Nonpoint Give Their Old Songs an Acoustic Twist on ‘Cut the Chord’

In recording his band's acoustic EP, 'Cut the Chord,' Nonpoint singer Elias Soriano was tasked with a difficult job -- making the songs fan favorites all over again. "We wanted people to listen to it and feel like, 'Wow. What a great, interesting twist on the song,'" Soriano told Noisecreep. "We needed to take a song like 'What a Day' and turn it into their favorite song again with the new version."

'Cut the Chord' is premiering in its entirety here and will be released via Nonpoint's 954 Records in partnership with Rocket Science Ventures/RED/Sony on Dec. 8. The five-song EP features acoustic renditions of Nonpoint classics 'What a Day,' 'Circles,' 'Rabia,' 'Victim' and 'Your Signs.'

"It's five songs off of our first three records," Soriano said. "It's a volume one. Hopefully, we'll be getting the volume two out by summer. We're doing some of the fan favorites that were constantly requested, and we decided to give them a little acoustic version of some of the stuff that we like to do for radio stations when we pull into town. We've gotten quite a bit of feedback about those renditions so we decided to put it on an EP."

To choose the songs, Soriano said he and his band looked back at their catalog to see exactly what they were allowed to release. "We got the clearance for the first three records," Soriano said. "We thought, 'Let's do a volume one while we're waiting for the other stuff to get cleared and put some new music in their hands for the season.'"

Soriano explained he was able to improvise a bit in recording the EP, which was recorded in South Florida and mixed in New England. "You get to play with the lyrics a little bit more, in a sense of how you're singing it," he said. "You're really able to showcase the meaning of what it is when it's brought down to the brass tacks."

The EP is meant to tide fans over until the next full-length release by Nonpoint is finished. (The last album was 2007's 'Vengeance.') At the time of the interview, Soriano and his band were in Racine, Wisc.'s Belle City Sound studio recording that album with Yep! Productions' Chad Gray and Greg Tribbett of Mudvayne/Hellyeah handling the production duties.

"It's great," Soriano said of recording with the duo. "Those guys have been friends of ours for over a decade. We came up at the same time. We were on their very, very, very first tour. Even though we were still working, it was nice to get out of that touring situation and really see another side of those guys. They're very nurturing and focused on what's going to make the song sound good. It was a lot different experience than I thought it was going to be. It was the best producer experience I've ever been in.

"This was the first time for them to do it, too. We're the flagship band that's starting their production company. They just started doing this as a team. For us to be the first band and for the product to be coming out the way it is, it's inspiring. It's really cool. "

Formed in 1998, the hard rock quartet from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., burst on the scene with their major label debut, 'Statement,' on MCA Records. Since then, they have sold nearly 700,000 albums and played more than 1,000 shows. Known for their dynamic performances, Nonpoint have shared the stage with acts such as Mudvayne, Sevendust, Disturbed, Hellyeah, Drowning Pool and Papa Roach, as well as touring with Ozzfest.