For the past four years, the band 2*Sweet, native from Chicago, has been an on and off project. Originally started in 2003, has finally picked up speed in the year 2005 by going on tour full time. The band consists of Justin Pence, vocals, Andy Nelson and Pete Grossman on guitar, Dave Cronin, bass, and lastly Dan Polak on drums. The members met each other by playing in different bands earlier in their lifetime. Most of the members are vegan/vegetarian, which makes eating slightly more difficult. This leads to constant fast food such as Mighty Taco.
In 2006, the band self produced/recorded their first EP (extended play), and just recently finished their full length album, which should be released in early spring. Their album was produced by famous produced, Mike Watts at Vudu Studios in Long Island. The major difference between the EP and CD is that the CD has more creativity, such as more riffs, solos, and hooks. Their music is heavily influenced by Morrissey, Peter Steele, Cory Feldman, Dick Wolf, and Glenn Danzig.
2*Sweet is currently on an east coast tour with good friend and published author Christopher Gutierrez, which will last up until January 22nd. Shortly after that, the band will go back out on tour do play at cities in the Midwest. For current dates and tickets you can check out their myspace page, www.myspace.com/2sweet . The best part of constantly being on tour for the past couple of years is seeing new cities/people every night. The absolute worst part is that the band usually gets homesick, and misses their family and friends.

-Cassie

On A Different Note scored an interview with the oh-so-elusive and mysterious band Oh, Hush! of Myspace fame!

Where did the idea for Oh, Hush! come from?

I've known for quite some time that I wanted to do some kind of side project away from my regular band but it wasn't until this past summer that a few of us got together and started working on the songs that would become Oh, Hush! We knew we wanted to create a project that was focused on two things: 1) the MUSIC and 2) the FANS! We didn't have much of a plan other than that. So we threw up a song, a contest and a logo and went from there. We knew we wanted people to form their opinions of the band on the MUSIC alone. We didn't want people to focus on who was or was not in the band, or what we looked like, just the music. Love us or hate us, but do it based on the music.


How did the band end up coming together?

We're still fully trying to detemine who's actually "in" the band... but everyone who has participated in Oh, Hush! so far are just people we know, talented musicians, friends. Being a part of Oh, Hush! isn't a huge time commitment right now.. it mostly involves just being free to write a song or perform on a song here or there. We're still trying to figure out who's in this band tho.


Do you think you'll ever have a fixed line-up or will it be ever-changing?

That's a good and interesting question. Something we've given a little bit of thought to as of late when we start the beginning stage thought processes of tours and things like that. As of right now though, I'm not at liberty to talk about this. :-)

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As this year comes to a close, I have to say that too many awesome things happened for me to make a list of each of them. So, here I offer you the top ten compilation for the year. As if '07 wasn't already set to be amazing for me because I graduated high school [SCORE!], I got to have the following 10 things to make everything that much better. 

10. Cobra Starship Joins The Academy Is.. on The Sleeping With Giants Tour
I got tickets to this concert in the middle of the summer, and was completely thrilled when I got onto MySpace and found my dear Gabriel announcing that Cobra Starship was going to be playing the Sleeping With Giants tour. HELLO GECKETT! Although I didn't get to attend the concert, I can easily say that finding out about it that day was probably one I will remember, due to the number of phone calls I made immediately afterward.

9. The Fall Out Dogs Dominate MySpace.
Hemingway takes after his father and gets technologically in-synch with the world. Hemingway Wentz now has a MySpace and Facebook account. He's busy telling all his friends to "keep [their] pimp paw strong" and helping daddy Peter promote things such as "There's a Light On In Burma" through the world of bulletins and blogs. Just this week, Succah Trohman, guitarist Joe Trohman's pup, joined the trend and created herself a MySpace too.

8. The Academy Is... "SANTI"
I could leave the title and be satisfied with this top ten entry. I can't lie, the release of this album was one of the best moments of the first part of the year. TAI really didn't mess around with this album, and I enjoyed ever minute of it. This band is going places, further than it has so far, and this album is serious proof of that.

