After 20-plus years, ten full-length releases, countless sold out shows, and over one million albums sold worldwide, Nonpoint endure through sustaining an unbreakable bond among themselves and to a diehard fan base all over the globe.
Since their 1997 formation in Fort Lauderdale, FL, their ‘’give it all until the wheels come off’’ mindset has fuelled every move. Signature grooves hit with haymaker force bolstered by hip-hop cadences, thrashed-out six-string precision, and unshakable melodies boosted by a hypnotic hybrid of deft lyricism and crushing hooks
Nonpoint return to Australia for the first time since Soundwave 2015. We chat to frontman Elias Soriano ahead of the tour to find out all the latest as well as find out some of his early influences and his discovery of rock music.
Andrew: So how’s things with you and the rest of the band?
Elias: Everything is wonderful! We have a day off here so catching a little bit of as home cooked of a meal as I can find and hopefully get a shower!
Andrew: [laughs] Part of the struggles of being on tour right? I guess you must be on the road now on tour?
Elias: Yes right now we’re out with P.O.D.
Andrew: Cool so has it been going well? How have the crowds been going?
Elias: Oh everything has been great, crowd’s have been great, shows have been packed, everything has been energetic singing along. It’s been amazing.
Andrew: Well we are looking forward to seeing you down under in a few weeks time. We’re excited, it’s been a while since you’ve been down here.
Elias: Yeah we had the Soundwave situation so we had to get back to finding another way to get over to Australia since the promoter wasn’t promoting anymore who we worked with. So now we got the new record, new management, new label and everything is awesome so we’re back on track.
Andrew: Definitely and speaking of the new album, I believe and correct me if I’m wrong obviously but before the last album that you released, X, you guys took a bit of a break right?
Elias: Yeah we took a little time to just mentally decompress and give ourselves a little space between us and the music. A soon as we did the music started flying back and forth and then we’re scheduling studio time!
Andrew: It sounded like it was a good break for you guys. Was that something that was needed for quite some time, seemed like it was maybe a bit of a burn out or something.
Elias: Yeah absolutely we needed a little time. We pushed it really hard on “The Poison Red” and we were at it for quite some time and had a bunch of headlining stuff so we needed to give that a break.
Andrew: Now coming down to Australia for a headline tour with (hed) p.e., you guys have done a few tours together right?
Elias: Yes we have, we’re excited about this one! We’ve done it with these boys before, we know that they put on a great live show which means the energy is going to be high all night so we’re looking forward to being part of that ticket.
Andrew: Are we expecting a lot of the new material or will you be busting out a lot of the old stuff as well or a bit of a mix of both?
Elias: A mix of both, all the favorites and then all the new favorites. We got a lot of requests and we’re getting a lot of reaction from some of our heavier stuff off of the new record. It’s put a different coat of paint on the band and has us playing in front of a new crowd so we’re definitely going to be pushing those as well.
Andrew: I’ve spoken about this with quite a few bands over the years about putting a setlist together for tours and stuff, is that a difficult process for you guys or is it quite easy?
Elias: Well it’s a little bit of both. We always know which ones we’re definitely going to play and then we spend forever trying to figure out the last 4 or 5 that we need to switch out and put in place of. This one the sets a little bit short so it should probably be a little easier.
Andrew: Obviously the fans have their own favorites but what about yourself, do you have your own favorites that you like to play?
Elias: Right now “Dodge Your Destiny” is one that really gets a lot of reaction live, “Chaos”, people are singing it as loud as they sing “Bullet With A Name”. So we’re definitely going to be adding those in the set. “Milestone” is another one getting a lot of love as well as “Fix This” so we’re definitely going to rep the new record.
Andrew: It’s good to hear that the new stuff is getting some good feedback as well, the fans must be loving the fact that you guys are back with a new album. Has it been mostly positive so far?
Elias: Yeah it’s been great! You can always tell the reactions for the record is always relative to how much they sing during the set, so when you look out there and you see they’re mouthing all the words, you know you did your job.
Andrew: I think the first time you came to Australia was probably for Soundwave as well, about 10 years ago right?
