Band Name: ALLorNOTHING
Music Style: Hardcore/Metal
Locaton (Home Base): Hollister, California

Q: When did ALLorNOTHING form as a band, did members come from other bands? Where did the name come from?

A: We started ALLorNOTHING in March of 2007 with Darts on drums, Laz on guitar, Joey on bass, and Josh on vocals. There were three of us that were in a previous band in which Darts played drums, Elijah played guitar, I (Josh) played bass, and my brother Manny did vocals for the band. We ran into Laz our guitarist through a venue he used to run in Hollister. Laz was in a band from San Francisco called The Great Divorce and he also played bass for Sacramento’s The Divine Romance who was on Harvest Earth Records. Soon after we met Laz he started jamming with us. Manny and Elijah left the band soon after to pursue other things in their life. But I think like most bands we started playing in our churches worship teams when we became teenagers. And we still do play for our churches worship teams. Our band name is what it says; it’s ALLorNOTHING for us when it comes to our walk with God. Darts brought it up one day and we stuck with the day we first played with the new lineup back in March of 2007. It’s a bold statement but there is something about going all the way with things in your life that you’re not going to quit or give in that makes life worth it.

Q: ALLorNOTHING labels itself as a Hardcore/Metal band, what bands have influenced your sound?

A: The sound we have now as a band came from some early day and recent bands. We grew up listening to a lot of Solid State bands like Living Sacrifice, Project 86, Blindside, Norma Jean and now bands like Unearth, August Burns Red, Between the Buried and Me, and MyChildren MyBride. Just aggressive music that got us going into this and it’s something we love to hear in our music as well.

Q: You guys recently signed with Ethos Records, congrats, what does this mean for the band?

A: Ethos Records has been amazing thus far. Travis Waugh heads the label and he has great experience in the industry that we are benefiting from. We share the same passion, love, and message for God and music and that makes its awesome. We are releasing our debut full length “A City Built on Its Dead” with Ethos Records based in Sacramento, CA and then we will follow up with a tour in support of the album. We went to Tomfest in Camas, WA with Travis and we had such a rad time together. It has been God’s hands moving and open doors for us and that has been a blessing. The story is that Ethos signed us by faith in God; the case is they heard some pre-production music we had up and they liked it. We signed in July and it wasn’t until Tomfest in August that they saw us live. Only God could allow that to happen.

Q: On your MySpace page, it says ALLorNOTHING is recording a new album, when do you expect to release it?

A: Yeah, like I mentioned earlier our debut full length is titled “A City Built on Its Dead”. We are in the studio right now as we speak, seriously. So far we have tracked all the drums for the album. Laz is recording guitars this morning but he started last night. We’re recording with Ben Whittaker at Dr. Ben’s Studio based in Gilroy, CA. We’ve know Ben and we know his work. We know we could trust him with this project and he would do his very best and he always pushes the most out of us in the studio. The plan is to have it done definitely by the end of the year. We don’t have an exact release date yet but we are working on it, and will let you know as soon as we do!

Q: Have you changed the sound at all for the new album compared to the tracks you have posted on the ALLorNOTHING MySpace page (the songs are brutal by the way!)?

A: Thanks. We have kept the same heaviness and brutality in the music we have just became tighter with the songs themselves. More than anything we have been playing the songs on the page a lot and live in front of people so we’ve just been adding little things to every song. You could say they have matured a bit.

Q: ALLorNOTHING doesn’t hide the fact that it is Christian band, has anyone ever heard the music and questioned whether you are Christian or not? (In other words, some folks listen to our kind of music and automatically assume it could never be Christian because it “sounds so awful?”)

A: As far as people in church and people that know God they seem to be amazed at what we do. They don’t question our Christianity but are happy for our gifts and talents and the reason we are using them. We have a whole church behind us from our kids in Sunday school to the leaders in our church. The funny things is that people that are not Christians hear or see us and they are completely surprised to hear that we are a Christians and that we are a Christian band. It’s like they say, “WHAT! You guys are Christians?” That moment gives us a chance to share about God.

Q: When ALLorNOTHING plays shows do you speak about Jesus?

A: Yes, we share about God, His loves, and the sacrifice that Jesus has made for all us. I believe when Jesus said go everywhere and share of the good news and that exactly what the apostles did. They shared of the good news, which was the death and resurrection of Jesus so that we could be saved. We keep it simple but true.

Q: Where in the bible does the band draw most of its inspiration?

A: Like I was saying the life of Jesus and his apostles always inspires me. We are Jesus’ disciples and we are carrying where Jesus and his apostles left off. I believe the Bible as a whole has helped us. We all grew up in church and you know you never forget the Sunday school days. A lot of our lyrics are inspired by different stories and listened taught in the Bible. For example the life of Job, Joshua and the walls of Jericho, and battles with temptation are some themes in our songs. So I could say from the book of Genesis to the book of Revelations.

Q: Anyone ever hassled the band at a show (or anywhere else) for being a
Christian band?

A: No, that’s never happen yet. I don’t doubt that it will happen but God has been giving us favor. I was talking about this just yesterday with a friend of how God is there with us wherever we go and His favor is such a blessings, without Him none of this is possible.

Q: The hardcore scene is pretty accepting as a whole, but I see and hear a lot of kids say there is no place for Christ in the scene, what would you say to them?

A: Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more. When King David slew the philistine he used goliaths’ own sword, so we should be able to use Satan’s tools to bring victory into peoples’ lives in a godly way. We are not accomplishing much if we go around in a circle of hatred you know, we have to change the way we think and Christ is really the only way we can do that.

Q: ALLorNOTHING has played with some great bands; can you share some of the most memorable and tell us why?

A: I think the most memorable was when we played with Mychildren Mybride we had their album since it came out and I have been a long time fan since I found them on MySpace in ‘04 so playing with them at Tomfest was awesome to be playing with a band I/we looked up to as musicians and as a band standing for Christ. They are a group of awesome dudes, and we definitely look forward to playing more shows with them.

Q: What was the craziest show ALLorNOTHING has played and why?

A: The van wreck, then tow truck, and then we still played the show story!

Q: We noticed that you are playing with Braveheart and Sovereign Strength on October 31st (we are big fans of both bands here at HXC Christian), what other bands are you playing with in the future?

A: Not sure as of right now because we are in the studio, but hopefully along the same lines as now. God has opened lots of doors and we are heading in the right path, so I am sure we will be playing with many great bands soon!

Q:. Do you have plans to tour after the release of the new album?

A: Yes, we plan to hit the road hard as soon as the album is released in support of the album.

Q: What other future plans does the band have?

A: One of our goals for next year is to play at Cornerstone!

Q: If you could give a message to the hardcore scene, what would it be?

A: That we need to keep this scene alive, and remember why this scene was started to have that community where we could be ourselves and welcome all who want to be part of this.

Q: If you guys want to add anything else, feel free!

A: Yes, please check out our MySpace and our labels MySpace add them/us.
www. myspace. com/aon8
www. myspace. com/ethosrecords

God Bless you and thank you for this opportunity. Also, we greatly appreciate you taking the time to read this interview.
Romans 8:28

Make sure you support ALLorNOTHING and other bands in the scene!  As always, you can discuss Christian bands, Jesus Christ, and life in general on the HXC Christian forums.  You can get there by clicking the header below.  All are welcome, Christian and non Christian, go register and have fun posting. Take care and God bless.