Somewhere between fighting off hordes of teenage girls, making a TV show about living in a huge bubble and being the hottest darn thing in pop-rock right now, Will Pugh from Cartel found time to sit down with the Technician and answer a few questions. Here’s what he had to say:
Technician: First off, congratulations on your success. Three years ago you were playing at The Brewery here in Raleigh in front of 30 kids and now you are selling out big venues. How has the ride been?
Pugh: It has been really crazy. Raleigh has always been a very special place for us, we’ve always had a connection with the fans and the people there. It was always cool for us to go back and recognize the same kids at our shows.
Technician: You guys just came out with a new album. The new single, “Lose It,” has a different sound to it than your last album. What should we expect to hear on the new release?
Pugh: The new album definitely has a different sound to it than our older stuff. We tried to make music that involves more thinking and listening instead of just jumping around. Our shows won’t be as crazy with lots of kids jumping around but there still be a lot of head-bopping. Still, anybody that liked Chroma will like our new album.
Technician: You guys just got off of a tour. What are you doing in your free time?
Pugh: We are all just enjoying our break time, chilling and hanging out with our families. But we all can’t wait to get back out on tour again. Touring is really our bread and butter and we all have so much fun while we are out on the road.
Technician: You are probably sick of talking about and getting flak for it, but how was the making of the Dr Pepper Band in a Bubble show?
Pugh: (laughs) You know, the Band in a Bubble show was just one of those things that when you look back on it, you aren’t sure if you would do again but you don’t regret. By and large, I think it was a good thing. When we first went into the bubble, we all agreed that this was about making the best record we could while we were in there. I always felt that the Web site that went along with the show was really cool but that it was dumb to make you have to buy a Dr Pepper to watch it online. Overall, it was a cool experience and I think it showed a lot of things about our band.
Technician: You guys finished touring recently with Boys Like Girls and Cobra Starship. How was that? Are you looking forward to your new tour with Weatherbox and The Honorary Title?
Pugh: The past tour was really fun, seeing Boys Like Girls blow up like they have has been really cool. And getting to watch Gabe from Cobra Starship perform every night was really cool. He has such a dynamic stage personality. I always felt like the kids at the shows would be exhausted by the time we got to play, though, because those two bands would always just take so much out of them. This new tour should be really cool. I really feel that the new tour is about the quality of music on it. Both of the other bands on this tour are made up of incredible musicians.
Technician: The kind of music you make has gotten incredibly popular in the past five years or so, with lots of other bands making music like yours but not as good. What are you guys trying to do to distinguish yourself and how do you feel about the current state of rock music?
Pugh: I think that the biggest thing that people need to do right now is to stop worrying about how many records they could sell with their new album or song, because I think that when you set out to write a song to sell records, that is when you sell out. I definitely think that bands should be more creative and try to implement more things into their music. I can appreciate what Fall Out Boy are trying to do to pop-punk, and people hate on them so much and I agree they suck live, but I like listening to them on CD just because they have a really cool sound. You know, pop-punk will never get as big as New Found Glory in 2002 and bands in this genre are getting older and wiser and realizing that they are having to do something different with their music to remain relevant. And I hope that is what we, as a band, have accomplished with our new album.