NOTHING MORE combines the cerebral and sublime. The music Jonny Hawkins, Mark Vollelunga,<\/p>\n
Daniel Oliver, and Ben Anderson make together is primal, elemental, and even carnal. Their<\/p>\n
foundation is heady and heavy, filled with creative nuance that rewards repeated listens, while the<\/p>\n
catchy hooks always soar, intertwined in a delicious dance between accessibility and experimentation.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve already earned three GRAMMY nominations and two gold plaques along the journey. 2022\u2019s<\/p>\n
SPIRITS, which produced songs like \u201cYOU DON\u2019T KNOW WHAT LOVE MEANS\u201d and the Top 5<\/p>\n
smash \u201cTIRED OF WINNING,\u201d indulged the outer edges of NOTHING MORE\u2019s esoteric leanings<\/p>\n
without sacrificing melody. Two years later, CARNAL brings them full circle with focused precision.<\/p>\n
CARNAL harkens to their breakthrough 2014 self-titled set and the bombastic energy of songs like<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the Time (Ballast),\u201d while powerful interludes and trippy transitions anchor it all together. If<\/p>\n
SPIRTS was water, CARNAL is fire. NOTHING MORE sound biting, visceral, and in-your-face.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to go back to our roots a little bit on this one and see what that sounds like in 2024,\u201d<\/p>\n
Hawkins explains. \u201cSPIRITS was an introspective, deep dive. We wanted this one to feel immediate.<\/p>\n
CARNAL is a bit harder and more guitar-driven. There\u2019s still a lot of depth in the musicality. We<\/p>\n
maintain the niche, fringe, progressive elements, but we also made sure every chorus is a banger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerrang! named NOTHING MORE one of 22 Artists Shaping the Future of Rock, alongside Nine Inch<\/p>\n
Nails, Twenty One Pilots, and Bring Me The Horizon. And frontman Hawkins, who met guitarist<\/p>\n
Vollelunga before they were old enough to drive, appeared with Billie Joe Armstrong, Dave Grohl,<\/p>\n
and Hayley Williams in the English tastemaker\u2019s Top 50 Greatest Rockstars in the World.<\/p>\n
\u201cA real rock star should be someone who is a leader of culture through music,\u201d Hawkins thoughtfully<\/p>\n
demurred when bestowed with the honor. \u201cThey steer the world in some direction. They can shift<\/p>\n
people to think in a different way. For a long while now, there has been a void of bands of substance.<\/p>\n
Now, people are coming out of hibernation. They want something philosophically minded.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIF IT DOESN\u2019T HURT\u201d became NOTHING MORE\u2019s next Top 10 single in early 2024. CARNAL<\/p>\n
also boasts the big and vibey \u201cANGEL SONG\u201d (featuring Disturbed\u2019s David Draiman). \u201cSTUCK\u201d \u201cis<\/p>\n
probably the heaviest song we\u2019ve ever written,\u201d Vollelunga says of the CARNAL\u2019s diverse tracklist.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the other end of the spectrum, \u2018DOWN THE RIVER is very singer-songwriter and \u2018FREEFALL\u2019<\/p>\n
will be the timeless emotional anthem for those in need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Confessional authenticity and passion bind all the songs together. The lyrics sprang from a time of<\/p>\n
upheaval in Hawkins\u2019 life, which eventually saw the singer relocate from Louisiana to Tennessee.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy life pretty much went through a full reset,\u201d he explains. \u201cEverything got turned upside down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIF IT DOESN\u2019T HURT\u201d and \u201cFREEFALL\u201d address that season of turmoil. So does \u201cHOUSE ON<\/p>\n
SAND,\u201d which draws inspiration from the Old Testament story about Joseph\u2019s \u201ccoat of many colors\u201d<\/p>\n
and the New Testament parable about the wisdom of building a home on rock vs the folly of building<\/p>\n
on sand. \u201cI kind of built my whole life around a person and circumstances, and it all crumbled,\u201d Jonny<\/p>\n
laments. \u201cIt was a huge learning lesson, which I think many people go through at some point in their<\/p>\n
lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rather than self-produce, NOTHING MORE sought out a producer for the first time in years. They<\/p>\n
hired fellow GRAMMY nominee Drew Fulk, aka WZRD BLD (Motionless In White, Ice Nine Kills,<\/p>\n
Wage War), after a single meeting because the chemistry between the five of them was just that good.<\/p>\n
A handful of diverse collaborations further enhance CARNAL, including phonk star Sinizter<\/p>\n
(\u201cSTUCK\u201d), I Prevail\u2019s Eric Vanlerberghe (\u201cHOUSE ON SAND\u201d), and Draiman on \u201cANGEL SONG,\u201d<\/p>\n
which touches on \u201cthe eternal struggle between the free and rebellious spirit of the individual vs. the<\/p>\n
crushing entanglements of the inevitability of societal systems,\u201d Hawkins explains. \u201cWhile some of<\/p>\n
