The Riff magazine

The ri

AUGUST 2019

Hard Rock & Heavy Metal

Nothing more One change lead to three Grammy nominations

Interview

Features

Features

Concerts

Metallica and the upcomming tour

Shinedown and Papa Roach on tour

Nothing more and there succes

MUSE, Deftones, Halestorm and more

Content

04 06 10

Upcomming events

A feature with Nothing more

Top 10 albums of 2019

18 22 26 Interview with Metallica

Copenhell talks about the future

Upcomming artists

32 36 40 Shinedown and Paparoach on tour

2  AUGUST 2019  THE RIFF

Witch Festival should you go to?

How to behave in the pit

Upcomming concerts 04. 26. 2019

Forum

05. 02. 2019

Amager bio

BAD OMENS 05. 16. 2019

ALIEN WEAPONRY 06. 04. 2019

05. 08. 2019

Pumpehuset

BLACK OAK COUNTRY Vega

05. 28. 2019

Royal arena

DEATH BY APRIL Vega 06. 13. 2019

Forum

BAD WOLVES 06. 24. 2019

BREAKING BENJAMIN Parken

06. 28. 2019

HEILUNG 07. 06. 2019

GHOST 07. 26. 2019

Amager bio

FIGHT THE FURRY Vega

07. 14. 2019

Forum

AMARANTHE Pumpehuset 08. 12. 2019

TESSERACT

4  AUGUST 2019  THE RIFF

Amager bio

SHINING

EVANESCENCE

08. 23. 2019

Amager bio

08. 29. 2019

Forum

09. 15. 2019

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE 09. 16. 2019

AMARANTHE

Pumpehuset

10. 2. 2019

Royal arena

NOTHING MORE

DEFTONES 11. 12. 2019 10. 18. 2019

Vega

Forum

Parken

DISTURBED 12. 04. 2019

BRING ME THE HORRIZON Amager bio

12. 15. 2019

MASTODON

MUSE 01. 23. 2020

Vega

02. 05. 2020

SHINEDOWN

PAPA ROACH 02. 16. 2020 02. 14. 2020

Pumpehuset

Amager bio

SKILLET Amager bio

Royal arena

02. 24. 2020

parken

AS IT IS 03. 12. 2020

HALESTORM

Pumpehuset

YOU ME AT SIX

SLIPKNOT

THE RIFF  AUGUST 2019  5

Credit: Alexandre Fumeron Caption: Nothing more members from Left to right: Ben Anderson, Daniel Oliver, Jonny Hawkins, Mark Vollelunga

o h w e l p o e p r o f h c r u h c a " e e v b e i o l t e b t n s a e h c r u h "We w c t a h t s g n i h t e h t e v e i l e b t n o d

Credit: Alexandre Fumeron Caption: Jonny Hawkins on "The scorpion tail"

Mainstream breakthrough with Nothing More With the newly released, self-titled album, Nothing More feels othing More is a rock band from San Antonio, TX, they have truly hit a zenith of creativity. This record is artisUSA. If there are two words that best describe tically landscaped and woven together poetically with vast, Nothing More, they are innovation and evolution. dynamic musicality; and at the same time brutally honest in There is no better example of this than Nothing its lyrics and poignant in its delivery. It More’s newly released speaks softly of the beauty of personal fourth album (self titled) and outward forgiveness amidst heartand the dynamic show BACKSTAGE break through the song “I’ll Be OK”, they are building then takes you into the hell of being around it. They’ve set the highest bar cheated on by graphically depicting possible for the album and vow to YEARS ACTIVE scenes of infidelity in “Sex and Lies”. eclipse that, at every outing with the 2002 – present (17 years) live show.

After extensive touring across 2014 FOUNDED IN and 2015, the band returned to writing From their humble beginnings in United States and recording new material in early Texas, Nothing More answered the 2016. By September 2016, the band had call to serve in the militia of independMEMBERS 17 fully developed songs, and were conent touring artists. Armed with the Mark Vollelunga (guitar) templating whether or not any songs idea that it takes brains and balls to Jonny Hawkins (vocals) should be trimmed from the final track create your destiny in this world, these Ben Anderson (drums) listing. The band took a break from young men climbed aboard a vintage Daniel Olive (bass) recording at this point to tour with RV, salvaged from a field and set sail.

Disturbed and Chevelle throughout Now, a few short years later and with GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS the end of the year, before returning to three full-length albums and over 500 Best Rock Performance complete the recording of the album in live shows under their belts, they have Best Rock Album early 2017. mastered the DIY philosophy in every Best Rock Song imaginable way, all the while never On March 30 the band teased a clip forgetting to put their fans first.

