Meet Nicole Barille | Singer/Guitarist for mr. Gnome

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicole Barille and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Our whole entire journey in the music business has been about taking risks and being okay with sometimes failing. When we started mr. Gnome, we really had no idea what we were doing or getting into. You have to be a tiny bit crazy to jump into this business head first. We just loved making music and wanted to create as much as possible. There is no guaranty with any of this, but I think that’s also what makes it so exciting. Anything can happen at any time.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started mr. Gnome back in 2005 with drummer/my husband, Sam Meister. We had a shared love of all things music and art, and created mr. Gnome to not only write albums and perform live, but to also make music videos, photography, and all sorts of visual art. It’s never been the easiest road to travel, but it’s always been fun and exciting and meaningful, and everything in between. We’ve connected with so many amazing people that we would have never met otherwise, and we are so thankful for all of those experiences. When we first started playing live, it took quite some time to gain a following. We toured nonstop and kept at it, and started to see our audiences grow across the country. Creatively, we always push ourselves as far as we can, and try to grow and evolve with each album. We’ve experienced a lot of loss over the last few years, and have poured all of our emotions into our music with the hope that it will help others get through this crazy thing called life.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
One of our favorite spots in Cleveland is the Beachland Ballroom. It’s an amazing venue and they put on great shows all week long!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to give my shoutout to Mark Meister. Mark is Sam’s (drummer for mr. Gnome) father and has been a part of our story from the very beginning. One of our earliest supporters, mentors, and just a wonderful person, Mark started our record label, El Marko Records, with me and Sam back in 2008. We’ve navigated this crazy business together and figured out how to run a successful label that we built from the ground up. He is a wonderful person that has always been a huge part of the mr. Gnome story, and his involvement in what we do has been so important.

Website: mrgnome.com

Instagram: instagram.com/mrgnomemusic

Twitter: twitter.com/mrgnomemusic

Facebook: facebook.com/mrgnomemusic

Youtube: youtube.com/mrgnomemusic

Image Credits
mr. Gnome