Jonny Hawkins Explains How Faith Influences Nothing More's Music

Days after Nothing More announced details for their next studio album, Carnal, frontman Jonny Hawkins joined Chuck Armstrong on Loudwire Nights to discuss what fans can expect.

“It’s kind of an extension conceptually from our last album, Spirits,” Hawkins said on Loudwire Nights Monday (April 15). “This album is a lot heavier and more in your face.”

Hawkins admitted Carnal feels more “down to earth” than Nothing More’s previous releases and even called it a “beast of an album.”

“I’m so excited,” he said.

“We all feel so strongly about every song on this album. It’s just really good, really solid. There’s no dead weight on this one.”

How Faith Still Influences Jonny Hawkins and Nothing More

As Hawkins explained the concept behind the new record’s title, he mentioned it’s a Biblical term that refers to people’s animalistic nature.

Considering Hawkins first met guitarist Mark Vollelunga at church camp many years ago, Chuck asked Hawkins what sort of role faith continues to play in his music.

“It’s definitely a huge influence,” he said.

“I was raised in the church, I played drums in the youth band two or three times a week. I was at church a lot. My parents were very active; I had to memorize passages of the Bible and learn, up and down, the Old Testament and the New Testament.”

With an extensive knowledge of the Bible, Hawkins explained that there’s no way around that experience of his younger years influencing the music he makes today.

“Like most kids growing up, when I was kind of going into that college age, I pretty much rejected everything I had been taught,” Hawkins stated.

He said he sought to wipe his slate clean and start fresh, figuring out exactly what he believed.

“I discarded some of the beliefs I had,” he said, “and then I came full circle on other ones where I found them to be pretty true … It’s just a very deep reference point — even when writing lyrics and concepts, it’s a big part of my past and how I was raised, so it’s fun to play with those concepts.”

What Else Did Nothing More’s Jonny Hawkins Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

What goes through his head when he thinks about how long he’s been making music with Nothing More: “It’s been a hell of a journey. I started this band in some form in the 7th grade, so if you can imagine, since then, I’ve been plotting and working toward being one of the biggest rock bands in the world. That was my goal even at that age.”
What fans can expect from a certain special guest on Carnal: “I hope I’m not letting the cat out of the bag here, but we have a little surprise feature with [David Draiman] coming up on this next album.
How he recorded his vocals for “If It Doesn’t Hurt” on the same $20,000 microphone that a few other famous artists used: “I think it was Will Smith‘s microphone on ‘Wild Wild West’ or ‘Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It,’ and maybe Beyonce used it for ‘Single Ladies’ … maybe there’s some magic juju in it.”