Nonpoint Interview

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Band Name: Nonpoint
Interviewed: Zach
Interviewer: 
Date: 2010-04-07


Previous Nonpoint Interviews
ZACH OF NONPOINT IS JOINING US ON THE PHONE TODAY.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: HI ZACH, THANKS FOR BEING ON THE SHOW. HOW ARE YOU TODAY?
Zach: Hey, I'm good Shauna, how about yourself?

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: I'M GOOD, WHERE ARE YOU GUYS AT TODAY? I HEAR WIND.
Zach: Yeah, I had to step outside because the bus is always noisy. Everyone is watching baseball because baseball season has started up. We are somewhere in Texas. (At this point he yells out "Dan where are we at today?" Dan responds with Lubbock, Texas.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: YOU WILL BE RELEASING A NEW ALBUM ENTITLED MIRACLE. I HAVE SEEN TWO DATES FOR RELEASE, ONE IS APRIL 27THAND THE OTHER IS MAY 4TH, WHICH DATE IS CORRECT?
Zach: It is absolutely May 4th now. Its set, we are just getting the final artwork sent to us. It will get printed and be out May 4th.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: IS THIS THE BANDS SIXTH STUDIO ALBUM? I THOUGHT I SAW MORE THAN THAT.
Zach: Yeah, its more than that, we just did an EP too. It came out separate. It's a little acoustic thing called Cut the Cord that has five previous Nonpoint songs that we basically got to have fun with and re-do them all. It puts a new outlook on the song and it gives the listener a new feel for it in an acoustic way.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: CHAD GRAY (MUDVAYNE) AND GREG TRIBETT PRODUCED THE ALBUM. HADN'T YOU WORKED WITH THEM ON THE PREVIOUS ALBUM TOO?
Zach: No, this is actually the first time Nonpoint has had outside producers. This is also the first record that they have ever produced. They have their own production company called Yep! That is what Chad says when he needs a beer. He will say "Yep!" and then you say "Oh, gotcha!" and you go and get him a beer. I don't know if that had anything to do with how they named it, but I think it is. It was great; it was a mutual thing that we had talked about here and there. We went on the Mudvayne tour last year for three months in the states. We threw around the idea, we get along great and the two bands have known each other for ten years. When the tour ended, we said "Let's do this." Last summer we started sending our songs over via internet, we would make the changes they wanted and send it back over. It was really easy to work with these guys and we didn't turn down any of their ideas. We went to Wisconsin for our one day of pre-production and to just play the songs. We went in to record the next day. We knocked the thing out in three weeks and we had a great time doing it. It was a lot more fun than work.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: CHAD ALSO SINGS ON ONE OF THE SONGS.
Zach: Yeah, we tossed around the idea of throwing him on there because he is a great vocalist. He had never been a guest vocalist and we had never had a guest vocalist either. His voice seemed to sound really cool with Elias's and some people didn't even know it was him. Some people were like "That song sounds just like Mudvayne." We were like "Maybe it's because one of the guys singing is from Mudvayne." He really brought the song up a level. We still have to do it live with him yet. We will be doing a bunch of shows with HellYeah during this cycle I'm sure. We will be able to get Chad up there and do the song right one day.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: I DON'T WANT TO SAY THAT YOU ARE THE NEW GUY IN THE GROUP BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN IN THE BAND FOR TWO YEARS NOW.
Zach: Yeah, a couple years now, I'm used to it. People will probably say that for the next five years.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WHAT BAND WERE YOU IN PREVIOUSLY?
Zach: Stupid bands (Laughing)

