Gameface have been at this since 1990, but it’s been more than a decade since the Southern California melodic punk veterans released any new music.
Today, No Echo is premiering “Men of Stone,” one of two new songs marking the end of that drought. The track will appear alongside “All My Friends” on an upcoming 7" for Iodine Recordings. Both songs find vocalist/guitarist Jeff Caudill looking at friendship, aging, loss, and how much harder it can be to stay connected as the years pile up.
“I’ve always been fond of a clever turn of phrase or a revealing lyric,” Caudill tells No Echo. “Those types of things stay with me as much as any massive chorus. To me, Gameface’s evolution has felt natural and gradual. We had a vision of what we wanted to sound like but weren’t always skilled or patient enough to get it down on tape.”
Caudill also doesn't write nearly as much as he did during Gameface's early years, which has changed the weight he puts on each song.
“We’ve matured as songwriters, musicians, and human beings. I don’t write as much as I used to, so when I do, it has to really count. It has to say everything I want to say in that moment. Back in the old days, I wrote a ton of songs and treated them like journal entries. Now they’re like manifestos.”
That perspective feels particularly fitting for “All My Friends," the other track on the new 7".
As someone who's 51, one of the harder parts of getting older has been watching friends and acquaintances I've made through music, especially hardcore, pass away. Throw raising kids and everyday responsibilities into the mix, and simply keeping up with people gets harder than it used to be.
Caudill, a fellow dad, can relate.
“Yeah man, we’re really in it now. Our kids aren’t kids anymore, and our parents and friends are passing away. I think it’s important to spend time with people you love and do what fills you up.”
Music has remained part of that equation for Caudill. While raising his daughter and working full-time to support his family, he made a point of continuing to create rather than leaving that part of himself behind.
“As a dad, I tried to show my daughter this by not giving up on music while I held down a full-time job to support our family. She’s 22 with a day job while doing what she loves, making music, so I think I did a pretty good job on that front.”
Maintaining friendships at this stage of life, however, takes more effort than it once did.
“Hanging out with friends to socialize and create doesn’t happen automatically like it did when we were young. It’s work,” Caudill says. “The older we get, the more effort it takes to maintain our friendships, and it gets real tempting to just look at your phone all day. I’m constantly reminding myself what is more important in the larger picture.”
Those feelings run through both “All My Friends” and “Men of Stone.” Caudill says the ideas behind the songs had been kicking around for years, but the band only recently felt compelled to record them. Both were written with people in mind who have become isolated, struggled with their health, fallen down various rabbit holes, or simply found it difficult to talk about what they're going through.
Fittingly, recording the songs gave Gameface another reason to spend time together after more than three decades as a band.
The resulting 7" marks Gameface's first release for Iodine Recordings, with cover art by Brian Walsby, whose work should be familiar to anyone with a healthy collection of punk records and flyers.
To celebrate the new material, the band will be playing a few live dates, including one at Programme Skate + Sound in their hometown of Orange County, California.
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All My Friends will hit streaming outlets on September 25 via Iodine Recordings. The 7" vinyl version will begin shipping on next month (order here).
Gameface shows:
9/27 — Fullerton, CA @ Programme Skate + Sound
10/22 — Tampa, FL @ New World Music Hall
10/24 — Gainesville, FL @ The Fest
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