I arrived at Peabody’s a tad late due to a few difficulties getting on the road, and all the construction. I was hoping this wouldn’t be a problem. When I got to the venue, I found out that set up and sound checks were behind schedule, so everything was cool. I located my contact with the band to let him know I had arrived, and found that he was the one working the soundboard during the sound check. He apologized for things being behind and promised to be right with me. A few minutes later he came over and told me that the member I was originally to interview (Tom, the guitarist) and his wife were having their anniversary and asked if it would be ok to interview Tommy (drummer). I said that would be fine and in a few minutes we were on our way to the bus to start the interview.

Tommy was in a great mood, and very friendly right off the bat. We started out with having a fan take a picture of us together and from then on Tommy was incredibly fun to talk to and interview. He’s very relaxed and has a way of making you feel as if he’s known you forever within the first few minutes.

Viper: Alright, I’m here with Tommy, drummer of Nothingface.
Tommy: (laughs) Yeeeaaaah! (in perfect Rock-n-Roll stage voice)
Viper: First thing I want to say man, is that I love this new CD.
Tommy: Great!
Viper: I want to compliment you on that. It’s very driven, scathing. There isn’t anything held back on this disc…
Tommy: Not at all, man.
Viper: A lot of commentary on the current government, the whole Catholic debacle, very up on current events. There’s also a variety of musical styles on here. For instance, the first song starts off with that funky quiet part at the beginning…
Tommy: Yeah, that acoustic guitar that plays real low so you gotta turn it way up to hear it…
Viper: Everything’s in like off or minor chords and you’re like, 'Wow, that’s a bit freaky,' and then all of a sudden it just kicks in.
Tommy: Yeah, and scares the shit out of you!

Viper: I’d heard a few tracks off of Violence (Nothingface’s previous album) and I liked what I heard. Then I got this disc in the mail and I thought… 'Hell yeah! I’m going to love this show.' I was glad I got this assignment. The sound is quite a bit different from what I heard on Violence.
Tommy: Yeah, we went out on a limb with this new record, definitely.
Viper: It was pretty cool that the fan outside who took the picture of us for me was talking about how much he loves the new album.
Tommy: Yeah! We’re getting a great response about the new album.

Viper: I was checking your message boards before I came to the show, and it seems the majority of people are liking the album, but a few of them seemed pretty negative.
Tommy: Yeah, you’re always going to get the people that are afraid of their favorite band making changes, you know? But bands like us always have to evolve. That’s the one big thing about our band, especially since I’m the new drummer. It just added a whole new element to the band. They really took me in, and I was able to put my input in as far as writing.
Viper: Right. I read several interviews and some of the band’s press releases and the other members were saying that it helped them go in another direction also because of the difference in your drumming style.
Tommy: Definitely. It’s a lot more like what’s best for the song, instead of a section out of modern drummer or something.
Viper: The previous drummer was more of a technical drummer, which is not a bad thing of course, but the drums and bass pretty much make up the backbone of a song. I like when I’m listening and I can tell, I mean feel, exactly where the drums are coming from. Like there’s a reason that the particular rhythm sounds the way it does.
Tommy: Absolutely. There’s a whole thing with me where whenever we jam or play the songs, whatever I first wrote is pretty much 80 percent of what I end up playing on the record. This way it comes out uncontrived, it’s not analyzed or anything. It’s just what came out of me emotionally. It’s like I just closed my eyes and this is what I felt, and what felt best for the riff and the song.
Viper: I understand. I think that sometimes that’s when you get the best music. Sometimes things can get over-analyzed. You can second-guess yourself, like, 'Oh, I should have played this cadence right here or this rhythm right there…'
Tommy: Yeah. If you start to analyze it too much, you totally take away from the feeling you originally had when you first heard the music. What you felt as you first played through it, as far as what you originally wrote. As far as the other guys go, they were really happy with what I wrote. Chris used to go back, he had his own little drum language and he would go back and analyze and change everything. By the time he went to record the album it would be totally different than the original way they wrote the song.
Viper: Right. I saw one quote, I think it was from Matt but I’m not sure, anyway, they used the term ‘mathematical’ to describe Chris’ style. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just a totally different style than yours.
Tommy: Yeah. He’s an amazing drummer. I was always totally in awe of him. Before I joined the band, I teched them, doing lights and selling merch and stuff for years.

