It’s a rarity for a band to keep its original lineup intact and bands tend to go through personnel changes all of the time as they try to find the right pieces of the puzzle to achieve their dream. It’s always tough when a band loses a lead singer, but it’s almost unheard of in music to replace a lead singer with the drummer. I don’t mean having the drummer take over singing duties, but actually moving him from behind the kit and to the front of the stage. Well, that’s just what the band Nothing More did and it may very well be the last missing piece from their puzzle.
Nothing More’s been paying their dues for over ten years now, so although there has been an increase in media attention for the band, they are far from being labeled an overnight sensation. They’re starting to reap the rewards by doing it the old fashioned way, by earning them out on the road. Their latest self-titled album, which is almost a type of re-birth for the band, released on June 24. We caught up with bassist Daniel Oliver and guitarist Mark Vollelunga, and here’s what transpired.
Hey guys! How’s it going today?
Mark: Great!
Daniel: Extremely well!
There seems to be an influx of new fans into the fold and a huge buzz that continued to grow leading up to the release of the new album. What are your thoughts on that?
Daniel: Well, we’ve been around for a good number of years and it’s taken a while to craft our sound. We’ve also had some lineup changes along the way; our current singer Jonny (Hawkins) used to be our drummer. We released a couple of albums with him just drumming on them, but this latest album that we’re touring on now, The Few Not Fleeting, he’s drumming and singing on the entire thing. That was our first album with the sound the way it is now. You know, Jonny’s a phenomenal drummer and now, we’ve finally found another brother to join the clan and play drums for us.
Mark: Paul’s (O’Brien) awesome and a really great drummer; he fits in super well.
Wait, how in the world does your drummer move to the front of the band and become your lead singer?
Daniel: Well, we fired our singer because we weren’t vibing with him. It was one of those things where Mark, Jonny and I felt that we hadn’t found someone who added to what we thought the music needed to be. Then it came down to a shoot-out between Jonny and me with both of us auditioning for the lead vocalist spot. Thank god he got it because I’m not a lead vocalist by any stretch of the imagination.
So, was the transition from drummer to front man a smooth one?
Daniel: It took him a while to get comfy on-stage, being up there and not playing anything. He’s such a creative guy and he took to attacked singing head-on just like he did with his drumming. He’s grown tremendously vocally and he has a lot of crazy ideas of what he can do with his voice. There’s a lot of character there like in My Chemical Romance or The Used. He has a unique way of capturing theater with how he sings.
Mark: You know, like in the way he depicts the lyrics that he’s delivering.
So, had he sung in any other bands before joining you guys?
Mark: No, he had just been a drummer. We all sing harmonies in this band and he did as well. He was that type of guy who we knew could master anything that he does. He got wasted in Cabo when we played Sammy Hagar’s club about six or seven years ago. I remember him telling me that he wanted to sing and I just knew it would work and I was behind him 100%. Although it was during a drunken moment, we followed it. It’s really hard when you have to start from ground zero again, which we seem to have done several times. You just learn to trust your gut and you follow through with it.
Daniel: Plus, it’s cool to promote from within (laughs).
True, kind of like a corporation.
Mark: Yeah, but we’re not hiring out anymore (laughs).
What’s the story with your new drummer Paul? Where did you find him?
Mark: He was in a brother band that we played with a lot out of New Orleans called Pandemic. They were the band that we were probably the closest to. Unfortunately, they started to slow down, but he didn’t want to stop. He knew that we were auditioning and looking for a new member and he texted me. I mean, he was a shoe-in for the position because we already knew that he was a phenomenal drummer.
Daniel: He packed his bags and drove 500 miles to move into our band house and that was about three years ago.
Speaking of driving, you guys seem to have a lot of touring plans coming up with the likes of Twelve Foot Ninja, Chevelle and Killswitch Engage just to name a few. If you’re packing your bag to go out on the road, minus your equipment, what are some of your touring essentials that you make sure to pack?
Mark: I need my knife, just in case, because these bass players can get pretty wily sometimes and you have to put them down.
Daniel: One thing would be my welder in case any of our stage stuff breaks and also a joker card because if somebody pulls one out and you don’t have yours on you, then you have to drop your pants.
At this point in the interview, Mark reaches into his wallet and pulls out a joker card. Daniel then pauses and looks into his own wallet with a response of, “Fuck.”
Mark: It’s actually happened before. Right now, Daniel has to drop his pants. Well, he can either drop them or buy everyone a drink (laughs).
Daniel: Man, I can’t afford to buy any more drinks; I’ve already bought two rounds.
Drum roll please!
*Daniel then stands up and proceeds to drop his pants in front of everyone and is welcomed with a round of applause.
Daniel: Joker on me! I shouldn’t have opened my fucking mouth!
Mark: I know; I totally got you!
Nothing More – This Is The Time (Ballast)
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Have either of you guys bought anything off of an infomercial?
Daniel: I didn’t, but my parents did. My favorite from back in the day was the “Sobakawa Pillow” with buckwheat husk.
Mark: What the hell was that?
Daniel: It was this pillow that felt like you were sleeping on a bean bag. Walgreens always gets those “As Seen on TV” items and it pisses me off because I always thought that you could only get them on TV. We waited six to eight weeks for that thing to arrive and now I found out that we could get it instantly at Walgreens.
Who knew, right? Well guys, it’s time to wrap this interview up. Any last words for your fans?
Daniel: Of course! Our new album dropped on June 24th. It’s available worldwide and fans can keep up with all things Nothing More at www.nothingmore.net
Connect with Nothing More (click links below):
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | WEBSITE
Check out our Photos of Nothing More Performing at ROCK ON THE RANGE 2014!
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