are you listening to now?

Billy Gould: Let me throw some names out there: B.U.G. Mafia, Partizan, Dead Meadow, Einstürzende Neubauten, Flattbush, Los Tucanes De Tijuana, Alijah, and La Plebe. I like real stuff with heart, or fake stuff with ass, very rarely anything inbetween.

Xtreme Music: You’ve guest starred on albums and such single projects as Black Diamond Brigade. Do you consider this as vacation since you’re so busy with the label?

Billy Gould: That’s an interesting way to put it. Actually, yes, the label has been much more work than I had originally imagined, and I find that sometimes I have to make an effort to do what I probably do best: write songs and play music. I really have to do something about that. My goal is to release an album of my music within the year.

Xtreme Music: It seems like you’ve established a relationship to Norway. In the Black Diamond Brigade you played with members from Norwegian bands like Satyricon and Turbonegro. Then you played bass on a track for another Norwegian band called Ralph Myerz. Do you think this leads us back to the Faith No More years, and the fact that you toured a lot in Norway? And is it true that you got some Norwegian blood in you?

Billy Gould: I do have Norwegian blood, and we did tour a fair amount in Norway, but what made my relationship strong with that country is the fact that there are some very talented and cool people there. The scene there is small but I could almost see myself living there and playing all the time, in a lot of different situations. I’m just realizing that it’s been over a year since I was last there. Time to get back there if you ask me!

Xtreme Music: It seems that it is only Mike Patton and yourself that produce all sorts of music, while the other Faith No More members do either metal or pop. Do you easily get bored doing the same thing over and over again?

Billy Gould: I would say in Mike Patton’s case, it’s more of a situation of being bored. To me, I prefer to stick with one thing and do it well, as long as it was flexible enough in it’s structure. As far as diversity goes, I try not to be a music snob, though with the amount of shit out there it’s easier said than done, but I like to take chances and need to find ways to keep music from feeling like a job.

Xtreme Music: Castro Sinatra was in the wind for some time, but then it went all quiet. Will Castro Sinatra be released, and what is next for you musically? I know you’ve played on two tracks on the next Fear Factory album.

Billy Gould: Castro Sinatra was a project comprised of myself, Jon Hudson and and Mike Bordin, all ex-Faith No More members. We ended up writing quite a few tracks but at the end of the day, none of the singers I checked out seemed to “get it”. In retrospect, there was some Faith No More baggage that hadn’t been dealt with on my side that probably needed to be worked out first. It’s possible that in time I can come back to this stuff, but in the meantime, I’ve let it go and written an entirely new batch of music. Actually, I’m doing it with Mads Heldtberg, the guitarist in Düreforsög. And this time, I think something will come together. It’s definitely a bit less stiff than the Castro Sinatra stuff. It should be very powerful live too. As far as the Fear Factory stuff goes, we’re old friends, and it was a pleasure being able to play on a few tracks. If anything, I would love to be involved in more collaborations. There is some talk about a project with Shane Embury, the bassist from Napalm Death, and Anders Jakobson, the drummer from Nasum.