by Melissa Smith

Alaska isn't necessarily well known for its music scene, but one South central-based band may soon be breaking into the biz nationally.

Nothing Less consists of three college-aged guys who play hard and have a shot at going big. They recently scored a recording deal with Alcatraz Records out of San Francisco and just dropped their first full-length album.

Henry Hartman (drums), Tim Waters (vocals, guitar) and Tommy Dowell (vocals, bass) are three talented guys and Nothing Less. Together they blend vocals, drums, bass and guitar into music that's not defined by any one music genre.

"I'd call it North coast punk--a healthy blend of pop, ska and punk," Hartman said.

Nothing Less' first full-length album, titled Beyond Therapy, features 12 original songs. The first track on the CD, "Rawkstar," is an upbeat love song.

While the songs on Beyond Therapy vary in tempo and mood, all are tight, concise little music packages. The beat determines the feel of the song; some hinge on the lingering upbeat of ska rhythm, others are built around a fast, penetrating punk-rock pulse.

The song "Record Store" tells the story of Waters and his girlfriend, whom he met, well, at a record store. Nothing Less chose to feature "Record Store" in a music video filmed at various Anchorage locations during the summer.

"It's like seven days of mayhem," Hartman said about the video shoot. "It was crazy."

Hartman said it took about 200 hours of filming and even more time post-producing to make the video.

"Our video has what all classic videos have. It's a story; there is a beginning, a middle and an end. There's characters, there's a plot," Hartman said. "It's like a movie over scored by Nothing Less. It's like a punk-rock opera."

Waters said Nothing Less hopes the video goes a long way--like all the way to MTV.

"A lot of bands get their break through from MTV. It's truly the only form of media that can make a band world-wide successful," he said.

Not only do Nothing Less say they have high hopes for their music video, but they would also like to sign on with a larger label someday and tour nationally. That's after two of them finish degrees at University of Alaska Anchorage in the spring.

Then the band says a move to California might be in order to gain more national exposure. But even if their music does take them away from Alaska, Nothing Less said they won't forget their roots.

"We love our fans. They're why we do it, really," Dowell said. "We do it for the fans. We love the fans and how they make us feel."

Although Nothing Less is still working on getting to the top nationally, by Alaska standards, they rock.