One of Carson's own rocks the house

Billy Nutt grew up in West Carson City. Back in the '90s he would ride his 20-inch G.T. Pro series BMX bike to the dirt trails at Hell Track or Ponds across from Mills Park. He went to Bordewich-Bray Elementary School on West King, then Carson Middle School and Carson High School. He'll tell you about his favorite teachers: Mrs. Deskin from Bordewich ("She was just nice") and Carson High's Mrs. Macy ("Laid back").

But if you want to know the real story of Billy Nutt, you have to go back to that house on the corner of West Robinson and Division streets. That's where he made his first music. That's his mom's house.

"Bill -- He was always kind of the little entrepreneur," says his mom, Sarah Nutt. "I bought him his first electric guitar and amp and he immediately traded it in for a bass guitar. He's always been kind of a wheeler-dealer."

Nutt, now the bassist for the punk band face*it, got his start putting together shows in his mother's back yard. He would organize the venue, build a stage from borrowed wood, then invite bands like Indecisive Youth? and Suckapunch and 350 of his closest friends to kick up dust.

"Back then the yard was just dirt and those kids would start doing their moshing thing," said his mom. "Kids would be flying everywhere. There I was trying to break them up -- I didn't want anyone to get a broken arm or nose."

In the band's biography on their online site, www.faceitmusic.com, they give credit to the Robinson house as well. "The boys secluded themselves to the Shack and continued work with Jeff, and on September 4 took first place in the Carson City Battle of The Bands," it reads. "The Shack," according to Bill's mom, is her garage on West Robinson Street.

Nutt, who has worked days as a professional Web site and graphic designer for IC Systems for the last two years, does a lot of the art for the band's album covers. For their new release, "Indivisible," he took a band photo and used Streamline to vectorize it.

He is currently studying for his Adobe Certified Expert test for Photoshop 7. He has designed ads published in Wired Magazine for iPong.com and through that gig, was able to meet the "father of computer entertainment" Nolan Bushnell who founded Atari

in 1972.

He lists his musical influences as Indecisive Youth?, Lagwagon and Strung Out.

"Also Fat Mike, the bass player from NOFX," he says. "NOFX was pretty much all I listened to when I was little."

Bill explained the meaning of the new album's title. "Indivisible is kind of a two-way street," he said. "First, it's a song title, and second it means 'now we've got our band and we don't need anymore members or anything.'" The band has cycled through a number of drummers during the years.

The members -- Matt Grabow doing vocals, Ryan Klette on guitar, Riffy on guitar, Tod Eggiman on drums and Nutt on bass -- toyed with names like Aluminum Leghair and The Undergarments before settling on face*it. They'll offer Indivisible for sale at the Out of Bounds board shops in Carson and Reno, at local record stores and in the local sections of Tower and Sam Goody in the mall.

"I'd like to be able to quit my job, play music and make web sites for bands on the road," says Bill. "That would be ideal."

On the net

Carson City born punk band face*It: www.faceitmusic.com

Booking: Whitey Hughes Management (775) 972-1039