those systems are necessary to some degree in a civilized society, there is a point where they ensnare<\/p>\n
as many people as they help. This song taps into that rebellious, free-spirited instinct or hope in us<\/p>\n
all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGIVE IT TIME\u201d and \u201cDOWN THE RIVER\u201d are unapologetic messages of hope. \u201cThose songs are<\/p>\n
for anyone who finds themselves in a worn out or beaten down point in their life,\u201d says Hawkins.<\/p>\n
Several interludes appear throughout \u2013 \u201c| CARNAL |,\u201d \u201c| HEAD |,\u201d \u201c| HEART |,\u201d \u201c| SIGHT |,\u201d<\/p>\n
and \u201c| SOUND |,\u201d which mirror the icons and psychometric markers Hawkins used to build his<\/p>\n
SPIRITS TEST. The 25-question quiz is a meta personality test inspired by the Myers-Briggs<\/p>\n
personality test, the \u201cBig 5\u201d personality traits, the Enneagram, the work of Alan Watts, and a bit of<\/p>\n
the Zodiac and spirituality.<\/p>\n
Oliver hails SPIRITS as \u201cprobably the most progressive record we\u2019ve released \u2013 dense songs with lots<\/p>\n
of musical exploration, which has always been a big part of the band. Everyone fears that a producer<\/p>\n
will make things too straight-ahead. But I\u2019m doing a lot with effects on my bass, letting it carry some<\/p>\n
of the grit. The musical identity of NOTHING MORE wasn\u2019t neutered. CARNAL is just focused.\u201d<\/p>\n
Similarly, Vollelunga points out that the progressive element was there from the beginning, with a<\/p>\n
rhythmic crunch akin to Tool or Rage Against The Machine and a love for huge melodies. \u201cJonny and<\/p>\n
I started jamming 20 years ago,\u201d the guitarist recalls. \u201cWe played around town locally in San Antonio.<\/p>\n
When Dan joined, he encouraged us to play outside of our city. We became a \u2018real\u2019 band.\u201d<\/p>\n
Club shows, DIY releases, and a \u201cbattle of the bands\u201d victory that landed them a few dates on the<\/p>\n
Vans Warped Tour in 2007 gave NOTHING MORE the space to forge their unique identity. Hawkins<\/p>\n
switched from drums to singing before 2009\u2019s The Few Not Fleeting. Buzzed about performances at<\/p>\n
major festivals earned the attention of Better Noise, who reissued 2013\u2019s self-titled album in 2014.<\/p>\n
Songs like \u201cHere\u2019s to the Heartache\u201d and gold-single \u201cJenny\u201d made early splashes on the radio before<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the Time (Ballast)\u201d became the No. 1 song of the decade on Sirius XM Octane. 2017\u2019s The<\/p>\n
Stories We Tell Ourselves produced the Top 10 single \u201cDo You Really Want It?\u201d and earned three<\/p>\n
Grammy noms, including Best Rock Album, Rock Performance, and Rock Song (for the gold-certified<\/p>\n
\u201cGo to War\u201d).<\/p>\n
Crowds who\u2019ve seen Hawkins wrestle with the band\u2019s self-made 14-foot-tall Scorpion Tail Midi<\/p>\n
controller attest to NOTHING MORE\u2019s uniquely immersive power. They\u2019ve earned new acolytes on<\/p>\n
the road with hard rock titans, including Shinedown, Five Finger Death Punch, Breaking Benjamin,<\/p>\n
Papa Roach, In This Moment, and co-headliners Asking Alexandria. The Guardian observed: \u201cThere\u2019s<\/p>\n
a sophistication to NOTHING MORE\u2019s angst that raises them above the tumult-tossed pit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Musically, lyrically, and creatively, the band embodies determined evolution and a resilient spirit. \u201cIt\u2019s<\/p>\n
my time,\u201d Jonny belts out in \u201cStuck.\u201d \u201cThis is for the people who can\u2019t break through \/ I used to feel<\/p>\n
just like you.\u201d He claims the next phase of his life with an anthem, encouraging others to do the same.<\/p>\n
NOTHING MORE charms and attracts fans of Linkin Park, Muse, Incubus, Deftones, and like-minded<\/p>\n
acts that conjure genuine feelings with immediacy and integrity. Memorize the arena-ready hooks.<\/p>\n
Get mesmerized by the intimate, communal live show. Dig deeper down the rabbit hole into the<\/p>\n
work of philosophers and artists like Watts, Eckhart Tolle, and Carl Jung, who inspire the band<\/p>\n
because there\u2019s a place for every type of rock fan with NOTHING MORE. Built to last, here to stay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NOTHING MORE combines the cerebral and sublime. The music Jonny Hawkins, Mark Vollelunga, Daniel Oliver, and Ben Anderson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[38592,38591,38594,12419,4590,47,38590,13743,4588,3030,3029,202,204,203,199,201,200,38593],"class_list":["post-65064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-1st","tag-38591","tag-38594","tag-12419","tag-ave","tag-fl","tag-jannus","tag-live","tag-n","tag-petersburg","tag-st","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-ste"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}