Alternative Metal Outfit Nothing More to Play the Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
It’s time for some metal, Indiana. As the summer’s death throes begin and our brood slouches its way back to school once more, we need catharsis. And plenty of it. And what could be more cathartic than some good old-fashioned headbanging? Fortuitously enough, metal band Nothing More comes to town on August 31st. So, head over to the Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center and get your metal infusion!
A Brief History
San Antonio band Nothing More came together back into 2003, although many members of the band had been jamming together long before that. In fact, many of the principle members of the band met each other in middle school. Now, this kind of familiarity would normally foster a cohesive environment where musicians would stick together out of old loyalties. But it didn’t. In fact, lineup changes were rather frequent during the band’s early years. This constant disruption came to a head in 2008 when it forced drummer Jonny Hawkins to become the band’s vocalist and frontman as well. While the results weren’t promising at first, the Hawkins and the band kept at it.
In 2009, Nothing More independently released The Few Not Fleeting. While not the breakthrough smash the band would have liked, it did put them on the critical map. Even so, the band toured for two years in order to promote the album. However, their persistence paid off and in 2011 they began work on a new album.
Once again, Nothing More opted to go the indie route and moved in together to work on the album. After two years of work and a successful Kickstarter campaign, the band released Nothing More in 2013. They immediately went on tour to promote it and eventually found themselves at the Aftershock Festival. There, their music drew large crowds and the interest of record label Eleven Seven Music. The label gave Nothing More a rerelease which included an advertising campaign. This time, the band got the publics figurative and literal ear, with the album charting at #33 on the Billboard 200 in the first week it was out. The album also produced several charting singles.
Since then, Nothing More hasn’t slowed down. With another album out, The Stories We Tell Ourselves, in 2017, the band has been touring tirelessly to promote it. So far, the tour has been quite successful.
Their Sound
First of all, just calling Nothing More metal is an oversimplification. Instead, they offer a technique-heavy take on the genre that blends a broader alternative sound with elements of prog-metal. Layer in some basic hard rock, and that describes their sound in terms of genre conventions.
Generally speaking, Nothing More features a softer sound. In fact, many of their songs begin with softly melodic lyrical hooks that gradually intensify. They also tend to eschew the pounding drums in favor of a driving, but not deafening, beat. Likewise, while not exactly light on distortion, their chewy, arpeggiated guitar riffs don’t tend to be very abrasive. Over all the effect is similar to that of a heavier 30 Seconds to Mars.
So, as always. The venue is the Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center, show’s at 6:00.
See You There!
