Billy Gould

"Bill Gould" redirects here. For other people named William Gould, see William Gould (disambiguation).
Billy Gould

Gould in 2005
Background information
Birth name William David Gould
Born (1963-04-24) April 24, 1963
Los Angeles, California
Origin San Francisco, California, United States
Genres Alternative metal, funk metal, experimental rock, alternative rock, hardcore punk, death metal, grindcore, noise rock, avant-garde
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments Bass guitar, keyboards, guitar
Years active 1979–present
Associated acts Faith No More, Brujeria, Harmful, Fear and the Nervous System, Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, Fear Factory, Shandi's Addiction, The Animated, The Chickenfuckers, Black Diamond Brigade

William David Gould (born April 24, 1963 in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician and producer. He is best known as the bassist of Faith No More.

Biography

Faith No More

Gould started playing the bass while he was at Loyola High School in Los Angeles with future Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum. His first band during these early years was named "The Animated," a genre-bending new wave outfit that sounded something like a cross between The Buzzcocks, XTC and Michael Jackson. That band also featured future FNM vocalist Chuck Mosley on keyboards, and Mark Stewart (aka Stew) on guitar, of Negro Problem fame. In the early 1980s he moved to San Francisco to begin his studies and got involved with several underground bands. At this time, he met drummer Mike Bordin and guitarist Jim Martin. Soon after that Gould formed a band with Bordin, keyboardist Wade Worthington (quickly replaced with Roddy Bottum), and guitarist/vocalist Mike 'The Man' Morris named Faith No Man, which eventually became Faith No More once Morris was out of the band.

In the mid-nineties, Gould began to work as producer and in 1997 he co-produced Faith No More's last record Album of the Year with the former Swans drummer Roli Mosimann. Since then, he has become the CEO of Koolarrow Records and worked on various projects as a producer or guest musician.

In February 2009, it was announced that Faith No More would reform for a tour and possibly recording.[1]

Other collaborations

In the 1990s Gould was in the original line-up of the Mexican grindcore band Brujeria. He was also involved in several supergroups, such as Shandi's Addiction (with Maynard Keenan, Brad Wilk and Tom Morello) as well as Black Diamond Brigade (with Norwegian rock musicians Euroboy, Torgny Amdam, Tarjei Strøm and Sigurd Wongraven). Furthermore, he played with Wayne Kramer and Fear Factory, and produced CMX's Vainajala album. His guest appearances include recordings for Romanian band Coma, and the production of "Living Targets" by German group Beatsteaks, Slovenia's Elvis Jackson,and the album "7" for the German rock band Harmful, in which he also toured with them the whole year 2007 as guitar player.

In 2007, Gould joined up with the all star band Fear and the Nervous System, formed by Korn guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer. The band also features Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman.

During the same year, Gould joined as bassist in Jello Biafra's new band The Axis of Evildoers along with Ralph Spight (Victim's Family) on guitar, and Jon Weiss on drums. They made their debut at Jello Biafra's 50th-birthday celebration June 16 and 17, 2008 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The band has since been renamed Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine and an album Audacity of Hype was released on October 20, 2009.

In 2011, he released an experimental album called "The Talking Book", a collaboration between himself and sound artist Jared Blum, known for his various projects on the Gigante Sound label. In 2012, he collaborated with Charles Hayward of This Heat and Mads Heldtberg on a project and release entitled House of Hayduk.

He recently contributed in the production of the soundtrack for the documentary "The Sequential Art" , by Norwegian director Espen J. Jörgensen, coming in 2011.

Koolarrow records

Since 1999, Gould has run an independent record label Koolarrow Records that has specialized in international acts and challenging artists such as LA's Flattbush, Seattle's Kultur Shock, Brujeria, Hog Molly (featuring Tad Doyle), Bosnian's Dubioza Kolektiv, San Francisco's La Plebe, German rock band Harmful, Alexander Hacke (of Einsturzende Neubauten), Como Asesinar a Felipes from Chile, former Danish experimental outfit Durefursog, and Mexican Dubwiser.

Equipment and style

For most of Faith No More's career, he used a Zon bass, but started with an Aria in Faith No More's early days. In the music video for Evidence,[2] he can be seen with a Fender Jazz. He began with Peavey amplifiers, and has used them his entire career. He is known for employing a wide variety of playing styles, alternating between using a plectrum, slapping, and fingerstyle.

Discography

As a band member

Further information: Faith No More discography
Brujeria
Fear and the Nervous System
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine
Harmful
Bill Gould & Jared Blum

As a featured musician

Remixes

As a producer

Other

References

  1. ↑ Faith No More News
  2. ↑ YouTube – Faith No More: Evidence
  3. ↑ Bill Gould about recording the album Archived April 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
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