ELIAS SORIANO Says NONPOINT 'Took A Really Aggressive Stance' And 'Dug Deep' On New Album 'X'

Bods Mayhem Hour recently conducted an interview with NONPOINT frontman Elias Soriano. You can listen to the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On why NONPOINT took a short break after 2016's "The Poison Red":

Elias: "Yeah. We really just wanted to take a little bit of time for ourselves and have some family time, do some, you know, just some writing and prepare for our coming year."

On what makes him most proud about the creation of NONPOINT's new album, "X":

Elias: "It was the overall process and the quality of music on this record. We took a really aggressive stance and really dug deep into these songs, working with Fred Archambault, our producer, just the overall process and then the fact we wrote some of our favorite songs of our career on this record, just because we know our audience is going to react so positively to it."

On working with Archambault:

Elias: "['The Poison Red' producer] Rob [Ruccia] also worked on this record as well. He not only played bass, but he was mainly the engineer of this record because it's the studio he works out of, the Uptown [Recording], he is their head engineer. He's an amazing friend and dare I say, sixth member of the band. We've done a lot of records ourselves and when we get the opportunity to work with somebody with Fred. Originally, it was supposed to be Brian Virtue, which we were really excited about. But, unfortunately, he had a really dire family emergency he couldn't step away from, wholeheartedly knowing he could get a phone call and he'd have to go back home. We understood where he was coming from. The label got on the phone, got people we were speaking to as well as Brian in the beginning. Got them on the phone and had a great conversation with Fred and he jumped right in. It was a great process. He's a real positive dude who loves to work ideas, loves to add layers and really set a mood and add DNA to a song. He just, you know, pretty much, he loves what we were doing with the writing of our music. He just, like he said in the phone call, he just really wanted to make it sound like the most powerful NONPOINT that we've ever put out."

On whether NONPOINT prefers to produce their albums on their own or enlist a producer:

Elias: "Honestly, at this point, when you're on record number ten, it's fun to get another person in the mix. They challenge you. At the end of the day, even what Fred said, it's my opinion versus yours, so if you feel strongly about something, just voice it. I'm not here to change your band or turn you into something you don't want to be. I'm here to help you guys put out the best record that you guys want to put out."

On how long it took for NONPOINT to record "X":

Elias: "From the second we hit record to the second it was done, I mean, it was the fastest record that we've ever recorded because we were so prepared going in. It was really just about tracking it, but I would say 25, 26 days. Like I said, the music was written. It was just about making it as sound as great as we could. I mean, like I said, the songs were already written. We went in with the pre-production already done. We had already decided what we wanted. After that, it's just performance and making sure you get the right tones. Fred's a professional, Rob Ruccia is a professional. We're on our tenth record, so we went in prepared."

On the musical growth of NONPOINT:

Elias: "I think we all definitely turned into what we were meant to be in this industry individually. Where we're sitting with NONPOINT, not in a million years I'd think I have a 20-plus-year career with this. We're lucky. Don't think I don't appreciate that every day. [Laughs]"

On the consistency of NONPOINT's career:

Elias: "Sometimes, you know, you have to rest it on your players and know what you're getting into when you decide to do something like release a record or write a record. You have to think way ahead and hope for and aim at greatness. So, we're still aimed at it. The whole game is always pretending like you're not there yet."

"X" will be released on August 24 via Spinefarm Records.

Archambault previously worked with ATREYU and AVENGED SEVENFOLD, among others.

Photo by Tammy Vega