Bill Nace
Bill Nace is an American experimental guitarist and visual artist, from New Jersey. Nace has collaborated with Joe McPhee, Steve Gunn, Thurston Moore, Yoko Ono, Okkyung Lee, and Kim Gordon. With Gordon, Nace is part of the experimental electric guitar duo Body/Head.
Nace is known for an unorthodox approach to the electric guitar, often using preparations, extended techniques, and unconventional objects to generate sound. The Chicago Reader described his playing as producing "unguitarlike sounds," favoring dense sustained tones and noise textures over conventional melody or rhythm. Pitchfork, reviewing his 2020 solo album Both, described the record as capturing "long plumes of feedback and static, with Nace coaxing the guitar into making sounds more akin to a broken synthesizer." The Aquarium Drunkard noted that his work spans both solo improvisation and extended collaborative sessions, and that his approach has remained consistent across decades of output on a wide range of independent labels.
He currently runs a label called Open Mouth Records, out of Philadelphia. He is also a prolific visual artist; drawing, designing various shirts, album covers, and flyers.
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