Elias: A few years ago, I think about 3 or 4 years ago we played in 2015 was the last Soundwave they ever did.
Andrew: Was that your first time?
Elias: Oh no my fourth time, the band’s third.
Andrew: So do you remember the first time you came down here? Any stories to share from that tour?
Elias: Yeah it was our first appearance at Soundwave. It was interesting, we were there literally the day that it went from Summer to Winter and I had never seen such a drastic change in weather in my life, it was insane. One day it was like in comparison, 98 degrees (Fahrenheit) and then the very next day it was like almost 40 degrees (Fahrenheit). It was really a 50 degree shift and I was like, ‘I didn’t bring any stuff for cold weather!’. So I was freezing by around the last day.
Andrew: It sounds like you must have been in Melbourne because that sounds like Melbourne type weather [laughs].
Elias: I swear, it probably was [laughs].
Andrew: So let’s go back a little in time then, I like to ask people how they got into music and some of their influences. What was it that sparked the idea that you wanted to be in a band to play music?
Elias: There was a couple of friends of mine in the scene that I was friends with them and they were kinda jamming in a band and once I started hanging out with them and I became a part of that circle of friends that I started getting into the culture and then the next thing I know, we’re all jamming together and trying to put the band together.
Andrew: What sort of stuff were you listening to at the time?
Elias: I wasn’t really into rock to be honest with you. I was more listening to hip hop and R&B and eventually it was…when you find something like a new genre of music, if you can think back when you were a kid, the first time it went from this kind of music to this kind of music, how open minded you were and how you just wanted to listen to everything. It just happened later in my life where instead of me getting into it when I was in high school, I got into it in my early 20’s and started to get into the rock genre culture.
Andrew: So I guess that gives you a unique and different perspective on the genre itself. So what did you think of it when you first listened to it? Were you aware of what was going on in the rock world at all?
Elias: Yeah a little bit but it’s strange, you run in the circle of friends that you run in and as you start to get to know people, you start to get to know what they like. It took me a while to run into a bunch of people that like rock music and when I did, it became something that I wanted to at least get educated about and lo and behold it was something I liked.
Andrew: Yeah I believe that’s a good way of looking at things especially with educating yourself on music. I find certainly with hip hop and rock, there is certainly a dividing point between the fans but then there are bands like yourselves for example that have blended the two together really well. So it’s interesting, especially metal fans can be quite hesitant to get into other forms of music like hip hop for example.
Elias: Yeah it’s, I’m a sucker for a cool song. I really don’t care what it is, if it’s a cool song it’s a cool song. I’m down to just enjoying music for what it is.
Andrew: Just to give some fans a little bit of insight then, is there any particular style of music that fans may be surprised to hear you are a fan of?
Elias: Probably R&B. I’m a huge R&B fan, I like blues and blues chord structures and songs that poke an emotion and those songs normally do that.
Andrew: Yeah definitely I can hear a bit of that smooth sort of stuff in your style. So after the Australian tour what do you have planned?
Elias: We got a couple of support slots in the Fall, we’re doing a couple of radio shows in July and then we’re going to move into what is been talked about as a headlining run and then next year we’re going to pick up right after the holidays and we got a couple of offers that are getting tied up. So there will be a lot of touring, we’re really pushing “Fix This” right now which is the new single off the record. It’s getting a lot of love so we have a lot on our plate right now.
Andrew: Awesome good to hear that things are quite busy with Nonpoint. So before you come down to Australia, do you have any last words for the Aussie fans?
Elias: Feel free to bring coffee and beer to the venue, we love both of those things Australian. Because you guys have the best coffee and the best beer [laughs].
(hed) p.e. and Nonpoint June 2019 Australian Tour Dates
Wednesday 26th PERTH Rosemount
Thursday 27th ADELAIDE Enigma
Friday 28th MELBOURNE Max Watts
Saturday 29th SYDNEY Manning Bar
Sunday 30th BRISBANE The Zoo
Tickets From: http://silverbacktouring.com.au/
