{"id":44349,"date":"2014-08-21T06:00:13","date_gmt":"2014-08-21T11:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=44349"},"modified":"2014-10-10T09:21:37","modified_gmt":"2014-10-10T14:21:37","slug":"interview-with-jonny-daniel-of-nothing-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/interview-with-jonny-daniel-of-nothing-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonny & Daniel of Nothing More"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Kent McIntire<\/span>
\n– Photojournalist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On Saturday, August 9, 2014 Nothing more performed at Dirt Fest 2014 in Birch Run, Michigan. Hardrock Haven Photojournalist Kent McIntire was on hand and hand a chance to sit down with Jonny Hawkins (Lead Vocals & Aux Drums) and Daniel Oliver (Bass & Backup Vocals) and talk about the bands history, touring and the song writing process for the band …<\/p>\n

\"Jonny<\/p>\n

HRH: So I\u2019m here Jonny and Daniel of Nothing More. Guys, thank you for taking the time. One of the things I read about you guys is that you wear your heart on your sleeves when you are performing your music and one of the things I read about was the branded arms. What\u2019s that all about?<\/p>\n

Jonny: Yeah. Yeah. Mine don\u2019t look as hardcore as Daniel\u2019s. They\u2019ve kind of healed. I need to redo mine. When we started, we basically all got into a room together and pulled out a map and said \u201cOK. Are we really going to do this? Are we going to tour?\u201d Which was really this guy\u2019s idea (pointing to Daniel). Because he convinced us all to either drop out or not go to college. This was my senior year of high school. So, we decided to take his horribly good advice and just pursue it at all costs and because of that we all decided, OK, if we\u2019re going to bypass college and not go the traditional route in life, we really need to make sure all of us stick this through to the bitter end and we don\u2019t quit until we are successful. So, it was basically, you know, cheaper than a lawyer and less clich\u00e9 than a tattoo, so we burned the back end of a knife and put a scar for each year of touring. At the end of 3 years, we actually had 5 members in the band when we started. I forgot to mention this. One of my best friends was a guitar player, another guitar player in the band with Mark, and we had another singer in the band. I was actually on the drums then. At the end of 3 years, we parted ways with our singer and guitar player, Josh, left the band and it was just us 3. That\u2019s the year I started doing vocals and looked for another drummer. So, we left it at 3 scars, kind of symbolically for that. The reason we choose to do the scars was also a little bit of symbolism from one of our favorite bands, Thrice, that said \u201c\u2026a scar is a bridge to someone\u2019s broken heart\u2026\u201d<\/em> Which I think is the mantra and philosophy that we follow with our songs. Everybody loves to have a good time, but it\u2019s the hardship that when you\u2019re there in that moment, it\u2019s just so meaningful and impactful. That\u2019s what music has done for us and what we hope to do for others.<\/p>\n

HRH: Yeah! Of the bands I\u2019ve interviewed over the years, I\u2019ve never heard a story like that, so that\u2019s pretty incredible. You guys are currently on tour, obviously. You guys are ramping up for Five Finger Death Punch, HELLYEAH\u2026 I mean. How crazy is that?<\/p>\n

Jonny: Incredibly exciting!<\/p>\n

Daniel: I mean, really! Since we left town like 10 days ago, you know. All the touring ahead of us, we\u2019re just extremely excited about and a national headlining tour. We turned down opening tours to go on a headlining tour. We didn\u2019t know if we were ready or not. I mean. We just started getting the big radio push in February. I don\u2019t know. This run has been amazing to see all the people come out. And to go from this to an arena tour with this bands is \u2026 just a dream come true.<\/p>\n

HRH: Absolutely. I was in San Francisco this past week and when I came back I was talking with Korynne setting all this stuff up and she\u2019s like \u201cDo you want to get with Nothing More?\u201d I get in my car and you guys are on WRIF which is the big rock station in Detroit. I was like \u201cYEAH! Obviously!\u201d So, some people are saying you guys are the next big thing. How do you react to that?<\/p>\n

Jonny: That\u2019s cool! (laughs)<\/p>\n

HRH: Have you heard that?<\/p>\n

Jonny: From some people. You know it\u2019s a weird thing when you hear people talk about yourself or your own career because we don\u2019t like to talk about ourselves a whole lot. It comes across as funny, egotistical, and arrogant. But to be 100% honest, when we started this thing as punk kids in high school, that was our goal, to be the biggest band in the world. There were no apologies about that vision and so we have not changed since then as far as our goals. So, when we hear that it really \u2026 it just excites us and reinforces what we set out to do.<\/p>\n

HRH: What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n

Jonny: (chuckle) A LOT of touring!<\/p>\n

HRH: Are you guys recording while you are touring or just focusing on touring … ?<\/p>\n

Jonny: Just focusing on touring right now. We really don\u2019t have any time because we\u2019re so new to a lot of people, we\u2019re spending all of our \u2026 like any space in time between playing and setting up equipment to doing interviews, meeting people, doing radio things, and\u2026 there\u2019s not a whole lot of room for recording. But, we are \u2026 it\u2019s looking like we\u2019re doing this arena tour and it looks like we might be going back to Europe. It looks like we might be hitting Australia for the first time. Trying to even open up the door in Japan. So, we\u2019ve got a lot of international stuff on the horizon. And then of course a little bit further after that, we\u2019ll start working on the next record. Which, I\u2019m already wanting to get to that stage. I just love that part of it.<\/p>\n

HRH: So, are you constantly writing even when you are on the road or do you wait to settle down for the tour? How does that process work for you guys?<\/p>\n

Daniel: Everybody kind of does their own individual writing. You know\u2026 Really we haven\u2019t\u2026 we all write together and we all share everything. Nobody goes and writes a complete song on their own. So, most of it\u2019s done not on the road just because it\u2019s more difficult. I mean, we\u2019re still a really lean operation. Like, we\u2019re driving ourselves to the shows and \u2026 Like Jonny was saying. It\u2019s really hard to find time to do anything because it\u2019s \u2026 either you\u2019re driving or you\u2019re moving \u2026 you know\u2026 or your sleeping.<\/p>\n

Jonny: Trying not to get sick! When we upgrade to a tour bus at some point and we can all agree that it makes financial sense to have a full time driver. Those things start opening up space for you to actually start creating. So, it\u2019s been pretty difficult lately.<\/p>\n

HRH: I\u2019ll tell you. You guys are getting a lot of buzz around the publicity circle and to hear you on WRIF was fantastic.<\/p>\n

Jonny: OH COOL!<\/p>\n

HRH: Best of luck. Again, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. Be safe on the road!<\/p>\n

Jonny: Thank you so much!<\/p>\n

Visit the band online: http:\/\/www.nothingmore.net\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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