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Some music fans may have the misconception that rock
& roll bands are rolling in money and live like kings,
well, for the majority of the rock bands out today that
couldn’t be further from the truth. "I haven’t had an
apartment or a home in 2-years; I haven’t seen my family
for longer than a week in past 2 ½ years and you know
what I have to show for it? Nothing.. Every single dime
that we make out there we put back into the tour so
we can keep playing for everybody cus’ they constantly
want to see us come into town. But, instead of showing
love and support and buying our record they constantly
download our record instead of buying it and it’s ridiculous."
So says a rather agitated and fed-up Elias Soriano of
the nu-metal outfit Nonpoint.
Nonpoint have been on the road for over 2 years playing
major tours such as Ozzfest 2001; The Sprite Liquid
Mix Tour and their very own headlining tour. Even now
they are on the road with Hed P.E. and Endo playing
for packed houses and have earned a loyal fan following
worldwide. They have been living inside of their tour
bus and hotel rooms, traveling from city to city, working
their asses off to make a name for themselves in this
extremely competitive industry yet, have very little
in their pockets to compensate for there hard work.
"Record sales are down 80% across the board, every single
artist right now is out there struggling. What people
don’t realize is that their favorite bands are gonna
be non existent in a couple of years cus’ technology
has completely turning art into a fad and it’s sad."
Soriano continues, "Unfortunately for rock music and
suburbia, with all this technology with computers and
everything, music as we know it is going down hill.
Anyone can surf on the net and download stuff and unfortunately
people don’t understand how bad it’s hurting the industry
right now for everyone."
This is the very thing that heavyweight rockers such
as Metallica and Dr. Dre have been bitching about for
years when they went to battle against Napster; in which
case the industry would ultimitaley win and Napster
would be forced to stop bootlegging copy-written materials
throughout the internet. Sure, Napster’s gone, but the
problem still hasn’t gone away, in fact it seems to
have gotten worse. "I blame the software companies..
People shouldn’t be able to download stuff, its that
simple.
"Being able to download an entire album 2 months before
it gets released is destroying the industry and is just
bullshit," says the agitated front man, and who wouldn’t
understand his frustration. Imagine working at your
job for 2 years and not getting fully paid due to in-house
thievery. I’m sure you’d be on the horn with the labor
board or your local union or even your lawyer ready
to go the whole nine yards to get your proper due, nobody
likes to be robbed, nobody wants to work for free. "If
it was a painting and somebody copied it and started
selling it in mass production or gave it was for free,
they would be in court, they would be sued. What’s the
difference? There is no difference."
Soriano loves making music and adores his fans, but
Internet piracy is the big stick in the spokes that
has him flipping. The once open front man has become
very tightlipped about future projects in fear that
some hacker will somehow leak it to the web. For now,
Soriano is declining to give titles of the new tunes
Nonpoint has been working on and keeping the media on
a need to know basis. "I hate to say it, but the media
has a lot to do with it," vents Soriano who seems to
be getting more and more worked up as he continues.
"They get advance CD’s to review and next thing you
know it gets leaked on the internet.. The Internet is
killing rock & roll music as we speak. Look at Disturbed’s
numbers, look at Korn’s numbers, Papa Roach’s numbers,
Linkin Park’s numbers- everybody’s numbers are way down,
rock music is getting hurt bad. White suburbia is hurting
rock music… Urban music hasn’t dropped, R&B, rap and
stuff like that, they’re record sales are fine cus’
they don’t download, they’re fans run out and buy the
record on Tuesday. That used to be how it was for us,
but the rock culture has turned it into a bastard child
and turned its back on its artists. Where just gonna
tour the places that totally support this band both
record sales wise and in general, we’re just gonna embrace
the fan base that embraces us."
Sure he’s heated, but Soriano isn’t completely reveling
in his sorrows. Although sales of their latest album
(Development) aren’t up to expectations they still have
enormous turnouts at their live shows and for Soriano
there is nothing more gratifying than going out there
on stage and giving the crowd his very best. "Despite
all the Internet bootlegging we are having really solid
turn-outs at our shows and where selling out a lot of
venues and that is inspiring," says the vocalist. "That
just goes to show you that you don’t have to sell thousands
of records to sell-out venues."
It was on the road where Nonpoint would earn their core
fan base and with the help of breakout singles ("Endure"
& "What a Day") from their debut album "Statement" they
would be placed on the nu-metal map. The band from South
Florida began in the mid-90’s as the brainchild of drummer
Robb Rivera, whose original band; ‘Nonpoint Factor’
garnered some popularity within New York’s Spanish rock
scene. Not completely satisfied with the way things
were going, Rivera decided to leave behind the Big Apple
and move to South Florida in hopes to form a new band
that would complete his rock and roll vision. He met
singer Elias Soriano at an audition and the two became
quick friends and musical collaborators. They both shared
the same goal to create hard rock music with a salsa
edge. By 1997 they would recruit bassist, KB and guitarist,
Andrew Goldman, (both members of the Florida based band,
Fuse,) and Nonpoint would be born. The band became a
local favorite within the Sunshine State and quickly
earned a solid fan base. Their popularity would help
land them prestigious local spots on bills with acts
such as Orgy, Everclear, Deftones, Sevendust, Incubus
and Stone Temple Pilots.
Now, nearly 6 years later Nonpoint are still rocking
shows on a daily basis. Their sophomore effort, fittingly
titled "Development;" demonstrates the development and
growth of the band. They successfully fuse elements
of Metal, Hardcore and even Thrash, with a bit of Emo
to brilliantly combine forcefulness with solid grooves,
and a gritty edge. Soriano continues to exhibit his
exceptional singing ability showing he’s got the chops
to blow by using more melody rather than solely screaming
or rapping his way through each track as many of his
nu-metal peers would.
The band themselves also show their development by stepping
up a notch from "Statement" and creating a tighter and
broader sound. Andrew Goldman’s guitar parts are tight,
melodic, and catchy while Rob Rivera and KB’s intense
rhythms provide a powerfully strong foundation. "We
sat down with this record and we wanted to write awesome
songs," explains the Nonpoint front man. "We thought
about every lick and every single vocal line and every
single drum fill and we wanted everything to sound evolved,
one step up. We’re like painters, we’re artists and
this time around we didn’t want to paint the same picture."
Sure the album rocks, but what can the music industry
do to combat against internet piracy and make sure that
nobody can steal’s album off the Internet? "We’re gonna
have to change formats," Soriano shouts, "instead of
CD players in our cars we’re all gonna have to have
ADAT’s because you can’t download onto ADAT’s. That’s
what’s gonna happen.. Everyone’s gonna have to go out
and buy all new radio’s for their cars and homes and
that’s the only way."
Bottom line: Internet piracy is wrong and is hurting
the entire music industry from the labels to the bands
and all the way to the consumer. It’s a vicious cycle
that is rotting away consumer integrity as well as the
overall moral of the artist themselves. In the past
Soriano has always been a laid-back happy dude and now
has become an agitated, fed-up guy that is simply sick
and tired of being ripped off by the very people who
call themselves his fans.
If you’d like, give Soriano and Nonpoint a call and
let them know what you think, there direct number is
954-494-4754. (Don’t worry, its legit, Nonpoint has
done something that no band is history has ever done
they have publicly issue out a cell phone number that
leads directly to the band themselves. So, now fans
can actually get in touch with the band, talk directly
to them and get the latest scoop on Nonpoint.)
"Development" is IN STORES now and for Nonpoint tour
info you can check out there web site at:
www.nonpoint.com
Don Sill for Crud Magazine 2003©
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