Hi all,

What were your CMJ adventures today? I went to the Paper Garden showcase at the Living Room and caught a set by the wonderful Alcoholic Faith Mission, then scooted around the corner to Arlene’s Grocery for the No Pulp showcase and saw Allen Stone who was amazing and a band called The Dance Party. The latter was recommended to me by two friends so I checked them out…maybe my friends don’t know me that well. But hey, at least their name doesn’t lie. A dance party is what you’d expect and a dance party definitely went downnn at their set! It was fun. Not my cup of tea, but definitely fun.

I guess that’s the best part (and maybe the whole point) of CMJ: going to see some bands you’ve never heard of and then deciding whether you’d like to hear more from them or not. And of course, going to see the bands you already know & love is excellent as well and that’s what I’ll be doing later on tonight. I’ll be heading out to the Bowery Poetry Club for the Big Picture Media showcase to see The Bigger Lights, The Narrative & more!

Come down and hang!!

-Erica

*Edit: Shaant of Cute is What We Aim For has come down with a case of laryngitis so the band won’t be playing the Big Picture showcase as planned. Let’s all wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully we’ll be seeing the band sooooon!*

(Will post tons of links to this blog [& upcoming CMJ blogs] later, but for now do a search for the bands I’ve mentioned at check them out!)

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thespotlightweb as I’ll be updating that in real time throughout the week.

JUST ANNOUNCED: Big Picture Media’s Official CMJ Showcase featuring Cute is What We Aim For, The Bigger Lights who joined Cute on a spring tour earlier this year, The Narrative and more announced for the showcase which also features To Write Love On Her Arms

When/Where: October 19th, 10pm at the Bowery Poetry Club. The show is free for badge-holders and $10 for non-badge holders. Come on down and check it out!! I’ll be there ;)

Summer is over and fall has arrived. That can mean only one thing: It’s almost CMJ time! The CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival happens once every year. New music, new movies and panels led by experienced and well-known professionals providing eager ears with info they can use for years to come…

For the music buffs, New York City literally comes alive with the sound of music! Bands you know and love & bands you’ll grow to love all take over and leave their mark on the city. It’s like one big block party!!!

Head over to http://cmj2010.com for more info, badges, the line-up, panel, film info ETC.

-Erica

Expect more info on CMJ soon ! Stay tuned to The Spotlight!

cute should be on warped 2011, yes? 

“…With A New Touch.”

     After a year full of obstacles, Cute Is What We Aim For is officially back! Last year Shaant tweeted that he was “going solo” and CIWWAF fans were left wondering what would happen to the band. After many months of silence and unanswered questions, it is clear now that Cute is absolutely back and brand new. Shaant (calling Cute his “baby”) and Cute went through some ‘revamping’ and he is now leading the band towards what is shaping up to be a sick comeback. After releasing a new song, Harbor, Cute started a Spring tour (a couple of days ago), playing live shows for the first time in over a year. I had the pleasure of heading out to the second night of this tour in New York City at the Highline Ballroom. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of this band and have been for a while. When I say that the show I saw before me on Wednesday was the best Cute show I’ve seen in forever, I’m not exaggerating. Not only did the show sound great (Shaant sounded better than ever) but he exuded such confidence and positivity …and that vibe could be felt throughout the entire room. I felt like I was meeting a new person/seeing a brand new band for the first time! Shaant is back and he’s on a mission to do things differently this time around. He’s definitely making it clear that he appreciates the fans who stuck by him and the new fans he will make virtually re-building Cute from the ground up. Before the show, I sat down with Shaant for a few minutes and asked about the show, how it felt to be back on the stage and the upcoming Cute record.

***

Last night was the first show of the tour, what was going through your mind when you went on stage?
Um, I was so eager. [I was] just excited that people were willing to give it a shot considering the things that I had done. Then, once we [started playing] I was shaking the entire set. I’m starting to get anxious for today now that I’m thinking about it because …it’s the bee’s knees. It’s the best opportunity I could ever have. I realize that now [since] I’m of sound mind and body in order to appreciate it… I think. It’s just the coolest thing in the world because it’s stark contrast of me when I went home., I cut everyone out of my life… I stay(ed) at home I live alone with [my dog], Sebastian and now being out, being able to interact with all these amazing people who I have things in common with and they know things or they’ve seen progression over the years, it’s the coolest thing. I went from shut in, recluse, to back out in full throttle. 24 hrs in or 48 or whatever it may be, it’s going really well.


I want to ask about the new record; Are you close to finished? Are you working on it?
Yeah, we have a vast collection of songs which is something I’ve never had before. I’d normally just go to the studio and try to put something together. And I guess you could say it’s finished but I don’t know how I want to release it. …I always look at problems and I want to do something that can fix it or just be new or innovative, right? So, maybe play around with releasing things here and there or just I don’t know… wouldn’t it be better to get like four songs every month or something like that or every two months?


Ni’ma:  Yeah, some bands are starting to do that.
Really? Alright then, I’ve been living under a rock for quite a while… dammit. Those guys are really smart! So I don’t know but I really want to do it late summer/early fall.


Tell us a little about the new record.
Well people may think just because of what has been going on with my life… dealing with the “issues” that it may be darker but it’s quite the opposite; just [because of] the fact that I needed the music to be positive and be happy to keep my mood afloat. A lot of people say they “try and go for a certain sound” or “this record’s heavier” - and I tried that the last time. I tried to look at everything Cute was and do the exact opposite. It’s quite apparent in [Rotation]. This time around, its just natural, sober, not fighting my life - understanding that I do have people around me to support me and I don’t have to change to fit a mold. So… it’s just fun. More or less like Blood Rush by default since… I wrote it.