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: I WAS READING HOW IT CAME TO BE THAT YOU JOINED THE BAND. IT FEELS LIKE THE INDUSTRY IS GETTING SMALLER AND SMALLER, LIKE SO MANY MUSICIANS ARE PRODUCERS NOW OR MANAGING BANDS. HAVE YOU EVER NOTICIED HOW SMALL THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS?
Zach: Oh sure, yeah, I absolutely 100% agree with you. It's a lot smaller industry than you would think. Rob called up a mutual friend of mine, Shaun Glass from Dirge Within who used to be in Soil, and asked if he knew any guitar players. Shaun said "Yeah, my friend Zach. He's in a band right now, but I don't know how serious he is with it." He also called a friend of mine, Dan from Disturbed, who helped produce the record from the last band I was in. Dan has been a great friend of mine; we grew up in the same neighborhood in Chicago. Actually, I grew up while he was already growing up. He wrote a real nice letter of recommendation, not an actual letter, but you now. The guys came over to my apartment in Chicago one day and I set up some drums, warned all the tenants that we would be making some noise and ran through some Nonpoint songs. More importantly it wasn't about how you can play the songs because there are a million guys that can play guitar and play them the way they are written, it was more about writing. I really wanted to shine with that and I had a bunch of stuff written. I threw it their way and asked if it was something they thought we could make a record with. We went on a tour and started writing like crazy. We got on the bus, broke out the guitar and our recorder and just started recording everything. Most of this new record came off of that. It was an awesome vibe, it was fresh and you have to roll with it.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: THEN YOU STARTED YOUR OWN LABEL. I WAS THINKING IT WAS A REALLY GOOD IDEA FOR YOU GUYS BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN IN THE BUSINESS A LONG TIME AND YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO. AS LONG AS YOU HAVE A GOOD TEAM BEHIND YOU, WHY NOT?
Zach: The thing is we were getting offers from major labels, but they are hurting so bad. That is probably why you mentioned that all these musicians stick together and whatnot. There is the illegal downloading, the economy, blame it on whatever you want, but there is definitely a decline in record sales for any band, even the ones who go platinum. We have a very loyal fan base and we can tour anywhere in the U.S. to packed clubs. What do we need to give someone else more money for, let's make this business our own business? We own all of our own masters from it. Rocket Science does all of the marketing, radio and promo. They are awesome and a great team. We really couldn't be happier right now. The single is climbing the charts really fast and we are still a month out from it coming out.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: MOST BANDS TODAY ARE MAKING THEIR MONEY OFF OF MERCH AND THE MONEY THEY MAKE DOING A SHOW.
Zach: Yeah, but that's the thing, the majors are wanting to take your merch now too. We were like "No way! Are you kidding me?" That was part of the stipulations from some of the offers from majors. We aren't going to go giving away a bunch of stuff we rightfully worked for.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WILL YOU TAKE ON OTHER BANDS EVENTUALLY?
Zach: As of right now that is the furthest thing from our minds. It wouldn't be fair to deal with anyone else because our main goal is us. Down the road we would absolutely be interested in that.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: I READ A QUOTE THAT ELIAS SAID THAT HE WROTE THE SONG "MIRACLE" AS A GIGANTIC F@*K YOU TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAD DOUBT IN THE BAND AND THAT THE SONG SET THE TONE FOR THE RECORD.
Zach: I read that quote too. I remember when we were writing, we wanted to do something new. I thought the word miracle was a pretty strong word that means a lot to a lot of different people. I think the song is really cool because it's a song about struggle, determination and coming out on top. The band parted ways with Andy, their management and label. When you are in limbo, it isn't the most comfortable place you want to be. I give the band credit for sticking around so long, if you look at the bands from Ozzfest 2000, there are a lot that are not playing in bands anymore. It did set the tone for the record because a lot of the songs are about strength. I like to play music to feel good, not to be depressed.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: YOU HAVE ALREADY MADE A MUSIC VIDEO FOR THE SINGLE "MIRACLE." THOSE CHICKS CAN THROW DOWN HUH?
Zach: That was fun actually; we did the video in Los Angeles. We did our individual shots and then we got to sit back and watch the girls get doused with water and fight in bootie shorts. It's a hard life we lead. Two of the girls were real fighters and then a couple of the girls were extras that were taught how to throw a punch and take a punch. It was the director's idea to do something like that and it came out pretty cool. It is going to debut on Headbanger's Ball when the record comes out. We filmed it for that too.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: I LOVE HOW THE BLONDE IS BEING DEFEATED AND THEN SHE TAKES A DRINK OUT OF HER MONSTER ENERGY DRINK WATER BOTTLE AND THEN TOTALLY KICKS ASS AFTER THAT.
Zach: Yeah, I think there is a cut with and without that. Go Monster Energy Drink!

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: YOU GUYS WERE ON TOUR WITH COLD. WHAT ARE THE PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR AS FAR AS TOURING GOES?
Zach: We are going to be doing some dates with Sevendust and then we go to Rock on the Range, Europe, Download Festival, Drowning Pool dates and Rob Zombie dates. It's going to be steady.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WHAT DO YOU GENERALLY DO AFTER A SHOW? DO YOU GO OUT AND MINGLE?
Zach: Yeah, you can always catch us. At any show you will find at least one of us or a couple of us hanging out. When I was a kid I loved to say Hi to someone that I supported. We are so grateful for our fans.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU START PLAYING GUITAR?
Zach: My mom made me take lessons from this old lady at a guitar place. I was eight years old and my hands were small and I was a short kid. I'm 6'2" now, but my hands were small and I couldn't play because the guitar was too big. I wanted to play Guns N Roses and she wanted me to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb." I set it down for a little bit and picked it back up when I was twelve. My first gig was playing at an eighth grade graduation party and I knew it was something I wanted to do for a long time.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: MAYBE ONE NIGHT UP ON STAGE YOU CAN BREAK OUT IN A SOLO AND PLAY "MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB."
Zach: I'd have to re-learn it, it's been a while. (Laughing)

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WHAT WAS IT ABOUT BEING IN A BAND THAT WAS SO APPEALING TO YOU THAT YOU WANTED TO MAKE A CAREER OUT OF IT?
Zach: That's a good question, I like good questions. It's everything that rock and roll embraces. Every single thing it is, the fans, the crowds, the energy, the electricity, it's really cool and I would never trade it in.

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WAS THERE EVER ANY DOUBT, I MEAN, DID YOU EVER HAVE ANY OTHER CAREER IN MIND?
Zach: No, I didn't. I went to college for a little bit and studied classical guitar and musical performance. The teachers were like these bitter grad students that had to teach us to get their degree. They were great guitar players, but they hated life. I'm like "Man, I can either be one of these miserable guys, a music teacher or I'm going to be really good at classical guitar and who is going to pay me to do any of that stuff?" I had a chance when I was 21 to join a pretty good band for my age so I left. It's all I really know how to do and it's all I want to do so I took the chance and left school. There have been peaks and valleys on the road, but thanks for making me realize that I'm not good at anything else but playing guitar. (Laughing)

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: WELL IF THERE'S ANYTHING ELSE I CAN DO FOR YOU, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. (LAUGHING) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INTERVIEW ZACH. I HAD A WONDERFUL TIME TALKING WITH YOU.
Zach: Thanks Shauna

SHAUNA O'DONNELL: BEFORE I LET YOU GO DID YOU WANT TO ADD OR SAY ANYTHING ELSE?
Zach: Yeah, go to ITunes and download "Miracle." Look for us all summer on tour.