Nothingface

The hard rock/metal outfit Nothingface was formed in 1994 in Washington D.C. , United States, and has quite a history. Frontman Matt Holt, guitarist Tom Maxwell, drummer Chris Houck and bassist Bill Gaal have made crushing, riveting hard rock intertwined with heavy melodies and compelling vocals. After two records for DCide, 1997s Pacifier and 1998s An Audio Guide to Everyday Atrocity, Nothingface made its major label debut on TVT Records with 2000s Violence, and 2003s Skeletons with critical acclaim. After Violence was complete, the highly charismatic Tommy Sickles replaced drummer Chris Houck and most recently, former Deadlights/Danzig bassist Jerry Montano replaced Bill Gaal. But their story begins in the present and their past is just that the past. "I knew from the first note we played together that myself, Jerry, Sickles and Matt were supposed to be in a band writing music together," says guitarist Tom Maxwell. "The feeling was euphoric and completely natural. It was just right. Almost any word is too small to describe the chemistry between the four of us. Not only as musicians on stage behind our instruments, but in every living condition. We're a gang of four on a mission to punch a hole into the world." Any musician, seasoned or not, can relate to that feeling Maxwell just described. Sometimes, you spend your entire life trying to find someone who gets what you're trying to do musically, and never succeed. Other times, you find your musical soul mates and you just click with these other musicians, and its like you were just born to play together. Luckily for Nothingface, they connect on that spiritual level. As a result, the music that comes out of this collective is raw and as real as music can get. Passionate yet distraught and beautiful yet violent, Nothingface are ready to once again make their mark on a music scene infested with copycats and clones. The members of Nothingface are no strangers to the music business. Known to be a ferocious live band with overwhelming energy, power and precision. Nothingface are an act few can follow whole-heartedly. They cut their teeth touring relentlessly, sharing the stage with the likes of Pantera, Disturbed, Mudvayne and Ministry. As well as being part of Tattoo the Earth and Ozzfest 2003. So many shows, so many tours, so many hardcore fans. Make no mistake, Nothingface has always been and more than ever remains an entity unto itself. This quartet is a bona fide monster. A dangerous and decadent band with a razor sharp edge, heavy infectious hooks and a singer who not only confronts the world around him, but also mirrors his very own skeletons and inner demons. If you were a fan in the past, you will be surprised pleasantly of whats to come next. Each Nothingface song reeks of sincerity, and is written with tight, rather excellent musicianship. "I think I speak for us all by saying that our next record will surpass every other record we had ever been a part of," says Holt, "I feel that our music has grown and has the ability to change the face of our genre, spawning others that will only attempt to achieve what we do so naturally." That kind of confidence comes from Holt's faith in the quality and strength of his bands music. The stage was set in 2003 for what would become a long hiatus. Exhausted by personal turmoil and frustration with their record label, the monster known to many and adored by fans all over the world would sleep. However, Maxwell and Sickles rehearsed in their native Maryland, flying Montano out from Los Angeles to keep the writing and recording process flowing. "There was no hesitation," says drummer Tommy Sickles, "The three of us began writing and recording songs almost immediately after Ozzfest 2003." The trio spent the next two years on a musical journey that would see them re-inventing themselves as songwriters and musicians, recording demos and playing in side projects before reuniting with their singer Matt Holt, who had exiled himself from everything and everyone since the bands slumber. Bassist Jerry Montano gives light to the next chapter of the Nothingface evolution as Extreme Rock, a band separate from the rest of these cookie cutter heavy bands, that can only be described in 5 words: Haunting, Passionate, Dark, Violent and REAL. Like his brothers in arms in the band, Montano cites Nothingface as the band he has worked his entire career to find. To have done it the right way from the beginning writing, sweating, suffering, living and bleeding for this band over the years is something many may never know, but they will feel it and hear it in the music, which is built on what we really are and how we truly feel, be it pure fucking hate or blissful pain. 2009,