NONPOINT's ELIAS SORIANO On Decision To Launch Band's Own Record Label: 'We've Tried It Every Other Way'

Two years ago, NONPOINT launched its independent record label 361 Degrees Records LLC and filmed the process, along with documenting the making of new music, in a docu-series titled "A Path To Independence" that can be seen on the band's YouTube and official web site. In a new interview with the "Not These Two Fucking Guys Podcast", NONPOINT singer Elias Soriano discussed the group's decision to go it alone, saying: "Well, we've tried it every other way. And it allows, at least for us, the opportunity to move what we feel is as quickly as we'd like to move in the current marketplace and the speed upon which things are getting released and getting decided and connecting the dots together between tour marketing, single marketing — all the depths of everything. It's a big working machine, and when you're working with teams that their goals and their business plans are set in a particular way, sometimes they work against timelines and work against the speed upon which something that you wanna get moving because an opportunity has come around… And when it comes to funding and things like that, getting paperwork signed, getting lawyers to agree, sometimes it's a lot.

"We have a very able team, a team that I've now worked with for over five years, even though we've only been independent for — we're coming on our second year," he explained. "We had the opportunity to try it ourselves, so when we saw that opportunity and we got the confidence from our team that they felt like they could hit all these benchmarks that we needed to get the ball moving, next thing you know, here we are with a few EPs and getting [ready] to get our first full-length out.

"It's a risk — it's a lot of risk that the labels take — and I get it now, especially being independent," Elias admitted. "And it's not always in their best interest to take the kind of risks that we're willing to take with our own band and our own dime. So it's not to any fault of theirs and not to any fault of ours that we made the decision that we made and labels do things the way that they do.

"Independent artists are popping up left and right. Fucking Billie Eilish right now is independent," the singer added. "So any-level artist can do it, because if they can fund themselves… We've gotten to the point where we can do that. So we gave it a swing. And like I said, I've gotta give credit where credit's due — we've got a great team."

A little over a year ago, Soriano told "HRH Metal With Dan Chan" that he missed "the relationships and the friendships" that he made through working with bigger labels — such as MCA, Lava, Geffen, Rocket Science, Razor & Tie and Concord — over the years. "It's fun working with a team that you know everyone around the corner is a professional," he said. "That definitely gives less anxiety. But you see, even the staff, they feel the same kind of restriction. They wanna go harder; they wanna spend more money — you know they want to — but they have people to answer to."

As for how he balances the business and the creative side of being in a band, Elias told "HRH Metal With Dan Chan": "It's not easy but we're doing it, and that's what matters. And the product that's coming out is better than ever. It's a lot of fun. It really is. I'm having fun doing this."

Last week, NONPOINT released a new single, "Heartless", to all major platforms. The song was helmed by Chris Collier, the producer, engineer, mixer, and multi-instrumentalist who has worked with KORN, WHITESNAKE, LYNCH MOB, Mick Mars and many more

NONPOINT will embark on "The Emerald Cities Tour 2023" in March. The trek, which will kick off on March 2 in Virginia Beach, Virginia and conclude on March 26 in San Antonio, Texas, will feature support from BLACKTOP MOJO and SUMO CYCO.

Three months ago, NONPOINT released the official lyric video for its previous single, "Paper Tigers". The song, which was originally made available in September via 361 Degrees Records, was also helmed by Collier.

In December 2021, NONPOINT released its latest EP, "Ruthless". This followed their independent label plan of delivering music to their fans through more frequent releases and videos from the band.

In 2021 alone, NONPOINT's song "Ruthless" reached No. 16 on Billboard's Rock chart and was featured on the New Metal Tracks and Kickass Metal Playlist on Spotify, SiriusXM Octane's Big Uns Countdown, LA Lloyd Top 30 and Loudwire Nights. "Ruthless" was also the featured track on AEW's nationally televised event "Blood And Guts" on TNT in May 2021.

NONPOINT's songs "Bullet With A Name", "Alive And Kicking", "In The Air Tonight", "Circles", "Your Signs", "Everybody Down" and many others have been featured in trailers, hit movies, television, iconic video games, as well as broadcasts from NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, WWF.

NONPOINT has toured with major acts like DISTURBED, PAPA ROACH, MUDVAYNE and SEVENDUST, to name a few. They have also been featured on the main stages and support stages of iconic festivals like Soundwave, Rock Am Park, Rock Am Ring, Ozzfest, Rock On The Range, Welcome To Rockville and many more.