7. The Honda Civic Tour
"Patrick drives one man! Patrick drives one!" This years Honda Civic Tour left nothing to be desired when it closed. Cobra Starship, The Academy is..., Paul Wall, +44, and Fall Out Boy made the '07 summer concert scene one that would not be forgotten. This show was filled with energy and excitement, and left us all with too many hilarious backstage YouTube videos to count. Not too mention, the abundance of talented musicians on one tour led to the writing and producing of some pretty killer albums.

6. Fall Out Boy "Infinity On High"
HELLO INTERNET SCANDAL! No, Pete was not sidekick-ing again. The highly anticipated release leaked almost a month before its Februrary release date, but was no lack of an amazing album. Fall Out Boy had it's fanbase and the music scene nervously waiting becuase they were describing the sound as "new, "expermiental," and "different," amoung other things. FOB upped their street cred by getting to work with music big-wigs such as Babyface and Jay-Z on this album. The sound was different, the chords were darker, but the music was still Fall Out Boy

5. TAI TV and Guy Ripley
Never have I been excited on a Sunday night as much as I am waiting for TAI TV each week. The bloopers and made up story lines documenting The Academy Is... and their year on the road with the Honda Civic Tour and the Sleeping With Giants tour gave us all better insight into who these crazy guys were. We all can't deny the love we have of watching Sisky Business toss a taco costume at William Bekcett and Michael Guy Chizzlet and telling them to "EAT TACO, YOU BASTARDS. " [I laughed as I wrote that, honestly.] The spectacle of Guy Ripley on TAI TV could be another number on this list in itself. Watching Guy Ripley of the BBC World News Team introduce his "True Things" by getting made fun of at the Leeds fesival and constantly chasing after TAI made my year worth living.

4. Pete Speaks Out On The Grammy's
This event happened pretty recently, but it made my top ten, top five becuase Pete said what I have been wanting to say since I got into the music scene. Which is basically, why do fifty year old guys get to tell me what is good in music this year? Pete got a lot of crap from media circuts because he spoke out in his blog on Fall Out Boy's website. The band has enough of a following of dedicated and loyal fans to know that the Grammy nomination isn't what's important, but speaking up against a system that has our grandparents choosing who was good in music this year.

3. Patrick Stump, SuperMusician
Alternative Press said that Patrick Stump made "a hulk-like transformation" when he got into the studio, but I never would have though I would be coupling the diminutive FOB front man with with faces like Lupe Fiasco and hearing him all over the new Cobra Starship record. Patrick is showing the world that he can do more than sing and play guitar by producing everything from his labelmates albums, The Hush Sound, Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes...to the aforementioned hip-hop superstar Lupe Fiasco. His performance at the MTVU woodies with Lupe and Matthew Santos got a standing ovation not only from bandmate Pete Wentz, but the entire crowd at the award show. Patrick is going to be dominating the entertaiment industry in '08, not only in music, but he is already set for an appearance on "Law and Order"  that I can't even pretend not to be excited about.

2. The Young Wild Things Tour
This concert was worth every second of the four hour drive I had to endure to get to it. Cute Is What We Aim For, The Plain White T's, Gym Class Heroes and Fall Out Boy rounded out the year with a concer series that was too good to be true. Despite liscencing issues about the use of the stage setup and its correlation with Maurice Sendak's book Where The Wild Things Are and Pete Wentz breaking his foot mid-tour, the concert was another heart stopper and was full of excited moments from each band that was showcased. My FAVORITE tour to date.

1. Cobra Starship "Viva La Cobra!"
Cobra Starship followed up "While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets" with their sophomore album "Viva La Cobra!" This album is my absolute favorite this year. While Cobra was on the Honda Civic Tour they enlisted the help of Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy to produce and add some vocals to the album. Cobra achieved their mission of making fans dance with this album, that's for sure. This album has been on repeat for a good month now and I have yet to get sick of it. Fangs Up! for my favorite thing of this year.




xox-Ashley

It cannot be denied that the dawn of the digital age has impacted the
music and recording industry in both good and bad ways. Though
statistics have shown the dramatic decrease of music sales over the
last ten years or so, the truth is, without the internet, half of
today's musicians would never have been discovered. Blogging and
networking sites like Myspace, Pure Volume, Live Journal and Facebook
began to provide a new platform for artists to deliver their music to
their audiences. These bands began their rise to fame thanks to these
sites, and many who are now on top still pay homage to their roots by
keeping journals and blogs online so they can keep their fans updated.
Though along with a boost to stardom, the internet can pose problems
for these artists as well.

