Gaines later moved into performance and visual art, composing ballet scores[1] and also working with his brother, Latham Gaines, as an art-music duo known as GAINES. The brothers create sound sculptures from found materials, which are then used for film scoring, performance and art exhibits. Their live score for Ethan Hawke's revival of Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind earned them a Drama Desk Award nomination.[2] Other theater work includes the creation of instruments and the music for Clive, Jonathan Marc Sherman's play, directed by Ethan Hawke.
Gaines was the sound producer for Blaze, based on the life of musician Blaze Foley, starring Ben Dickey, Alia Shawkat, Sam Rockwell, Steve Zahn, Kris Kristofferson, and Richard Linklater.
Gaines and his brother scored the 2019 film The Kid, directed by Vincent D'Onofrio and starring Hawke, Chris Pratt, Dane DeHaan, Leila George and Jake Schur. In 2023 they composed the music for Wildcat, a film about American novelist Flannery O'Connor that was also co-written by Shelby Gaines and Ethan Hawke.