Viper: That’s really cool and it probably helped when you joined the band, because you were all familiar with each other already, and accustomed to each other’s personalities and styles.
Tommy: Yeah, it was just cool, because I was really into the band, since the beginning, you know? I used to be in a band with Matt before Nothingface, like when we were 16 and stuff. (He said the name here, but I didn’t catch it) It was just wild, the other day a kid had bought a demo tape…that we had made. We only made like 200 of them when we were like 16 back home in Maryland. This kid had one of them at a show in Illinois.
Viper: That totally rocks. You’d never expect to see something like that come around again. That’s when you know you must have been doing something right even then.
Tommy: Totally! It’s crazy! It’s like, who would have thought? We were like 16 years old. That tape’s like ten years old. I don’t even have a copy of it anymore, then here this kid is with an original copy. I’m like, Wow!

Viper: Ok, since you’re the new guy with Nothingface, I’m going to ask you the same thing I asked Sonny recently when I interviewed (hed) P.E.…
Tommy: Yeah, I like Sonny, man. We toured with him for a while when he was in ‘Amen.’
Viper: How did you feel when they first got a hold of you and said, 'Hey dude, do you want to fill in on drums' or whatever?
Tommy: It was really cool. It was actually Chris who called me from Vancouver because he was having some serious health issues that he had to tackle, and he asked me if I wanted to do it. I was like 'Does Howdy Doody have wooden balls?' (Laughs) I mean shit, they’re like my favorite band in the world, of course, you know? So I spent like a month learning Violence and Audio Guide and it was a grueling month because that’s all the time I had to learn it all before we went on the "Tattoo The Earth" tour. That was pretty amazing. My first show with the band was in front of fifteen thousand people.
Viper: You’ve got to love that.
Tommy: Hell yeah, it’s kind of like being thrown into the fire, you know?
Viper: Yeah. It’s really hard to learn that much that fast, and it’s not by any means simple material, but when you know who you’re getting up there with, it’s kind of like an extra drive, you know? It’s like 'I can DO this, I’ve got this!'
Tommy: Right. I’m definitely not the drummer I was when I first joined the band. I’ve definitely really grown as a drummer because of the people I’m in the band with. They push me to the limit.
Viper: That’s cool though, when you get thrown into the mix with a lot of talent…
Tommy: Absolutely. They’ll bring you up.

Viper: Ok, like I said before we started the interview, I’m familiar with the band, but not to a large degree…
Tommy: I understand, that’s cool…
Viper: Well, I got the new CD Skeletons in the mail. I’ve been playing it in the alarm clock, and I have a couple tunes in the portable mp3 player for when I mountain bike and stuff. Let’s say though, that I have never heard anything. Let’s further say that you’re not in the band, but you’re a huge fan.
Tommy: Ok.
Viper: You’re bringing me to the show, and you’re trying to tell me what I am going to hear. Trying to prepare me for the type of show I am going to see. From the perspective of our little scenario that you’re not in the band, but really familiar with them, what would you tell me?
Tommy: I would tell you that you would be very surprised if you’ve never heard us before. It’s just definitely a very unique and original sound that not many bands are able to do these days. We’re just trying to do something different, and we’re playing from the heart, you know? It’s really cool. Very amazing. I’m blown away that I’m actually in this band. (Laughs)
Viper: Yeah. It really helps if every now and then you wake up and you’re like, “Dude! I’m in this band!”
Tommy: I’m lucky as hell. Yeah, I’m very happy.

Viper: Sweet. Ok, I was curious as to how the band got hooked up with TVT records. I know you were familiar with the band before you joined, so maybe you could tell me about that?
Tommy: Ah, it was actually a friend of ours who was in TVT…this is before I was in the band, but I know a little bit about it. Their assistant A&R is a really good friend of ours from back in the day when we were in other bands on independent labels. Anyway, Sean Roberts got a copy of our album Audio Guide and was really digging it and wanting to sign us. Matt had gone with Michelle up to TVT and was sitting there in the office with Sean when he listened to it the first time. He had no idea Matt was in the band. He was like 'These guys are bad. I want to sign them.' She’s like 'Well, he’s the singer,' and Sean was like 'Ooh.' (Laughs)
Viper: Well that worked out perfectly. That’s better than if they would have been the other way, like 'Man. I hope these guys never want us to sign them,' or something.
Tommy: Yeah, absolutely. Like, 'Shout band…I don’t want to sign this shout band.'

