Nothing More is a San Antonio, Texas based rock band that began in the early 2000’s. The current lineup consists of Jonny Hawkins on drums and lead vocals, Mark Vollelunga on backing vocals and guitar, Daniel Oliver on backing vocals and bass, and Ben Anderson on drums. The album, Nothing More became the band’s breakthrough album in 2014 showcasing their hard rock talents. Now, the band possesses several GRAMMY nominations, dozens of Billboard chart successes, and has done extensive touring around the world.
Their latest and seventh studio album, Carnal, was released on June 28, 2024. A deluxe version of the album just came out on March 28, featuring some special guests and remixed songs. “FREEFALL,” the band’s latest release featuring Chris Daughtry became the fourth single from the album to reach number one on the Billboard “Mainstream Rock Airplay” and Mediabase “Active Rock” charts.
Nothing More will be heading to Europe later this year for a headlining tour with support by Catch Your Breath, Solence, and Ankor that starts November 7 in Tampere, Finland. Early next year, the band will launch another round of headlining shows throughout U.S. and Canada, with support by Catch Your Breath, Archers, and Doobie, starting January 14, 2026 in Silver Spring, MD. Tickets and VIP Meet and Greet packages are on sale now on theirofficial website.
We met with guitarist Mark Vollelunga on ShipRocked, and covered some of his favorite travel memories, his perfect day in San Antonio, and how he keeps himself energized on long tours.
What is your favorite ShipRocked memory?
I think it’s this current one. Honestly, this set that we just did closing the first night on the deck was awesome. We had four different features. It was a really powerful set. Everyone’s stoked. It really goes off; tons of energy. Everyone’s ready to get the party started. We had Brandon Saller from Atreyu with us for “Angel Song,” Sonny Sandoval from P.O.D. for “Don’t Stop,” Heidi from Butcher Babies sang on “STUCK,” and then Eric Vanlerberghe from I Prevail did the “HOUSE ON SAND” performance with us live.
Tell me about how your song “HOUSE ON SAND” came about.
We got Eric from I Prevail for “HOUSE ON SAND” after forming a friendship together. We weren’t touring together in Europe, but it’s festival season, and a lot of the time all the bands are over there, we happen to be playing a sideshow together. Through hanging out and kind of becoming friends, it just naturally happened and they’ve always been a band that we really dig and appreciate. I actually sent him all the demos and he immediately actually sent feedback on “HOUSE ON SAND” and was like, ‘Dude, I’d love to do this one.’ So as time went by, he finally got some studio time in and did the stuff and we were stoked.
What is your favorite memory from your music career?
That’s tough to say. It was probably in 2015 when we did a US tour with Periphery, and then we went to Japan. We played with this band, Vamps. They’re like a Japanese Guns and Roses, but they took such good care of us. We were all so stoked. We got our own hotel rooms in Japan. That was awesome. We had heated toilet seats. I have a huge, huge passion for that country and all the culture and everything. That was special. Then we went to Australia and that was more badass. We went and did a European tour. We were gone for like 3 or 4 months. It was a long, grueling, but awesome time.
What’s the craziest place you’ve slept as a band?
I mean, we’ve slept on lots of floors. It was funny when we were traveling in our Sprinter van from 2009 to 2013. We’d sleep between the seats or on the seats a lot of times and we’d have all our gear, like bunged in the back, along with a big grease tank because we actually ran the Sprinter van on vegetable oil. We built some bunks back there too. I think at one point, I used to have dreads for a long time, and then my dreads would end up in the grease barrel. It was pretty disgusting. Definitely grease on the pillow, but we saved a lot of money touring that way. We would pull up to restaurants and we would throw our pump in and crank away. It was good.
What are your must-pack cruise items?
Obviously the necessities like sunscreen. For ShipRocked, I really enjoy all of everyone’s little knickknacks that they have to identify their group or their crew, and that you just end up getting. Maybe when we come back or something, we might have our own. It might be neat.
If you could perform anywhere in the world, where would it be?
You know, we haven’t been to Rome yet. I think that would be badass. A lot of my family history is in Sicily, too. I think that would be awesome. I don’t know if any bands ever go to Sicily, really, but that’d be sick. I mentioned Japan and I mentioned Australia. Those are amazing countries and places.
What’s your perfect day in San Antonio?
Probably Sunday fun-day. My wife and I will go to our local seafood spot, Fish City Grill. We’ve kind of become regulars there, I’d say. Maybe that for dinner, maybe beforehand or after, just being in the backyard and just having a Sunday fun-day playing darts or cornhole or video games or whatever. Something like that.
What’s your perfect vacation?
I mean ShipRocked, right? There you go.
You guys tour for a really long period of time. How do you keep yourself energized?
I feel like I stay energized just remembering why I’m doing this in regards to how songs heal and help people really connect when they need it. Even personally being moved by the music, being proud of the music, writing music on tour, being excited about the next step, and trying my best to stay in close connection at home with Sarah and Phoenix. It’s hard, but you do your best and try to make it all work. Nothing special. I mean, just stay up. More caffeine.
How long have you gone without playing guitar?
I think in 2019, we toured really, really heavy with the Truth Tour, and we were planning on taking the rest of the year off. That was probably halfway through the year. We had maybe four months off then we got this opportunity to tour with Ghost. That was in September. Maybe from May till September, I don’t know if I played guitar at all. It was a nice break. It’s like riding a bike though; as soon as you start going again, it’s like, ‘oh, yeah, I am good at this.’