DISCOGRAPHY from the "Jenny" video on its Facebook Shelter (2004) page. That date was chosen in honor Nothing More don’t take the stage, Save You/Save Me (2007) of World Bipolar Day. It's an illness that they storm it, alternating between The Few Not Fleeting (2009) Hawkins' sister, Jenna, has wrestled enormous rock anthems full of techniNothing More (2014) with since she was very young. cal precision and four man percussion The Stories We Tell Ourselves (2017) assaults that have more in common In June 2017, the band officially anwith the Blue Man Group than a rock PAST MEMBERS nounced the title of their fifth studio show. There is nothing pedestrian Josh Klaus album,The Stories We Tell Ourselves, about this band. Welded from disJosh Kercheville and that it would be released on carded truck and motorcycle parts, Matt Reynolds September 15, 2017. The album debutsinger Jonny Hawkins’ percussion Travis Cox ed at number 15 on the Billboard 200 platform serves as a de-facto drum Trey Graham all-format album chart, selling approxkit for Hawkins to accentuate and exDevin Travieso imately 20,000 copies in its first week. pertly pound rhythms in tandem with Paul O'Brien Prior to the album's release, the band world-class drummer Paul O’Brien. released its first single, "Go to War", And From the gut wrenching yet sonand a number of other promotional ically distinct riffs of guitar virtuoso songs, including "Don't Stop". and "Let Mark Vollelunga, to the thundering 'Em Burn". The band performed at the yet melodic bass of Daniel Oliver, or Alternative Press Music Awards and Hawkins’ commanding presence and the Loudwire Music Awards in the latter half of 2017.In Novemcharismatic delivery of sing-along lyrics too impossible to ber 2017, it was announced that the band was nominated for ignore, Nothing More is a fierce, snarling juggernaut poised to three Grammy Awards for the 2018 Grammy Awards; "Go to take the world by storm. Nothing More’s “take no prisoners” War" being nominated for Best Rock Performance and Best approach holds anyone within sight or earshot hostage until Rock Song, and The Stories We Tell Ourselves for Best Rock the very last note.

THE RIFF  AUGUST 2019  9

Album. In the same month, "Go to War" topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock song chart as well.

Nothing More has paired with Billboard to exclusively premiere the official video for "Jenny," He calls the project "a labor of love for me. It was my first time directing and editing a music video, so I'm thankful for the faith the rest of the band put in me, letting me take this on."

It's painful enough to see a relative experience metal illness, but Hawkins' family has endured several interrelated tragedies. His mother, Shari, his aunt, Jenny, and his uncle saw their father die when a helicopter he was flying crashed in front of them. Later, when Jenny was in college, she became mentally incapacitated and has been in a home ever since. When Jenna (who was named after Jenny) was born, she almost didn't survive because the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. Shari feared the difficult birth would have long-term repercussions, and as the years passed it became evident that Jenna wasn't well. The girl began self-medicating in her teens and wound up addicted to drugs. In the midst of this turmoil, Shari was fighting cancer, and she died at age 48 in 2009 after a five-year struggle.

Jenna's difficult life is depicted in the video for "Jenny."

Hawkins describes the clip (which lists resources for mental health services at the end of it) as a "fever dream that you could kind of step into her head and my family's head for a second and experience what it's like to jump into the chaos."

The song is by turns angry, frustrated, pleading and resigned as Hawkins describes how Shari desperately clung to life to try to save her daughter from drugs, and he begs Jenna to "please get up like I know you can/Or forever love the fall."

It includes scenes like the "Jenny" character attempting suicide and rebelling against an intervention, and symbolic clues like a baby bottle and pacifier. Hawkins explains that those items represent two children that Jenna put up for adoption because she just did what she wanted to do and wouldn't listen to the family about any kind of advice, so she wound up in a really bad situation.

Such impaired judgment plays a role in the social stigma that mental illness carries: Hawkins has observed that people who would be a positive influence on Jenna aren't the ones who typically socialize with her. "They [end up] feeling uncomfortable around [those who are ill], and I don't blame them for feeling that way. I feel uncomfortable around my sister a lot," he admits. "You don't know how to react to some things and you don't know how to interface with it, and I think as human beings [we're] not very comfortable with not knowing what our response should be."

Hawkins says Jenna is aware of the song, and her reaction to it is "hard to judge. There's been times when she hates it and just thinks I'm being simply negative toward her, and then there's other times when she like embraces it as her own and likes it in a strange way." Although he wrote it to help himself process the situation, he has wondered how releasing "Jenny" will affect his volatile relationship with her, as the siblings have experienced periods of both non-communication and strained interactions.

"In some moments, I'd be like, 'Am I exploiting this tragedy for my own benefit?'" Hawkins says of the emotions he's experienced. "I've gone through many thoughts similar to that and also thoughts of feeling the complete opposite ‌ [but] if I can't talk about it, then what good is going through it? So this is the way I deal with it and how I heal through it." W

10  AUGUST 2019  THE RIFF

Credit: Alexandre Fumeron Caption: Mark Vollelunga (R) and Jonny Hawkins (L) preforming

"We wanted to entertain and really connect with people in a unique way."