Viper: Right. Ok, this question can go either way, either now with Nothingface, or for any of your previous work.
Tommy: Mmm hmm…
Viper: Where were you, or what were you doing the first time you heard something that you had worked on playing on the radio?
Tommy: Oh. You’re gonna laugh. I’ve only heard my music on the radio once, and it was very surreal. I was actually with a girlfriend back home and we were pretty drunk. We pulled over on the side of the road and we were like, going for it, like you know, on the side of the road…listening to the radio. All of a sudden “Ether” came on the radio in the middle of us having… (Laughing)
Viper: (Laughing) You’ve gotta be like…did you pause? I mean…
Tommy: (Really laughing hard) Yeah. I was like… It doesn’t get any better than this! Lemme just stop and… I was like, that’s insane!
Viper: Heh. Sweet. I love asking that question because everyone knows. I mean they can tell you exactly. Whether it was on their local station, or a college radio, or a national station…
Tommy: Well, I’ve heard it on the digital networks on cable like on TV and stuff, they’ve really embraced us. The first time I heard it on the major station back home, like 98 Rock, was that night.
Viper: I’ve noticed that if you watch one of the stations like “Much Music” or one of the other stations that just play music, they seem to be very good at getting people who are really just up and coming on the air. You know, to get some exposure out there to new fans…
Tommy: Yeah, definitely.

Viper: A lot of the reviews I’ve read, and some of the press, and through talking to people and reading your message boards, I’ve heard that sometimes a pretty good pit gets going at a Nothingface show.
Tommy: Shit yeah.
Viper: I’m pretty big on that. My first ever pit was at a Pantera show back in the day, and I’ve liked really hectic pits ever since then. What can you tell me about what I can expect from a Nothingface show, as far as the band’s intensity on the stage, and also on a one to ten physical scale, where would you rate the pit at a typical show?
Tommy: Well, Nothingface shows are pretty outta control because the band itself is so tight that it just… we’ve had so many compliments after the show. Fans just telling us that it’s the best show they’ve ever seen, the most intense. It’s because we push ourselves every night. If we’re not like puking after the show, then it wasn’t a good show and we’ve got to play harder and harder every night. We’re so on ourselves as far as being the best we can be. We’re so hard on ourselves. We know when we mess up. We can’t stand it so then we work even harder. This helps to make us a continuously better and better band live, and makes for a better show the next night. With us being so tight live, it radiates out to the crowd and the fans, and Matt just pushes and pushes his voice. His vocals and his screams are just insane. I think the lyrics and the vocals on this new record, the content, is going to drive the fans even more insane because they’re just so straight up, you know? Just pissed off.
Viper: So many of them are just so true. So direct and scathing…
Tommy: Yeah, it’s going to touch base with a lot of people.
Viper: Right. People can identify. They can go along and say 'Yeah that’s what I think too.' Especially the whole Catholic Priest thing…
Tommy: Mmm Hmm. Butchers. Yeah. “Here come the butchers.” (A track on Skeletons.) We just did a huge article in Revolver magazine. Did you see that? We all dressed up like priests and Matt dressed up like the Pope. The title of the whole article is called “Frock and Roll.”
Viper: No, I haven’t seen that. I’ll have to try and check that out.
Tommy: It’s pretty funny. We have like fire all around us and stuff.

Viper: Alright, like I said, this is the first album I have, but I’ve checked out clips of audio and video on the internet from other previous albums also, and now I’m going to have to get some of the previous stuff…
Tommy: Absolutely. You need to get Audio Guide. An Audio Guide to Everyday Atrocity. Our fans have always talked about that one, and still do.
Viper: From what I can tell from the research I did, and from what the fans are saying, this album is a little different from the previous ones, more melodic?
Tommy: Mmm Hmm. Yeah, it is.
Viper: What do you say was probably the catalyst for this change? The subject matter or just something in general?
Tommy: I think it was just pushing ourselves to do something more, not mainstream, but something with a little more feeling. We’ve conquered the whole heavy side with three albums. I think we just wanted…it had a lot to do with having a producer to hone us. We did our first albums with someone who didn’t know anything about us until he actually had the job to record us. Now our producer, Bill Kennedy, definitely pushed us to go that melodic route. I mean, we already had all the songs ready and everything, but we just wanted to do something a little more melodic and he helped us with that. This is the first album that we had a song where it was all singing all the way through, instead of having to scream in everything.
Viper: Right. I really think this album has a decent mix of styles and vocals.
Tommy: Yeah, we just to wanted to evolve, to be more diverse. We wanted our fans to see that growth.
Viper: I don’t think it totally lost the feel from the others, from what I’ve heard of them. You know? I think you have just expanded your range. Some fans have said things about it being totally not like a Nothingface album, but I don’t really think it’s a complete changeover. I think you are definitely displaying different capabilities, but it all falls within the scope of what the band is about.
Tommy: Yeah, of course it’s going to be different. I mean, there’s a new member involved and that’s going to change things a little. There’s always going to be a few people who aren’t going to fly with whatever, you know?
Viper: At any rate, if anything I think you’ll just pick up more fans, you know?
Tommy: Absolutely. We should be able to gain a whole slew of new fans off this record I believe.

