interview: Bill Smiles (Raining Bricks)

Right now "epic" is the only term I can come up with to describe Bill Smiles. At one time I could have used the term "Chicago straight edge legend". Actually I guess that term still works in a different sense now. Bill used to sing for Plan Of Attack, now he plays bass in Raining Bricks, tattoos at Family Tattoo, gets drunk across the greater Chicago area and answers questions for me.


Most people will remember you from the time you spent singing for Plan Of Attack. Are you happy with everything you guys did with that band and the impression it left on people?

We left an impression? Sweet. That band was a lot of fun. Ryan Wilson and I used to steal the van when everyone was asleep and go looking for either ghosts, monsters or strip clubs. When Dan was in the band, he had the most perverted stories ever. Liz had to deal with stinky boys all the time. If I drank then, I would have died for sure.


You're currently in a band called Raining Bricks. Whats the deal with that band and why would you have ever thought it was a good idea to try to change your name from "Bill Smiles" to "Billy Bricks"?

What's the deal? Well... we drink a lot. Except for Farn. He's straight edge. We're way more fun than him though. One time me and Widge got so drunk in Madison together. He swears that I tried to kiss him, but I'm straight. I swear. Carson was a mailman, but he quit. Jimmy Jazz once woke up in the van covered in blood... still doesn't know what happened. One time in Iowa after a show with Modern Life Is War and Spanish Bombs, some dude did a cannonball through a picture window. Total party-ender. The next day we watched dudes throw air conditioner units out a window in St. Louis. I believe a brick fell from the sky that night, too... pure coincidence. Not planned. Someone took baby Jesus, too. Oh yeah, our music is cool, too. (notice, Bill avoids mention of "Billy Bricks")

"Billy Bricks"

Do you ever wish you had pursued Bad Beards further, as it obviously had the recipe for success? (Bad Beards featured 2 members of Dead to Fall and both me and Bill Smiles on bass)

Raining Bricks became everything Bad Beards was supposed to be... minus the beards. But seriously... Bad Beards had the best t-shirt designs and demo cover ever. We should have toured.


You tattoo now at Family Tattoo in Chicago. How did that get hooked up and what's been the highlight of your brief tattooing career so far?

I do tattoo. You have a spitting tiger demon and a sailor rat on you to prove it. I don't know how it happened. It's something I wanted to do for a long time. Finally my friends opened a shop and took me on. It's been sweet. I've done some ridiculous tattoos. But I'm too drunk right now to remember some of them. (here's a link to some of them)

Bill made me and Chowdah "shipmates!"

What was the highlight of your time working for Victory Screen Printing and having Tony Brummel as a boss? (yeah THAT Victory) Also, side question: In Cold Blood or Integrity?

The highlight was the time that I left the spot heater on and it caught a pallet on fire. Tony got to play fireman. He was super excited about it. The place could have burned down. But Tony saved the day. Tony was something else. I'd go into details, but he'd probably beat me up. Oh yeah... one time he gave everyone in the office brand new shoes from New Balance... except for me. I didn't get shit. I also didn't get a Christmas bonus once. Everyone else did. I heard this year he cut out Christmas bonuses or something. Great dude. For real.

In Cold Blood kicked ass. Fun dudes to hang out with. Integrity... eh... Chubby Fresh loves me cuz I love America, though. Dwid is strange.

Tony Brummel: entrepreneur, cat owner, firefighter

It's common knowledge that you hate a lot of stuff. What's most recent on your list?

* hangovers
* pickles
* most current bands
* painters
* cheapskates
* the fact that I can no longer find Sparks Plus at any store

o Sparks Plus, where art thou?

Rumor is you killed a dude once. Explain?

I can't get into it too deep with this one for obvious reasons. But it may or may not have happened once or twice in my lifetime. Basically, don't cross me or you'll end up dead.


At one point in your life I couldn't imagine you anywhere other than sitting on the couch with a bucket of ice cream watching Hated, what happened in the past few years to change this?

I basically became the equivalent of GG Allin for awhile... but it was more Jabbers era GG and no so much Toilet Rocker/Holy Men/Murder Junkies era. Remember when Merle Allin called me and called me all kinds of names? That ruled.

called Bill a "scum fuck", among other things

Just so you know now that you moved back in with Stephanie I feel like order has been restored to the cosmos. Is there anything else you'd like to say? (Stephanie Marlow is like the yin to Bill Smiles yang, as well as being the sweetest publicist on planet Earth)

Yes. Here's more questions that you should have asked:

1. Bill Smiles, why are you so awesome? (when I texted Bill about this he asked if I was hitting on him)
2. How much did you drink before this interview? ("I'm wasted and I love you")
3. Do you use spellcheck? (the answer might be yes, because I only had to correct one word)


Obviously "epic" was the correct term. Buy Bill drinks at Raining Bricks shows or visit him at Family Tattoo, you could also in theory buy him drinks there as well. You can see some of his tattoos here before you get him drunk. Ask him about the time I drove Plan Of Attack to Madison. All I've got to say about it is: young punks in love, woo!