Do the new band members write anything? How involved are they in the songwriting process?
Yeah! Absolutely. It can even be… I’ll be tapping my foot. The guys will be looking at me like im crazy and I’ll just start singing a line over and over again. Then Novak will start playing a beat. A guitar line will develop. And then if the guitar line goes I may hum like “oh” and then go to this note… come down, etc. So we’re just very collaborative and it’s neat because they trust me enough to listen. I’m the director if you will, but I love input. I like as many ideas as possible and then picking the best one, as opposed to a lot of musicians who say it’s stupid. My favorite thing to do is… if a part makes us laugh when we’re jamming, even if it’s a guitar part, we gotta use it! That’s why a lot of our parts are pretty goofy. Who gets to say “that’s cheesy”? Because Aerosmith is playing this one riff and if one of my guys is playing it in practice or in sound check, we’re like ‘oh dude that such a cheesy riff’. Think about it. Think about the impact that that simple guitar line made on people. Music is so subjective. So yeah, collaborative effort with a main brain.

And I think it’s best to take risks with the sound because you might do something that no one’s ever heard before and everyone loves it and they can say ‘oh that’s Cute is What We Aim For’!
I don’t know if we’ve ever done anything that no one’s done. We definitely try. Who cares? I did for a little bit and it really just tanked. I obsessed over it. Music is fun… you can listen to heavy metal and then folk music in the same shuffle/playlist. Boundaries suck. As long as no one’s getting hurt…

What new songs are you playing tonight?
Tonight there’s ‘Harbor’, [the song] we put up online in a pretty neat way on Twitter. And we’re [also] going to play — I don’t have a name for it; the working title is “Cookbooks”. But, yeah that’s it. Just two. I really thought in dealing… in recovery and everything, I constantly empathized and they say ‘empathy is key’. So If I’m going to a show and I haven’t seen the artist in a while, what do I want? I don’t want to sit there and listen to them play a whole bunch of jams I don’t know. I even looked through the iTunes list. What do people like the most? What do they want to hear? Whats the most fun? Reflecting back: What songs get the most reaction? And that’s what we decided to play. So it’s just fun across the board.

Seeing as how the band is 75% new [people], when you play the old songs do they have a new/different vibe about them?
Absolutely and it’s funny you should ask that because as you play these songs 700 times you get bored… and you wrote it — so you take creative license and you change it up live. I mean God knows what I’ve done to the vocals live. Then, you eventually just lose track. You don’t want to listen to your own record so you don’t remember what the actual part was. With these guys, it’s a breath of fresh air because everything is legitimate. Everything really is to the record. It’s a breath of fresh air because that’s how I remember the songs in the purest form.  I loved them when they were original.

Do you have anything to say to the fans who have supported you?
Oh goodness. I don’t know how to say it. It’s more of… (long silence) — I’m spacing out just because I really don’t know how to say it. It’s beyond my ability to convey. I never thought I’d have the opportunity one time - let alone two. I just don’t want to fuck it up and I want to make sure that everyone who was there to support me… I’m there to support them.

Special thanks/shout outs to Shaant, Dayna and Ni’ma.

-THE SPOTLIGHT

Have you heard the new Cute Is What We Aim For song ‘Harbor’? The band recently did a Twitter promotion which allowed people to download the song for free in exchange for a tweet. Along with the song, a handwritten message from Shaant was included that mentioned something about a summer time puzzle. Hmm?! The song is very upbeat and catchy, it has an unmistakable summertime vibe about it and I can’t wait to hear more. If I had to describe it any other way, I would say it has that maturity that we got from Rotation with a Same Old Blood Rush twist. At the same time, you can tell that it’s something new and fresh and it should leave you excited to hear more new stuff!

Since my last post there have been more updates on Cute; I will post some links below:

1. The bands wants your help choosing the merch for their upcoming spring tour. Choose three t-shirt designs you like the most and you’ll be automatically entered into the contest. Prize: free merch and a copy of the upcoming album!

2. Shaant breaks his silence about everything that happened last year. He spoke with Alternative Press exclusively about why Cute ‘broke up’, his personal battle with alcohol addiction and why he chose to keep Cute going!

3. For lyrics to the new song Harbor, go to ShaantDidWhat.com

-Erica [+he spo+ligh+]

Cute Is What We Aim For is back! After an incident last year that saw 3 of the 4 members of the band leaving and Shaant’s claim of ‘going solo’, Cute fans were left wondering what would happen next. Now, the answer is (somewhat) upon us. As of right now, the CIWWAF MySpace has been revamped, including brand new promo pictures (which only feature Shaant, btw). There have been reports that a couple of members from the Buffalo based band Mandy K would be joining the new Cute line up, but that has yet to be confirmed. Considering they aren’t in the promo pictures, though, one has to wonder (if the ‘reports’ are accurate) if they’re a permanent attachment to the band or just the touring line-up.

It’s also been announced that CIWWAF will be headlining a Spring tour w/ The Friday Night Boys, The Bigger Lights and Down With Webster supporting. The official flyer and all the dates can be found on the Cute MySpace/Website.

This is the bands Twitter account, follow for more official news and statements, updates, tour info and more! xoxo.

-The Spotlight