Nonpoint, a Heavy Metal band from Fort Lauderdale, FL, formed in 1997, though their debut major album was not released until 3 years later. Since 1997, the band has released 7 albums and is now about to release #8 within a couple of weeks. The new album, “The Return” is scheduled to drop on September 30th, 2014 and is truly going to excite and stimulate the musical soul of us all. If you were a Nonpoint fan before, this album will surely thrill you. If you are new to Nonpoint fandom, you will not be disappointed and you too will soon feel that hunger for more; that appetite we all have felt as we have awaited their new release. I was able to catch up with Elias, the lead vocalist, today to discuss his views about the new album, the band’s direction, and his thoughts about the 2014 tour.
Interview with Elias Soriano, lead vocalist - Nonpoint
By: Leslie Elder Rogers
Metal Exiles: The Return feels like your strongest album to date. Do you feel that Nonpoint is just getting better with age?
Elias Soriano: Hopefully so. I think everyone feels that way. I definitely have seen the difference between the first Nonpoint and the Nonpoint now. We’re definitely a lot more focused and a lot more dialed in when it comes to our tone and our sound.
Metal Exiles: What is behind the title, The Return?
Elias: It’s just a message to everyone that we’re not going anywhere; that we’re back again. We’re still releasing records and still enjoying the gig. The last record really re-opened a lot of opportunities and gates for the band and we’re taking this following step with as much seriousness and focus as we possibly can.
Metal Exiles: You guys have already played some dates so what is the reaction to the new material so far?
Elias: The reaction has been great. It’s great that the songs are already being played on the radio, locally, in those areas. The fans are already getting to know the songs and singing along with the lyrics. That’s awesome.
Metal Exiles: With 7 studio albums already under your belt where do you as a vocalist go for inspiration?
Elias: My best bet personally is going from the music that the guys come up with. That way it’s fresh and it comes from and is inspired from something and I’m about to attach something to. I like to be inspired by the actual music we’re writing and take it from there that way it fits and feels a lot more natural and better. Everyone writes their parts. Sometimes we help each other but I write 99% of the lyrics and vocal lines, Rob writes his drums parts, the guys write their guitar parts. If someone likes something, we throw the flag and stop the ball movement on the field and say “hey, that’s kind of cool, let’s see where we can take it”, so everyone really does their part.
Metal Exiles: What kind of new ground did you think you broke with The Return?
Elias: I think our song writing definitely got really dialed in a lot more. I think we learned a lot on the last recording so going from that recording into this recording with pretty much the same teachers Daniel Salcidoto and Johnny K., I was able to learn a lot of the smaller things that really make for the big details at the end product. The last record taught me things that allowed me to walk in better prepared and not have to be juggling those same issues that I may’ve been juggling on the last recording so this time we were able play a little bit more.
Metal Exiles: What was it about Johnny K’s past that made you want to work with him in the first place for your last record and what do you feel he did for The Return?
Elias: I think the conversations that we had initially were why we chose to work with Johnny. He had a lot of the same ideas and more importantly, he didn’t want to muddy the waters too much. He wanted to clear them a little bit more. Once we all saw that, it was a lot easier to deal with song writing and recording and dealing with now a 6th member of the band, and a 6th opinion. With him it felt good and it felt natural so we really fix what wasn’t broken.
Metal Exiles: The material is beyond intriguing. Some of the stuff like Goodbye Letters and Never Cared Before stand out. Where did these tracks come from?
Elias: We’re just 2014 Nonpoint. We’re writing new music and we’re feeling different because we’re on record number 8 and we know what we want and what kind of impression we want to make. We just hope everyone enjoys it as much as we enjoy the process.
Metal Exiles: If you preorder the new album you get Never Ending Hole and Breaking Skin. What made these tracks stand out to go out with the orders?
Elias: That’s all business stuff and label stuff honestly. For us, we hand over the body of work and the artwork. We work hand in hand with the label on the artwork and the release of the record but outside of that, it’s really business plays and stuff like that. It’s probably because they felt that those were our strongest songs so they wanted to coax fans into buying the record early.
Metal Exiles: There are a lot of merchandise bundles being offered for The Return. How much of a hand do you guys have in this and how do you think that helps sales these days?
Elias: When it comes to our merch and stuff like that, that’s one thing. We control all of our merch and our artwork on that end. When it comes to bundle packages and stuff like that, that’s all the business side of it.
Metal Exiles: You guys are going out for a long time for this record with some diverse bands like Gemini Syndrome. What is touring life now for Nonpoint and bands in general?
Elias: We’re just trying to support the record. That’s what we always do. That’s the way we like to tour. We like to support our records and the cities that support our band. There are a lot of cities doing that now so we want to get out there and support the record and support the fan base that is supporting us.
Metal Exiles: In closing, do you mind giving me an idea of your choice of what bands you’d like to tour with (aside from the great bands you are already touring with)?
Elias: I like bands that do it live. Right now the guys in Korn are throwing down old school. I would love to get to tour with those guys. I would like to be a part of a nice, big show, with people that get out there and really give it their everything. So, any band that’s willing to put their bodies in harms way to put on a great show, that’s who we’d like to tour with. The guys in Papa Roach, the guys in Slipknot, and if the guys in Mudvayne ever got back together or even the guys in HellYeah, all those guys put on great live shows. Those are the kind of shows we’d like to be a part of.
