The members of Nonpoint [ tickets ] haven’t achieved mainstream success, but they can see it from where they’re standing. “Statement,” the group’s major-label debut, was released last fall, and the Miami-based quartet has landed a slot on this year’s Ozzfest tour, an outing that, in previous years, has helped launch such acts as Godsmack, Slipknot and Kittie.

In addition, the group’s first single, “What a Day,” has made its way onto playlists at hard-rock stations around the country, and the recently shot video for the song has been picked up by MTV2.

The band has come a long way since forming in December of 1997, at which time vocalist Elias Soriano and drummer Rob Rivera--Puerto Ricans whose previous outfit was a Spanish-language metal act--joined forces with guitarist Andrew Goldman and bassist KB. The foursome fine-tuned its hip-hop-accented brand of metal, and a self-pressed, local EP that the group released in 1998 sold out in three months. MCA Records signed the band shortly thereafter, and “Statement” surfaced last October.

The group has been on the road almost non-stop since the album’s release, and is striving to rise to prominence from amidst a sea of seemingly similar acts. The subtle, well-crafted harmonies and intricate arrangements sparingly placed among the otherwise growling vocals and pounding riffs on “Statement” may help to set Nonpoint [ tickets ] apart from the pack, but the group has to first be heard in order for people to notice such nuances.

To that end, the band is touring incessantly. It stands at a critical point in its career, and knows it must capitalize on the moderate amount of buzz it is currently generating. As Nonpoint frontman Soriano recently told LiveDaily, the group’s strategy for doing that is to stay on the road and get in front of as many people as possible.

LiveDaily: So where are you calling from?

Elias: Uh, we are in Albany ... no, no, no, no ... uh ... we’re in New Jersey.

“What day is it? What city am I in?”

I have no clue. [laughter]

Let’s talk about “Statement." Are there any tracks on the album that were originally on the indie CD that you released in Florida a few years ago?

Yes, but not in their original form. The songs were redone. I think we have four songs off the old CD.

Which four songs were re-recorded?

We re-recorded “Hive,” “Orgullo,” “Victim”--we actually re-worked “Victim,” as well--and “Years.”

Tell me about the Spanish-language track “Orgullo.”

Rob and I are Puerto Rican, and all of the members of our original band were Puerto Rican, so there was that Latin influence. When Andy and KB joined the band, we had this one song, [“Orgullo”], that they thought rocked as well, so we kept it. It’s an energetic live song. The kids go nuts.

What is the song is about?

“Orgullo” means “pride” in Spanish. It’s pretty much just about cultural pride, being proud of your culture.

According to your official website, you recently shot a video for your first single, “What a Day,” in Miami. What is the concept for the video?

We’re pretty much a no-frills band. We don’t have any sequencing or DJ-ing or big lights or fancy clothes. We just kinda wear jeans and T-shirts and walk out on stage and do our thing. So when the video concepts were getting tossed around, there were a couple of questions about how cheesy things were gonna be. The song’s called “What a Day,” so there’s that whole campy, Blink-182 feel that can be put on that, and that’s exactly what we wanted to stay away from. We talked to the director, and he said, “Well, let’s just make it a live shoot. Let’s get some great shots of a crowd and do it like you guys wanna do it and just showcase the band.” We took a couple cameras down south and set up a big swinging arm [camera] and put on a free live show and just went nuts. The kids went crazy. It’s just a live, dark, gritty concert. We wanted to stay away from the artsy, campy, shiny thing. We just wanted something dark, and we want the nation to see what it is to be at one of our shows.

It’s a rather dark, creepy song. The lyrics you wrote for the first verse give a first-person account of a hitchhiker who realizes that he has accepted a ride from a violent criminal. Where did that come from?

That’s my friend’s fault. He got wasted at a party and lost his keys and asked this guy for a ride that he said reminded him of his stepfather. He passed out in the car, and the guy couldn’t wake him up to find out where my friend was living. ... [the guy] was like “Hey, man, get up, get up!” ... he wasn’t going to take him home to his place, so he put him on a park bench and just left him there, and [my friend] woke up there the next morning. I was just like, “Man, that could have been a lot worse. You coulda had your f---in’ throat slit ... anything.” I couldn’t believe the story. So I just kinda elaborated on it a little for the song.

You guys have been confirmed for the second stage at Ozzfest. How does it feel to be on a bill with the kind of reputation that Ozzfest has?

It feels great, man. I’ve been going to [Ozzfest as a fan] for the past few years now, so it’s pretty cool that we’re finally on it. I’m just excited that we’re gonna be with a lot of our friends that we’ve been touring with, like Mudvayne and Spineshank. Taproot’s gonna be there too, and we’re going to do offdates [from Ozzfest] with them. Papa Roach is also on the bill, and they’re a group that we’re hearing through the grapevine are big fans of our band. We’re excited to meet these people, finally. These are people who we look up to and aspire to be as successful as. ...

And to see Ozzy every night, man, just to see him walk past me ... I’m probably not even going to be able to talk. He’ll go “Hello,” and I’ll be like, “Er ... uh ... Ozzy ... you ... " [laughter]

What’s the plan for the future?

Touring, touring, touring and more touring. [laughter] We’re gonna tour as much as we can, ‘cause the world’s gotta know. We can’t do it sitting at home. We’re going all through Ozzfest, we’re gonna bust out some off-dates from Ozzfest with Taproot, and then, right after, it looks like we might be doing something with Sevendust and Stereo Mud pulling out of the Ozzfest gates. So I can’t wait.