No Walls was an American hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 band from Atlanta, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, formed in 1988. Its members were William DuVall (vocals, guitar), Hank Schroy (bass guitar), and Matthew Cowley (drums). This band released one eponymous album in 1992 through Full Moon Records; it was recorded at Electric Lady Studios

Electric Lady Studios

Electric Lady Studios, at 52 West 8th Street, in New York City's Greenwich Village, is a recording studio originally built by Jimi Hendrix and designed by John Storyk in 1970...

 under the mentorship of songwriter Vernon Reid

Vernon Reid

Vernon Reid is an English-born American guitarist, songwriter, composer, and bandleader. Best known as the founder and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Living Colour, Reid was named #66 on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.Critic Steve Huey writes, "[Reid's]...

.

Formation, rise and break-up (1988-1992)

When his previous project The Final Offering fell apart before it got off the ground in 1988, William DuVall formed No Walls with Hank Schroy and Matthew Cowley later that year, taking up lead vocal duties for the first time.

Regarding his experience in this project, Duvall said:

“At the time (1988-1992), I viewed No Walls as a pop group. I thought there were loads of people just waiting for a band that could assimilate Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

, Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...

, Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...

, Ornette Coleman

Ornette Coleman

Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....

, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 and many others into a seamless blend and take rock music forward.”

“It seemed abundantly clear to me that this was how the culture needed to evolve — rock, jazz, pop and world music all fusing together to form one truly universal language. No Walls was the embodiment of everything I had dreamed of since I first got turned on to music. We were the Freedom Principle in action!”

No Walls generated much interest after giving a demo to Vernon Reid backstage after a show. David Frick of Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

 described one of their shows as “a brilliant collision of sinewy punk attack, angular-jazz maneuvers and catchy art-pop songwriting.” However, their first and only album to date, the eponymous No Walls, released in 1992, met with disappointment and led to the dissolution of the band.

Post-No Walls (1992-present)

Since the break-up of No Walls, DuVall has founded and fronted two other bands called Madfly

Madfly

Madfly was an American glam rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1996. Its members were William DuVall , Nico Constantine , Jeffrey Blount , and Bevan Davies...

 and Comes with the Fall

Comes With The Fall

Comes with the Fall is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1999. Since 2001, the line-up has been composed of William DuVall , Adam Stanger and Bevan Davies . Nico Constantine was the band's second guitarist before departing in 2001...

, releasing several albums between both those projects. He is currently fronting Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...

 in place of their original lead singer Layne Staley

Layne Staley

Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-lyricist of the rock group Alice in Chains, which was formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the...

, who died in 2002 after a long battle with severe drug addiction. In 2009, Alice in Chains released Black Gives Way to Blue

Black Gives Way to Blue

Black Gives Way to Blue is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released in September 2009. The first Alice in Chains album in nearly fourteen years, Black Gives Way to Blue is their first release with new vocalist/guitarist William DuVall, who took over from the late...

, their first album with DuVall on vocals, his biggest selling album to date. DuVall thanked Hank Schroy and Matthew Cowley within the liner notes of that album.

Discography

No Walls (1992)

1. "Wanderlust"
2. "I'll Take You Where You Want to Go"
3. "Miles Ahead"
4. "Naive"
5. "If There is to Be Possession"
6. "Come Down"
7. "Please Don't Let Me Breakdown"