Interview via: DJ
MGM: Nowadays, we’re striking out with Not anything Extra guitarist Mark Vollelunga. Right here he’s, reside within the flesh! Good day, hello, hello, how are you?
Mark: I’m excellent, guy. Thank you for taking the time. We admire it.
MGM: In fact! I would like you to get into the historical past of the band for first-time enthusiasts who may now not know your background. Not anything Extra has been round a very long time now and also you guys are smartly established within the rock and steel neighborhood. Are you able to take us in the course of the historical past of the band, the way you happened, the way you all met, and the place you are actually?
Mark: In fact. We truly was a band in 2005. I believe such as you truly turn into a band while you in the end play out of doors of your native land and get started traveling. Our first free up was once in ’04, a full-length, and Johnny, our singer, was once if truth be told our drummer. We did that for some time, then in 2008, issues shifted. After a number of other singers, we determined Johnny had the most efficient cohesion voice out of all people, so he took over vocals. We determined to discover a other drummer. He was once an excellent drummer, so it was once exhausting to interchange, however we discovered a couple of other guys and stored it going. In 2013, we were given signed and made a extra nationwide and world title. Since then, we’ve had a number of data main as much as our newest, Carnal, which can be out June twenty eighth. We’re so pumped!
MGM: Superb! I’ve to mention, our mag has been round since 2008. One of the vital first data we reviewed out of your band was once again in 2010 with “The Few No longer Fleeting”. It was once nonetheless beautiful early for you guys, however my creator gave it a super ranking. That’s if truth be told how I began being attentive to your song.
Mark: That’s superior! I have in mind traveling round that point. We truly stored issues regional to develop the thrill there and get other folks excited. It’s nice that you simply came upon about us again then. I nonetheless like that file and put it on every so often. There are some excellent jams on it.
MGM: That leads me to considered one of my questions. You all the time get requested about your development from previous data to the place you are actually. What do you recall from the recordings of that previous file in comparison to now?
Mark: Each that file and this new file are identical for reverse causes. Up till that time, we were running with manufacturers, however we determined to self-produce. Fleeting was once self-produced, as had been the self-titled, Tales We Inform Ourselves, and Spirits. Now, with Carnal, we’re running with a manufacturer once more for the primary time since then. We discovered Drew Fulk, sometimes called Wizard Blood, and take to each other right away. He’s nice at mediating when we now have disagreements and is lightning-fast in manufacturing. At this degree in our lives, we now have different commitments and don’t have as a lot time, so running with a manufacturer has been a really perfect assist.
MGM: Two follow-ups: How does one get a nickname like Wizard Blood?
Mark: I don’t even have in mind the tale, to be truthful. I believe I requested him the similar query, and his resolution made sense on the time, however I’ve utterly forgotten it now.
MGM: And also you discussed you might have a child as smartly. Balancing circle of relatives and song should be a problem.
Mark: Completely. I’m married, and my son is 11. He’s beginning center college subsequent 12 months. All of us produce other commitments, however we all know what we’re doing after two decades. It doesn’t take us as lengthy to get the place we want to pass with writing and recording.
MGM: Let’s communicate concerning the new file, Carnal. I’ve listened to the promo a couple of occasions. Your songs all the time have those nice anthems that play smartly reside. “Area on Sand” has a really perfect refrain, and “If It Doesn’t Harm” is a deep, catchy music. Are you able to communicate concerning the lyrics for “If It Doesn’t Harm”?
Mark: Completely. We typically get started with how everybody’s feeling in a consultation. Any person stocks one thing, and it begins a dialog. For this music, the road “It doesn’t harm in any respect, and it doesn’t imply a factor” stood out. It’s about failed relationships and maintaining on to wish, which could be a other more or less ache. It’s a truly unhappy, determined position to be, however on occasion you simply must let pass. Breakup songs attach as a result of they’re relatable, and other folks want them right through tricky occasions.
MGM: That’s one of the vital causes enthusiasts attach along with your song. It’s relatable and uncooked. “Angel” is any other standout music with David Draiman from Disturbed. “Freefall” and “Existential Dread” also are very good. Are you able to speak about “Existential Dread”?
Mark: That music began with riffs we wrote again in 2019. We couldn’t work out the verse or refrain, so we put it to sleep for some time. In past due 2022, we revisited it and located new power. The theory of existential dread, the concern of the inevitable, impressed the music. It’s about profiting from existence in spite of that concern.
MGM: Your song is tricky to categorize since you mix such a lot of kinds. As an example, “Run For Your Existence” has a trippy vibe, nearly like Red Floyd’s Darkish Facet of the Moon. How do you’re feeling about interludes for your songs?
Mark: They completely play a component within the larger thought of the album. A few of our favourite data take this method. It’s concerning the journey, the ebbs and flows of the listening enjoy. Interludes assist get a divorce the album and provides the listener a destroy. We attempt to improve subject matters and motifs lyrically and conceptually with the file.
MGM: Let’s speak about your influences. You discussed Dream Theater previous. Who else has influenced your guitar enjoying?
Mark: Once I first began, I used to be a large Mark Tremonti man. I realized all of Metallica’s songs. I studied classical guitar in faculty and beloved composers like Leo Brouwer. Mike Einziger from Incubus was once a large affect, in addition to Joey Eppard from the band 3. Trendy revolutionary rock bands like Karnivool and Lifeless Letter Circus additionally encourage me. We strive to soak up excellent sides of all song and put our spin on it.
MGM: Attention-grabbing. One in all our authentic writers was once from Australia, and he presented me to a large number of nice revolutionary bands from there. Let’s speak about your reside performances. I’ve noticed you a few occasions, and your presentations are electrical. You give 120% each and every time. How do you stay that power?
Mark: We don’t consider in filler or mailing it in. It’s vital for us to place on a excellent display, problem ourselves musically, and stay it contemporary and thrilling for the enthusiasts and ourselves. It may be exhausting while you’re enjoying the similar set for weeks, however you must seek for new tactics to stay it attention-grabbing.
MGM: Your reside presentations surely resonate with enthusiasts. They attach along with your power. Do you might have any songs that stunned you with how smartly they had been gained?
Mark: Completely. “This Is The Time” is our nearer, and none people concept it will do what it did. It was the music that presented us to the arena. “I’ll Be Ok” and “Fade In Fade Out” are different songs that attached with enthusiasts in tactics we didn’t be expecting. “Fade In Fade Out” particularly resonates with households. It began as a non-public music for me when my son was once in utero, but it surely was so a lot more.
MGM: That’s a really perfect tale. Congratulations on “Cross To Battle” going gold. That’s spectacular in nowadays’s song business.
Mark: Thanks such a lot. We’re truly stoked about that. It was once a surprise and a blessing when it took place.
MGM: Thank you in your time, Mark. The brand new file comes out at the twenty eighth on Higher Noise Information. I do know persons are going to find it irresistible. I want you guys endured luck and hope to catch you at the street quickly.
Mark: Completely. Don’t be a stranger. Let’s get a lager in combination.
MGM: Sounds excellent. Take it simple.
Mark: Take care. A lot love. Bye.
https://nothingmore.ffm.to/carnal
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