One such case is with Chicago natives, Fall Out Boy. The band began
playing clubs and small venues while gathering a concrete fan base
fueled by the internet blogs and websites they set up. Their music
began to spread like wildfire and everyday they gained more fans.
There is no way to argue that Fall Out Boy would be where they are
without the aid of cyberspace and the ability fans had to download and
share their music with each other. However the internet was not always
their best friend as they learned when a set of nude photos bassist
Pete Wentz had taken with his phone leaked onto the web. They were
struck with another blow later that year when their third album
"Infinity On High" was leaked onto their official website's message
boards almost an entire month before its set release date. Both
instances devastated the band and even though Wentz, the band's
self-proclaimed internet junkie, admits to blogging "pretty hard" he
still says that he has a "love/hate relationship with the Internet.
It's constantly screaming in my ear, 'I made you, I can break you.'"

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Recently on myspace a new phenomenon has occurred. This phenomenon is Oh, Hush! Now, I know what you're thinking "How do they differ from every other band that adds me?". The answer is they are a band who has concealed their identity, and makes everything up as they go. All that is known is that everyone in Oh, Hush! is involved in another band. Surprises are given for certain milestones (for instance, for 75k total plays 3 songs could be downloaded.) Many people have a notion that the band is involved with Fueled By Ramen, because their top 4 friends are Butch Walker, Cobra Starship, The Academy Is..., and The Hush Sound. In addition, Oh, Hush!'s merch consists of two shirts made by fans, Oh, Hush! are great with keeping in touch with fans. They comment almost everyone who adds them, and message fans back. Not much is known about Oh, Hush!, but their ingenious idea of being 'secret' has earned them many fans, and curious spectators. So if you haven't listened to the dance-pop this band produces go check them out at http://www.myspace.com/ohhushmusic.

-Hannah

The lead singer and anti-frontman of Fall Out Boy posted a rare entry on absolutepunk.net, reflecting on love, loss and friendship;


"Hi everybody. I remember some English class that focused on how to start your writings and I more distinctly remember that I was never too keen on that bit. Plus I have a near infamous penchant for being long-winded. So here I am at a loss for how to jump in and say what I'm thinking. I guess one must really start at the top.

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After befriending several extremely talented musicians in my short time in the beautiful city of Chicago, I've realized just how many up-and-coming artists and bands this city has - artists just waiting to break out, some already with their own following. This prompted me to find a way to help get their names out there.

And so, here I am. "Your New Favorite Band" will probably be a weekly thing, posted on Friday nights by either me or someone else on the crew.

My pick for this week is a hardcore band a la Thrice, Silverstein and Scary Kids Scaring Kids originating in Chicago called Let's Scare Jessica To Death, whose lead singer and lyricist Chris Butera, guitarist Dave Ramirez, bassist Ryan Smith, drummer Matt Harris and keyboardist Ian Montgomery reign from the Chicago suburbs. The band recently played the Next Big Thing show at the Congress Theater, along with other aspiring bands from the area in an attempt to snag the prize of 16 hours in the recording studio or $1,000 cash. "It was extremely cool to be able to be on the same stage that a lot of [our] favorite bands and influences played," says Chris of playing the Congress.

Let's Scare Jessica To Death started two summers ago when Dave and Matt started playing guitar and drums together. The two wrote a song and enlisted Chris to put some lyrics to it. "I remember we were sitting in Dave's garage," Butera says, "and Dave and Harris were loud as hell and I only had this little amp, so you couldn't hear me until I started screaming."

And thus, the band was born.

They frequent venues such as JT Music in Midlothian and Mojoes in Tinley Park, and play shows out of state once in a while as well. They have shared the stage with the likes of Inept and Rookie of the Year and have plans for an upcoming show at JT Music on December 15th. The band also has other plans in the works.

