Page 10 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine Issue 110

BV110 pg 10-13 Nothing More Interview.qxp_BV110 pg 10 15/06/2024 16:01 Page 1

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Chills

une 2024 saw the release of Nothing More’s fifth studio album, ‘Carnal’, the follow-up
Jto 2022’s ‘Spirits’. ‘Carnal’ is another outstanding release by the Texan band (com-
prised of Jonny Hawkins on vocals, Mark Vollelunga on guitar, Daniel Oliver on bass and Ben
Anderson on drums), which shows the four-piece continuing to push musical boundaries and
being creatively and artistically on fire, as always. A few months prior to the release, Black
Velvet caught up with guitarist Mark Vollelunga in Birmingham, where we dived down into
a rabbit hole of toxicity, gratitude, liquid courage and chills.

hen Nothing More released ‘If It Does- proud of. And it’s sort of like the fight-or-flight he older we get, the more likely we are
Wn’t Hurt’, the first single from ‘Carnal’, type of thing, you know; what are you willing to Tto have known someone who is toxic.
in January, they wrote, ‘To the Unsettled – do, to say, to somebody to, ‘don’t leave, don’t But what makes someone toxic – or, as Mark
Gaslighting, manipulation, narcissistic deceit leave’, and it’s not an easy thing. Love is hard, suggests, do we all have some toxicity in us?
and betrayal… this song was written while you know. And, right there, is that toxic side of “I think we’re all capable of amazing things
trapped, and is sung now while free. If you’re in things where it can be really unhealthy, and you and awful things,” Mark says. “We’re all human.
a toxic relationship and are waiting for a sign to will do things that the normal you, the sort of We’re all people, you know what I mean? So,
get out… This is it’. Black Velvet begins by ask- subconscious, greater you, isn’t OK with a lot of yeah, I think we all have, yeah, terrible toxicity
ing Mark if he thinks that many people manipu- times. And you really have to have good people in us, and it is the experiences that we’ve been
late others while in a relationship, and is it around you, I would say, that really keep you in through, growing up, the people around you,
always hard to get out? check. And listen to other people; if everyone’s your father figure, all of those that really impact
“Yeah… I think yes to both of those things,” saying the same thing, and then, you’re the only who you become, and who you are.”
he replies. “Unfortunately, I feel like we’ve all one that’s thinking something different, or saying Many fans posted comments in relation to
sort of, maybe, been a part of both sides of something different, maybe something’s wrong.” the song, ‘If It Doesn’t Hurt’, some revealing that
those things. At times, we’ve all been stuck. And they had been in a toxic relationship. One com-
we’ve all maybe done things that we’re not ment read, ‘Does anyone else find it strange

NOTHING MORE