Musically, Cleveland, Ohio’s Mr. Gnome is set to hit Le Voyeur in Olympia on Saturday, May 31. If you’ve never heard of this hard living, hard rocking twosome, let Bobble Tiki be the first to warn you. Mr. Gnome will knock your socks off. The band released Deliver this Creature (their first full length) earlier this year, and the buzz the record has created has been palpable.

Guitarist and singer Nicole Barille and drummer Sam Meister are a force to be seen and heard, and if you’ve got any rock ’n’ roll sense at all you’ll be sure to catch them at Le Voyeur.

Mr. Gnome’s upcoming performance in Olympia got Bobble Tiki thinking about another well known gnome — the Tacoma Gnome (tacomagnome.blogspot.com). Bobble Tiki recently saw the beloved blogosphere garden creature make his film debut at the 72 Hour Film Fest, and as a fan of fine acting and the personification of inanimate objects, Bobble Tiki was blown away. The Tacoma Gnome has mad acting skills, and Bobble Tiki wouldn’t be surprised if he’s Tacoma’s next big motion picture star.

Mr. Gnome and the Tacoma Gnome. This week Bobble Tiki interviewed them both. If this is the beginning of the gnome takeover, at least Bobble Tiki got some good column material out of it. For more from both, check out www.weeklyvolcanospew.com.

Mr. Gnome

BOBBLE TIKI: Let’s start with Deliver This Creature. Has it been fulfilling to get a debut full-length out on the street?

SAM MEISTER: This album really came out of nowhere for us. When we threw our stuff into storage last summer and hit the road we weren’t really sure where we were going or what we were trying to accomplish. We ended up having a few weeks off between tours and got introduced to both Wavelab and Jackpot Studios and decided it was the right time and place to attempt a full-length album. We jumped in there with a limited budget and very limited time, crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.

TIKI: What’s the writing and recording process like for you guys?

MEISTER: The writing and recording process are two completely different beasts. We seem to write music in all different fashions. Sometimes Nicole will already have pieces and bring them to me, sometimes we’ll get something off of jamming, and sometimes a little song bird sings beautiful melodies into my ear. Then I kill him ... but I don’t eat him, Nicole does.

NICOLE BARILLE: I didn’t want to eat him ... we’re poor, and I was sick of Ramen noodles ...

TIKI: Why does Mr. Gnome work? What are the benefits of a two-person band?

MEISTER: Mr. Gnome works for us because we’re both crazy. We cry a lot and Nicole cuts herself.

BARILLE: We’re definitely both crazy, but who isn’t nowadays? I think the reason we never added any other members to the band was because the writing process came so naturally for us. We can tell each other what we like and don’t like without worrying about hurting each other’s feelings. Sam cries a lot. I know he says we both do, but he’s definitely the sensitive one.

TIKI: You’re in the midst of a tour. How do you guys travel?

BARILLE: Oh man .. .our van is so gross right now. It smells like garbage, feet, cigarettes, and poop. There’s nothing high class about our traveling arrangements.

TIKI: Why Mr. Gnome?

MEISTER: Acid + picking your future band name = Mr. Gnome. Garden gnomes on LSD can be very beautiful, provocative creatures. So playful. So soft. But don’t squeeze them too hard, they can’t breathe when you do that.

TIKI: There’s a solid amount of Mr. Gnome buzz at the moment. Do you guys pay attention to any of it?

MEISTER: We try not to, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. We are very flattered that people are interested in what we do. But you know, with buzz comes positives and negatives. You get people who love what you do and people who think it’s complete s***. That’s all part of the game.

Tacoma Gnome

TIKI: Cleveland’s Mr. Gnome is set to play Olympia this week. Are they of any relation to the Tacoma Gnome?

TACOMA GNOME: Mr. Gnome is not directly related, of course, to Tacoma Gnome, but the history of Ohio, and Cleveland in particular, is one that might parallel that of Tacoma, but not directly related to me.

TIKI: What types of music really tickle the Tacoma Gnome’s fancy? What’s in the Tacoma Gnome’s iPod these days?

GNOME: Personally, I really enjoy the sound of lutes and other, um, I guess you call them folksy sounding music. I don’t really have an iPod, but if I did, I certainly would have a wide selection of the classic Gnome songs: “Warm the Tobacco, I’m Coming Home”; “With a Hammer and Glogg, We’ll be Fine”; “Eine Kleine Gnomemusik”; and, of course, the most recent one from Weezer, “Pork and Beans,” but mainly because I enjoy the YouTube video.

TIKI: How was it working on the film Blogland Murders? What was your method for getting into character?

GNOME: I appreciate you following my ventures into the world cinema. Hopefully, in the future, I can be on the larger keno screens around the city. Working with the crew on the Blogland Murders was a delight! Getting into character? Wow. That was more challenging than I could have imagined. Especially that I am a creature of peace and gentleness.

TIKI: Tacoma Gnome was also in Adam J. Manley’s The Destiny of the Gnome. Is this the start of a film career for the Tacoma Gnome?

GNOME: Between the two films I felt there was enough diversity in my acting style. We shall see. I have spoken to The Producer, who produced Destiny of the Gnome, and he is hinting at a longer version.

To keep it short and sweet, Bobble Tiki doesn’t care what you do this week because he doesn’t even know you. Nothing’s changed on that front. Check out www.weeklyvolcanospew.com for all your South Sound blogosphere needs (including more from Mr. Gnome and the Tacoma Gnome) and consider yourself lucky. Bobble Tiki doesn’t just invite anyone to the Weekly Volcano’s blog.

[Le Voyeur, Mr. Gnome, Safe, Saturday, May 31, 10 p.m., cover charge, 404 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, 360. 943.5710]