It’s the dead of winter in Montreal, and Nothing More guitarist Mark Vollelunga is genuinely unbothered. The band is rolling into Olympia on February 23rd, and while plenty of touring musicians will quietly curse a Quebec February the moment they step off the bus, Vollelunga seems almost amused by the whole thing. “It makes it exciting, right? Just that walk to the venue where your nostril hair freezes. It really wakes you up in the morning.”
Nothing More have been around long enough to find the fun in a frozen parking lot. Formed in San Antonio in 2003 by Vollelunga and vocalist Jonny Hawkins, the band spent the better part of a decade scrapping through lineup changes and label rejections before a two-night run at the 2013 Aftershock Festival finally changed the conversation. A deal with Eleven Seven Music followed, then Grammy nominations for The Stories We Tell Ourselves, and now seven albums into their career, including Carnal from June 2024, they’re still very much in motion.
Montreal has always been good to them, though Vollelunga is upfront that the relationship hasn’t been tended to as much as he’d like. “Unfortunately, it’s only been a handful of times that we’ve been to Montreal. I really wish that Heavy Montreal Festival existed because that was one of the coolest festivals.”
The heart of Nothing More has always been the Vollelunga-Hawkins partnership, something that goes back to church camp jam sessions before either of them had any business calling themselves a band. Keeping that working after twenty-plus years, he says, comes down to something pretty simple. “I think we both respect each other when it comes to work and art and what we do together. We work really well together, and into making sure that at the end of the day, we want to feel goosebumps. We want the hairs to stand up on the back of our necks, to make sure that every song kind of goes through that filter process and that we’re not mailing it in. We want to make sure that it’s killer, not filler. And we both still love that. And we both still love rock and roll and metal and creating good art that makes you question things and feel things, that helps you get through things.”
That line of thinking goes back to the very first record. The band’s 2004 debut was called Shelter, and whatever else has changed since then, that core idea never budged. “When we first started the band, our first album was called Shelter. One thing that still exists today is that we want our lyrics and our music to be a shelter for those that need it.”
Fans have taken that seriously, and they’re vocal about it. Songs from across the band’s catalogue regularly surface in conversations about music that helped people through genuinely hard times. Far from feeling like a burden, Vollelunga says, it’s more like fuel. “No, actually, I think it makes us more excited to know that we’re being taken seriously and to know that this is an opportunity, in every phrase that we say and every rhyme that exists. It’s a chance to stoke the ember in someone’s heart and kind of stir up the dust of maybe some trauma or stuff that hasn’t been dealt with, because we know firsthand what it’s like dealing with a lot of those demons and how hard it can be to just get through every single day. And if that’s how we can help people out, that’s amazing, because I know music and songs and bands have done that to me and that’s worth living.”
Thrice comes up when he talks about who did that for him. Specifically, frontman Dustin Kensrue. “There’s just something special about Dustin’s words. He’s just a great poet. We definitely come from similar backgrounds, sort of spiritually. He talks about things that really make you question and wonder about who you are, what you believe, why you believe what you believe.” The Canadian influences get their due too, and there are a few of them. “Our Lady Peace was huge for Johnny, Dan and me for sure. Finger 11, we were huge Finger 11 fans twenty years ago. They’re still kicking. Three Days Grace as well. I love what they’re doing with Adam and Matt right now.”
Years spent opening for bigger bands haven’t worn that fan mentality down. If anything, Vollelunga sounds like someone who still gets a lot out of watching how it’s done at the top. “My favourite thing is to just watch, obviously the production, and watch the show, how a big band has created a start-to-finish show that feels united, that works, that flows and goes. One of our favourite bands is Muse, and at a few festivals we’ve played, just getting to see all of their stuff and how they still keep their artistry and musicianship alive by doing little jam sections or challenging themselves to do a different little drum solo or musical piece that breaks up the songs. That’s definitely a big thing I look forward to in regards to learning from the greats before you and paying that forward too.”
What paying it forward actually looks like, he doesn’t dress up much. “Don’t be a dick. We’ve all toured with bands that are ego maniacs and get uber crappy about space and their time schedule, not caring, like they completely going into your sound check, or you don’t even get a tiny little dressing room or a shower for weeks at a time. We definitely consider those things and take it seriously. If they are fans of yours, talk about those things. Hang out, have a beer together, or three.”
Two decades of this, and the list of things still unfinished is longer than you might expect. “I’m very happy to do this long term and excited to keep doing it. If it wasn’t worth it I would absolutely be home with my son and my wife. I do think there’s absolutely a carrying of the torch that we still need to do. I’m excited to make these experiences bigger, to take this to an arena level. If we get to amphitheatres on our own, that’d be ridiculous. To go to South America, we have not toured South America, which is a big bummer. To go back to Australia and Japan, it’s been ten years. And of course, actually get some more time in Quebec, go up to Quebec City, and actually do a proper tour up there, play some more shows, not just the big ones and then you’re out. It would be cool to experience the culture up there more.”
Nothing More play Montreal Olympia on February 23rd. Dress for the weather.
Watch the interview below:
Photo – Travis Shinn
Share this :
