They repeat a lie till it becomes a fact
We gotta burn it down so we can build it back
The more you love ‘em, the harder it gets to write about.
Nothing More is a band I’ve known and loved for over a decade. Every album they’ve released has had at least one song that I’ve truly connected with.
Even though I’ll be forever grateful even if they don’t record a single new song, I’m excited that they’re actively working on a new album. Despite signing up for their own little community, which gives early access and sneak peaks to the new songs, I haven’t signed in once—because listening to a new Nothing More album, from start to finish, is a religious experience for me.
It all started with a friend from a now-defunct community—a band forum, back in the day when that was a thing—notifying us that a slightly more famous friend-of-the-band was singing with another band called “Nothing More”, and shared the link to their MySpace.
Naturally, me being me, I jumped onto their website, to purchase said album.
Seeing how the URL for the album “Save You/Save Me” was nothingmore.net/saveyou/saveme, as a geek, I had lost it.
Could it be the hands of dice,
or is it a roll of fate?
Looking further, I’ve found two prior albums, Shelter and Vandura, that mostly contained the same songs. Different singer, similar vibes.
Soon after Save You/Save Me, they parted ways with the vocalist who was the reason I had found them. The lineup had changed over the years, but there was a lot of chemistry between the two remaining founders of the band, Jonny and Mark, and the new bass player, Daniel.
Jonny is a great vocalist. He wasn’t always. He started out as a great drummer—one of the best I’ve ever seen.
The trio wasn’t happy with how vocalists influenced them into directions they didn’t want to really go to. Jonny wanted to take over vocals, but needed time to learn how to sing, and practice.
The result was an EP that contained slower versions of older songs, with vocals that hadn’t fully grown to it’s potential just yet.
Once Jonny finally fully found his voice, the result was an amazing new Nothing More album—the album that defines the band that is Nothing More today.
They created an amazing album that was, as always, very fun to watch live.
By the second album as the frontman, Jonny had truly reformed as a musician. It could be felt in the more confident and courageous vocals.
It could also be seen in live performances, and truly be felt in acoustic ones, especially in the little tricks, such as the use of his fingers to manipulate his voice.
They also started getting a more active fanbase, that they collaborated with, to create wonderful variations of their own songs.
What truly made them heard was Jenny—a song about Jonny’s sister, her addiction, and how it affected their family, especially their ill mother. Turns out, others had similar stories to share, of love and loss, of family and sorrow. Others saw themselves in the song, and opened up, only to amplify Jonny’s pleads on addiction prevention.
Surely, I thought, they won’t be able to top these albums. Song after song, they’ve given us, me, masterpieces on how to deal with heartache, loss, and societal norms and expectations, as well as pure rock songs that were just damn fun.
Boy was I wrong—their best was yet to come.
The Stories We Tell Ourselves dropped about 2 months before I moved to Canada, and about a month after we got my fathers cancer diagnosis.
Let ‘Em Burn perfectly described my feelings about the politics surrounding my then-place-of-residence. I had it on repeat to remind myself why I was leaving for Canada, and why any kind of reform was not possible if I were to stay.
But the kicker of the album was in the final 1/6th of it. The last 3 songs, including an interlude.
I will make it through this,
There’s a time to die, and a way to live—
I’m not going out like this.
This song was what got me through, when I believed he was going to pull through.
…and when the inevitable came, the last song was there for me too.
I’ve listened to these songs a handful of times. When I needed them most.
And the last time I listened to them was right after I got the news.
Never settle
Make your mark
Hold your head up
Follow your heart
These are not just the lyrics from the song—they are actual words that I heard from my father throughout my life, affirmed by actions to support them.
Hearing Jonny, a voice I’d been familiar with for a decade, and a sound I’d been familiar with for even more, belt it out was a powerful reminder to me—a reminder that I truly needed, and truly appreciate.
It still feels surreal that a rock band I learned years ago ended up being the calming effect I needed the most at the most important moment in my life.
I’m forever grateful to them. Can’t wait for their next album, and can’t wait to meet them in person to thank them for their music, and their guidance.