Nothing Interviewed – How The World’s Unluckiest Band Turned Tragedy Into Triumph

Nothing might just be the unluckiest band in the world.

Founded by Domenic Palermo in 2011, the band have endured violence, prison, serious injury, debt, death and the collapse of their label after a run-in with egomaniac hedge-fund manager and pantomime villain for the internet age, Martin Shkreli.

Nothing are born from hardship, the band coming together after Palermo was released from prison for stabbing another man during a fight. Having spent two years in jail for aggravated assault and attempted murder he gathered a band together and they released the archly titled debut ‘Guilty Of Everything’ in 2014. Critical acclaim followed and the band hit the road with Merchandise as part of a “never ending” tour, but disaster struck in summer 2015 when Palermo was attacked after a gig in Oakland.

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Over the phone from his Manhattan home, the frontman explains the injuries he sustained in grim detail. “I fractured the back of my skull, broken vertebrae in my back,” he says. “They really did a number on me.”

“Because my brain was swollen they [doctors] told me I just couldn’t fly [home to record pre-booked studio time]. So I basically went out to Big Sur, rented a car and stayed there for ten days. I just ate pain pills and bugged out there for a while. We got to the studio and my head was all scrambled, hazy. I had vertigo, and depression. It was a really crazy time.”

When recovered from the injuries, Palermo and his band got together to make their excellent second album ‘Tired Of Tomorrow’. It’s a muscular and expansive record, building on the shoegaze-meets-hardcore sound of their debut and showcasing the band’s pop hooks and post-rock sensibilities.

Once completed, the album was to come out on Collect Records, a label run by No Devotion and Thursday’s Geoff Rickly and financed by Martin Shkreli, the smug hedge fund millionaire who famously bought the rights to a drug that helps HIV sufferers and raised the price astronomically. And that’s when then things got really bad for Nothing.

“I mean, I had no idea who he even was,” Palermo says of Shkreli, his voice barely hiding his anger. “When myself and Geoff were discussing label stuff he mentioned that he had a silent partner. He even mentioned his name a couple of times. When I first started getting news that this guy was connected, I did a little bit of research and was like “oh man, what the fuck?”. I knew immediately [that] I’m not gonna do the record if he’s connected to it. Within a couple of hours I just made an announcement, like “Look, we have to shelve this record. We have to. I’m not putting this fucking thing out with this guy, he’s involved in too much shit that I can’t get behind.” We managed to get out of it but it was a little hectic for a second.

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NME: Was that a tough decision to make?

“It was a tough decision to make because I’m not a very political guy. I hate it. But this was an easy decision to make, it was cut and dry. It was somebody I didn’t want to be associated with. I’m not gonna be associated with somebody who has that kind of mindset.”

NME: What’s your opinion of Martin Shkreli and the way he goes about business?

“I think what he’s involved in is a very common thing in the world. What most of those guys do is stay under the blanket and no one knows who they are. I don’t really know what made him want to become the face for greed but that’s what he chose to do. If he stayed quiet I imagine he would never had the kind of problems he’s having now.”

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Palermo admits that the past 12 months have been “exhausting” and that it was a true test to get Nothing back into a position where they can release their album, both physically and morally. And he jokes that selling one lone copy of the album to Shkreli for $2m was not really an option.

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As tough as the last year has been for Palermo and his bandmates, it feels weirdly in-keeping for a band who have endured enough hardship to cover 10 careers. “Everything is very much inspired by tragedy with this project,” the frontman reasons. “It’s been like this from day one. Tragedy just speaks to me, and it enjoys my company as well.”

Finding beauty amid the darkness is what Palermo and Nothing do and that quest is something their fans latch on to. “Our listeners are very much connected to us personally,” Palermo says. “We have countless people sending us tattoos of lyrics or the logo and whenever we play I speak with everybody. Everybody deals with things, it’s nuts.”

Being an American who a) got badly beaten up and b) didn’t have health insurance, Palermo is “like $60,000 dollars in debt”. His back is screwed up and he’s a mess, “but I was a mess before that so I imagine this wont be the end of my troubles.”

With a new album on the way and more touring to pay off those medical bills, Palermo remains upbeat despite all of the odds. “I’m fine,” he laughs. “I look at everything that goes on and it’s so absurd sometimes. All you can do is laugh. Like, “What is this absurd life” It feels like some type of dark comedy.”

Nothing release ‘Tired Of Tomorrow’ on May 13. They play twice in London on the release date. First an acoustic gig at Rough Trade East before a full band show at Hackney’s Moth Club later that night. Click here for more information

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