Viper: Do you think there was any one thing that set off the feel of this album or just the state of things in general?
Tommy: I think it had a lot to do with Matt having a lot of time on his hands by himself. We watched a lot of MSNBC and he got sucked into that whole thing. I can’t really speak for Matt but I can give you an opinion. I think he just wanted to branch off in a wider scale of topics. There’s just so much you can say about what’s going on in the world today. It’s a hard job for him because he has to evolve himself. He has to recreate his sound in a new way all the time. Screaming is a very hard thing to do. We actually write all the music, and then Matt would take the songs and write the vocals for them. We had no idea what the songs were going to be about until he heard them first. It’s pretty wild.
Viper: So Matt writes virtually all the lyrics then?
Tommy: Right. He writes all the music as far as the style of the vocals and all the words and everything. We write all the music.

Viper: Cool. As far as the title itself, Skeletons, do you think that represents a combination of things, like personal skeletons for Matt and members of the band…and/or from the government and the church and things going on in the world?
Tommy: As far as the band, we went through a lot of personal tragedies. The album cover itself kind of tells the story. The skeleton is obviously from the human skeleton and the heart hanging over the ledge basically represents the band not knowing if it was going to be able to conquer this mountain. We just never knew. We almost broke up a couple times because of a lot of things that were happening to us.
Viper: It can get really hard to stay cohesive when you have a lot of hardships in the way.
Tommy: Yeah. That album cover just represents the whole deal. It took us like a year and a half just to write it, and just like along the way we spent like three months recording it.
Viper: You can tell it’s a really heartfelt album. Sometimes bands just kick an album out so fast that you’re like…'How could they have another album already? Did they spend any time on this?'
Tommy: We always have…I was back home working in a department store while we were writing this record. It was kind of crazy, coming off a tour with Pantera and then going back to work, you know? But I had no money.
Viper: It’s got to be kind of trippy touring with Pantera, you know? Those guys are pretty cool. I’ve met them numerous times. They really came on the scene and gave rock a kick in the ass. I think they paved the way for a lot of modern heavy bands…
Tommy: Yeah, definitely. That was a great tour!

Viper: Ok, now for the obvious…congratulations on the inclusion in the Ozzfest lineup this year. That should kick ass.
Tommy: Thanks. Yeah, that’s going to be really fun.
Viper: I was glad to be able to interview you guys before you got started with that tour. That looks like it’s going to be a hectic schedule. Do you think that will be one of the largest tours you’ve ever been involved with?
Tommy: That will definitely be the biggest tour the band’s ever been involved with. You know? We’ve always wanted to be on the Ozzfest. That’s like any band’s dream.
Viper: That’s like one of the Holy Grails of Rock 'n Roll right there…
Tommy: Yeah, yeah. It’s going to expose our music to a lot of new fans. It’s going to be really cool. We feel like it’s our time and we deserve it.
Viper: Absolutely. Especially with this new album, because I think it will cater to a broad range of the fans at Ozzfest. There is enough variety at this type of event that you get people who have quite different musical tastes in a lot of ways, and I think Skeletons has enough range that it could bring many of those people in to your music.
Tommy: Exactly. It’s also cool because we are going to get to see a lot of bands we have toured with in the past. Like Disturbed and all those guys. We got to do a few shows with Hotwire on this little leg, and later on we were with Ministry for a while, things like that.
Viper: I got a demo CD from them, like a pre-production release, and it wasn’t too bad. I wasn’t overwhelmed, but it was decent. I’ll be watching tonight to see what I think of them live.
Tommy: I like those guys a lot. Hotwire is a lot of fun to watch live too. They’re very energetic.

Viper: Is there anyone on the Ozzfest tour that you are excited about playing with? Anyone you’ve never played with or you just really wanted to tour with again?
Tommy: I’m really excited to see Marilyn Manson live. I’ve seen them a couple times back during their first record. Like in the small clubs back home in DC. I can’t wait to see them on this wider scale. It’s going to be real cool. I’ve always liked their songs. They always move me because the production is so good. The whole imagery is really cool.
Viper: The nice thing about him and the band is that he’s very visual. They’re very visual. The videos are very visual.
Tommy: Mmm hmm.
Viper: The live show keeps right up with what you would expect to see after seeing their videos.
Tommy: People always remember what they see more than what they hear, you know what I mean?

Viper: That’s pretty much all I’ve got really. I want to thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview.
Tommy: No problem man!
Viper: I can’t wait for the show, and you’ll see me right up there in the pit, no doubt about that.
Tommy: Nice! See you around!

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