"We're actually ironing out the details to record soon," says Butera. "It's huge on our priority list."


There's still no release date in sight for the upcoming EP but until then, head over to Their Myspace for more information on upcoming shows and make sure to check them out at JT Music in Midlothian on December 15th if you're in the Chicago area.

According to a story on absolutepunk.net, Butch Walker's house recently burned down in the fires that have recently been threatening the Malibu area. He had recently moved into a house being rented from Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Walker says that "I had just consolidated my entire recording studio and house from Atlanta into the one house In Malibu. I lost everything I've ever owned. Every master of every song I've ever recorded, every piece of recording equipment, guitars, drums and things I've collected over the years, cars, motorcycles, every family memorial, heirloom, picture, and document we ever had.... Gone. I feel like I finally know the difference between 'going back' and 'going home'."

http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=280451

Alrighty, since we're just getting started here, we are running a little behind on some current releases, so please bear with us while we get these reviews out. First, I'll be tackling Say Anything's new album, In Defense Of The Genre.

We would just like to take a moment to remember Casey Calvert. According a statement on the band's website, www.hawthorneheights.com, Casey died in his sleep on Friday night. At this time, it is not known what led to his death, but the band asks that their fans not to "contribute or succumb to any gossip you may hear."

To lose such a talented person at such a young age is a real tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Casey's friends and family.

The Alternative-Pop-Punk-Techno quintet, Cobra Starship, announced the "Really Really Ridiculously Good Looking Tour" last week with supporting bands We The Kings, Metro Station, and the newest addition to the Decaydance family, The Cab. Tickets for the tour, which will be the band's first headliner, went on presale today, and within minutes most of the dates were sold out, to the surprise of astonished fans everywhere. Regular sales start Saturday, December 1st. Check ticketmaster for times for your area.

Cobra Starship's sophomore album, "Viva La Cobra" hit shelves on October 23rd, and the band joined labelmates The Academy Is... on the "Sleeping With Giants" tour the same day. The band has a busy year ahead of them, bassist Alex Suarez told us. "We're kinda just like, riding on a train that can hardly stay on the tracks things are going so crazy, you know? We're just trying to work as hard as we can. It's a lot of work. We just had another record come out within the first year of our first record coming out and it's about to get pretty crazy I think, after the new year. We have the headliner and the new CD. We're gonna start doing videos and dropping singles and trying to get radio and things like that so it's gonna be pretty intense."

A list of tourdates are under the cut:
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On Saturday, November 24th, The Sleeping With Giants tour featuring headliners The Academy Is... and supporting bands Sherwood, The Rocket Summer, Armor for Sleep and Cobra Starship finished up in Chicago at the Riviera Theater. While they were there, I got a chance to meet up with Alex Suarez, the bassist for the up-and-coming techno-pop-punk-alternative band Cobra Starship, who's sophomore album "Viva La Cobra" came out in October. Cobra Starship reigns from New York and also includes vocalist Gabe Saporta, formerly of the band Midtown, Ryland Blackinton on guitar, Nate Novarro on drums and Victoria "Vicky-T" Asher on keytar. Suarez talked to OADN about life on the road, the changes facing the music industry today, Cobra's plans for 2008 and the perks of working with people like Blink 182's Mark Hoppus.


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Welcome to the newest webzine, "On A Different Note". Here you'll find CD reviews, concert reviews, a news feed, interviews and more with all your favorite alternative bands like Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Cobra Starship, The Academy Is..., Plain White T's, Powerspace, 1997, Armor For Sleep and more!

We are now taking applications for writers!
The position will be flexible, and you'll usually be able to write about anything you want (that has to do with the alt/indie music scene) but once in awhile you may be assigned a topic or a story to write on.

If you're interested, please send

~At least three samples of your work.
~Which column you'd like to write for (CD reviews, concert reviews, etc...)
~A short biography (what do you like to do, what do you listen to, what do you like, what don't you like?)
~A list of the bands you are into and would be willing to cover.

To pyraterose@hotmail.com or mn_girl08@hotmail.com
If everything seems like a good fit, we'll email you and let you know!

Thank you!