The Spotlight

Can’t get enough of Fefe Dobson’s hot new single Ghost? Do you want to hear more music from her upcoming record ‘Joy’? Well, it’s your lucky day!!! Today only, Fefe is offering her brand new single ‘Stuttering’ for FREE in exchange for a tweet. We all love free, don’t we?! Follow @fefedobson right now and check out her latest tweet for the link to the free song!!

-The Spotlight

Update: Here’s the link! You must be logged in to Twitter in order to get the song!!

Chat chit with Nick Santino and Justin Richards of A Rocket to the Moon at Vans Warped Tour 2010.

Nick and Justin hopped on the VWT for a few dates of acoustic performances. Following those Warped dates, catch the guys on tour this fall with Hanson and All Time Low —but not at the same time. Their single Like We Used To is currently burning up the charts. Be sure to head over to iTunes and buy yourself a perfectly legal copy. While you’re at it, get their debut full length On Your Side. I got a chance to catch up with the guys at the Uniondale stop and ask them a few questions. :)

Who do you guys watch play everyday?
Every Time I Die, Summer Set. The Summer Set is pretty much our daily thing. Never Shout Never’s really good. There are a lot of good bands on Warped this year so we’re lucky to be here.

Did you make any new BFFs?
We’re still working on it. We met a couple of the guys from You Me At Six. They’re from the UK, they’re really nice.

Do you prefer playing festivals or more intimate venue shows?
[They] both have perks. [They’re] equally as awesome. It’s nice to be the only band that people actually want to pay attention to.

If you could play anywhere that you haven’t before where would it be?
Australia or Japan.

What’s something you can’t live without on tour?
Phone, computer, shower…we are forced to live with out showers. [Luckily] we’re not smelly people.

What do you miss when you’re on tour?
Family. Pets. Showers.

Are you guys planning on getting any new tattoos?
Nick mentioned he might take his tattoo artist friend Craig Beasley on the road while Justin mentioned he might get something ocean related on his left arm. Nick would get a Harry Potter related tattoo somewhere. Both agreed that they’d never get anything pierced. :)

What would you like to say to your fans?
Vote for our song on the radio and come see us on tour!!!

-The Spotlight

For all the PaGODa fans who were worried when the band virtually disappeared from the internet in these past few months, we can all rest a little easier now. Why? Because Pagoda is slowly coming back into our lives! They have a new website http://pagodapagoda.com and have reinstated their MySpace page. Right now, they’re just as vague as they always have been but I have a feeling there will be some major announcements coming our way very soon. ;)

-The Spotlight

New York based indie pop/rock group The Narrative will be releasing their self-titled debut full length record on July 27th. The release will be paired with a tour starting on July 23 in Grand Rapids. Fellow New Yorkers, head out to the Vibe Lounge in Long Island on August 31st to catch the band live! To hear music, check out all the tour dates and to read the bands full bio, visit http://www.myspace.com/thenarrative

-The Spotlight

The hardcore band Texas in July signs to Equal Vision Records. For more info on the band visit http://myspace.com/TexasinJuly and for more info on Equal Vision, go to equalvision.com

Hey New Zealand and CMJ!

Thanks for my latest song obsession!

Motocade - Oldest Trick in the Book

The 2010 Vans Warped Tour started 4 days ago in Carson, CA. So far, I am loving reading the Twitter updates, especially Juliet Simms of Automatic Loveletter (@julietsimmsall). I don’t believe ALL has been on the tour since 2008! Should be a good Warped comeback for them, plus they have new music (myspace.com/automaticloveletter)! What bands are you all most excited to see? For me, it’s the All-American Rejects, my high school favorites.

Stay tuned to The Spotlight all this summer for more Warped updates.

-Erica O.

“You could thank me now…”

‘Thank Me Later’, the debut record by the popular rapper Drake was released two weeks ago. I finally got a chance to listen to the entire thing (twice, currently on play number three as I write this) and I was pleasantly surprised. Not because I didn’t think he would live up to his ‘hype’ (which he did) but because Drizzy was singing on so many of the tracks. Everyone who’s heard of him probably knows/thinks of him as a rapper. I know there were probably many people who were confused to hear this extremely hyped up and praised ‘rapper’ doing so much singing. (Insert *kanye shrug* here)

This record, I feel, is exactly the record Drake wanted to make and not the record he thought he ‘had’ to make or that he was forced to make. I always feel like so many artists don’t release the records they’ve really ‘always wanted to make’ until it’s their third record or so! So, what does that mean for Drake? I definitely think he’s ahead of his time with Thank Me Later. He’s doing everything that most people don’t get to do until their third record! (Yes, that’s the rule apparently. It’s always the third record!) For instance, Kanye and 50 Cent didn’t start singing right away, it took them a while. Drake is doing it all and doing it big!

As for the record, I LOVE it! Obvious favorites are Fancy and the singles he’s released already. (It’s fairly obvious that Fancy will be a single any minute now.) Shut It Down is so good but I can’t help but laugh at ‘put those fu*king heels on’ and I’m not sure if it’s even supposed to be funny? Oh well.

We all know that Drake shines as a lyricist (91% of his hype are his smart/unique/metaphorical lyrics; the other 9% …well you get one guess and if it isn’t Degrassi/Jimmy Brooks/Wheelchair Jimmy, you got it wrong) that along with guest artists including Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne helped make this an incredible debut for Drake and I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s going to do in the future.

-Erica
The Spotlight

This brings me back to high school and when Carson Daly was hosting TRL! (Show of hands, who remembers Carson hosting TRL?) I think Amy Lee sounds fantastic here. Stellar.

-Erica