Preorder New album w/2 song downloads immediately @ http://amzn.com/B00MA93VIM
Download the New Album @ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-return/id904708750
Follow the band on twitter @ https://twitter.com/nonpoint
Follow the band on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/nonpointworld
Interview with Elias Soriano, lead vocalist - Nonpoint
By: Leslie Elder Rogers
Metal Exiles: The Return feels like your strongest album to date. Do you feel that Nonpoint is just getting better with age?
Elias Soriano: Hopefully so. I think everyone feels that way. I definitely have seen the difference between the first Nonpoint and the Nonpoint now. We’re definitely a lot more focused and a lot more dialed in when it comes to our tone and our sound.
Metal Exiles: What is behind the title, The Return?
Elias: It’s just a message to everyone that we’re not going anywhere; that we’re back again. We’re still releasing records and still enjoying the gig. The last record really re-opened a lot of opportunities and gates for the band and we’re taking this following step with as much seriousness and focus as we possibly can.
Metal Exiles: You guys have already played some dates so what is the reaction to the new material so far?
Elias: The reaction has been great. It’s great that the songs are already being played on the radio, locally, in those areas. The fans are already getting to know the songs and singing along with the lyrics. That’s awesome.
Metal Exiles: With 7 studio albums already under your belt where do you as a vocalist go for inspiration?
Elias: My best bet personally is going from the music that the guys come up with. That way it’s fresh and it comes from and is inspired from something and I’m about to attach something to. I like to be inspired by the actual music we’re writing and take it from there that way it fits and feels a lot more natural and better. Everyone writes their parts. Sometimes we help each other but I write 99% of the lyrics and vocal lines, Rob writes his drums parts, the guys write their guitar parts. If someone likes something, we throw the flag and stop the ball movement on the field and say “hey, that’s kind of cool, let’s see where we can take it”, so everyone really does their part.
Metal Exiles: What kind of new ground did you think you broke with The Return?
Elias: I think our song writing definitely got really dialed in a lot more. I think we learned a lot on the last recording so going from that recording into this recording with pretty much the same teachers Daniel Salcidoto and Johnny K., I was able to learn a lot of the smaller things that really make for the big details at the end product. The last record taught me things that allowed me to walk in better prepared and not have to be juggling those same issues that I may’ve been juggling on the last recording so this time we were able play a little bit more.
Metal Exiles: What was it about Johnny K’s past that made you want to work with him in the first place for your last record and what do you feel he did for The Return?
Elias: I think the conversations that we had initially were why we chose to work with Johnny. He had a lot of the same ideas and more importantly, he didn’t want to muddy the waters too much. He wanted to clear them a little bit more. Once we all saw that, it was a lot easier to deal with song writing and recording and dealing with now a 6th member of the band, and a 6th opinion. With him it felt good and it felt natural so we really fix what wasn’t broken.
Metal Exiles: The material is beyond intriguing. Some of the stuff like Goodbye Letters and Never Cared Before stand out. Where did these tracks come from?
Elias: We’re just 2014 Nonpoint. We’re writing new music and we’re feeling different because we’re on record number 8 and we know what we want and what kind of impression we want to make. We just hope everyone enjoys it as much as we enjoy the process.
Metal Exiles: If you preorder the new album you get Never Ending Hole and Breaking Skin. What made these tracks stand out to go out with the orders?
Elias: That’s all business stuff and label stuff honestly. For us, we hand over the body of work and the artwork. We work hand in hand with the label on the artwork and the release of the record but outside of that, it’s really business plays and stuff like that. It’s probably because they felt that those were our strongest songs so they wanted to coax fans into buying the record early.
Metal Exiles: There are a lot of merchandise bundles being offered for The Return. How much of a hand do you guys have in this and how do you think that helps sales these days?
Elias: When it comes to our merch and stuff like that, that’s one thing. We control all of our merch and our artwork on that end. When it comes to bundle packages and stuff like that, that’s all the business side of it.
Metal Exiles: You guys are going out for a long time for this record with some diverse bands like Gemini Syndrome. What is touring life now for Nonpoint and bands in general?
Elias: We’re just trying to support the record. That’s what we always do. That’s the way we like to tour. We like to support our records and the cities that support our band. There are a lot of cities doing that now so we want to get out there and support the record and support the fan base that is supporting us.
Metal Exiles: In closing, do you mind giving me an idea of your choice of what bands you’d like to tour with (aside from the great bands you are already touring with)?
Elias: I like bands that do it live. Right now the guys in Korn are throwing down old school. I would love to get to tour with those guys. I would like to be a part of a nice, big show, with people that get out there and really give it their everything. So, any band that’s willing to put their bodies in harms way to put on a great show, that’s who we’d like to tour with. The guys in Papa Roach, the guys in Slipknot, and if the guys in Mudvayne ever got back together or even the guys in HellYeah, all those guys put on great live shows. Those are the kind of shows we’d like to be a part of.
Preorder New album w/2 song downloads immediately @ http://amzn.com/B00MA93VIM
Download the New Album @ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-return/id904708750
Follow the band on twitter @ https://twitter.com/nonpoint
Follow the band on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/nonpointworld
