“There was a guy shooting at us from his balcony. It turned out he’d been sniffing glue.” The story of the UK’s only top-10 nu metal hit
In February 2002, the Suffolk rock band A released the single "Nothing", which unexpectedly became the only British song widely regarded as a genuine Top 10 nu metal hit, despite the band never identifying with the genre themselves. Frontman Jason Perry has spoken about the track's legacy, noting the irony that a band with roots far removed from nu metal ended up producing the UK's sole major chart success in that style, at a time when most homegrown attempts at the genre were seen as pale imitations of American acts.
The single featured chunky downtuned riffs, big choruses and record-scratching flourishes typical of nu metal, helping it break into the UK singles chart Top 10. A had formed in 1988 under the name Grand Designs as a prog rock outfit before evolving into the band that would later record "Nothing", with Perry reflecting candidly on how the group's earlier, very different musical identity makes their nu metal association something of an accident of timing and sound rather than genre allegiance.
- A's 2002 single "Nothing" became the UK's only Top 10 nu metal hit.
- Suffolk band A didn't identify as a nu metal act.
- Band began in 1988 as prog rock outfit Grand Designs.
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Aged just 12 in 2002, the Suffolk band A had a surprise hit with "Nothing", a song widely seen as the only British track to make the Top 10 while genuinely belonging to the nu metal genre, a style of heavy, riff-driven rock mixed with hip hop-style scratching sounds that was popular at the time, mostly through American bands. This background matters because it explains why the song is still talked about, as most British attempts at the genre struggled to be taken seriously.
The band itself had an unlikely journey to that sound. Formed in 1988 as a prog rock group called Grand Designs, they later changed direction and became A, with frontman Jason Perry now looking back on how a band with no real connection to nu metal ended up producing the genre's one true UK chart success, largely down to a mix of timing and musical style rather than any deliberate identification with the scene.