I am not a musical person. I can’t hit the beat on Guitar Hero and anyone who has ever heard me sing tries to block out the memory. But if you love the whole music thang (and are actually good at it) this may just be your lucky day.Converse and Journeys have paired up to bring you the “Get Out of the Garage” music contest! Basically, you can win a free trip to NYC for 4 days, 3 nights of free studio time to create and mix your own song!

Yeah, that’s right: record your own freaking song.

All you have to do is head to the mall and pick up a self-addressed envelope at any Journeys shoe store. Pop a recording of your jam into the envelope (only one song, ladies) and get that badboy in the mail. Not a fan of snail mail? Don’t feel like wasting precious gas goin’ to the mall? No problemo; you can upload your song here. Easy as pie.

There will be a whole lot of judging, but Downtown Records will choose the top song . The winner will take the prize of a free trip to NYC for 4 days, 3 nights of free studio time to create and mix their own song.

The remaining 9 finalists will receive a pair of Converse shoes, a gift certificate from Converse, and prizing from Guitar Center to be determined. All songs submissions must be sent to Cornerstone for judging by September 15th.

Not a music fan? Have no fear. The people over at Converse/Get Out of the Garage love CC so much they have given us a prizepack to award to one lucky reader. After all, we can’t all be rockstars, but that doesn’t mean we don’t deserve cool sh*t. Read More »

Dear Boyfriend,

While you were at your frat’s campfire Friday night—I know, triple kegger! How could you not check it out? Life’s too short, bro!—I stayed in and watched “Camp Rock,” Disney Channel’s newest original movie starring The Jonas Brothers.

Let me tell you something; these “bros” are like three Prince Charmings, and you’re still just a frog—a frog with crappy hair gel and a dorm room that constantly smells like Jose Cuervo and dirty underwear.

After the movie, I got to thinking: the JoBros would collectively make a much better boyfriend than you. So without further adieu…

Here are the top 20 reasons why I’d rather date the Jonas Brothers: Read More »

Most people’s first encounter with the ultra hip, uber talented band, The Ting Tings can be attributed to Steve Jobs and his brilliant iPod commercials. Their song, Shut Up and Let Me Go, was catchy, fun and piqued everyone’s interest…in more than an MP3 player. Fortunately, that song wasn’t the only trick up The Ting Tings’ sleeve.Their newest album, We Started Nothing, is further proof of this duo’s serious talent. Unable to get those songs out of our heads, CollegeCandy just had to get the story behind the band. So, we did. The good news: Katie White is just as down to earth and cool as she is talented. And, though we didn’t get to chat with Jules, we are pretty sure the same goes for him.

CC: We Started Nothing is chock full of textured beats, irresistible melodies and witty lyrics- where do the songs come from?
TT: We didn’t intend to form in a band so I think it came from a very honest place, because when we wrote these songs we didn’t think anyone would ever hear them. We just wrote them to play for our friends at parties. We were both feeling quite frustrated at the time and very sort of, I don’t know, like, invisible. We had been in a band that hadn’t worked out, we had a bit of a horrible time with it; I think it came from a real frustrated point of view, but they weren’t negative songs; they were just songs to make us feel better.

CC: Could you describe your song writing process?
TT: It’s completely different for every song. Both myself and Jules write everything together. Sometimes it will be that I will come up with something on the guitar and then we’ll come up with an idea on top of that. Or Jules might come up with something on the guitar or drums, or we’ll play keyboards or we’ll just have this little percussive sound. We just turn to sing like guy vocals and then an idea will come out of it.

CC: A year and a half ago, you were playing living room parties for friends; what’s the largest venue you have played to date and how does the experience differ from the early sets?
TT: The largest venue we’ve played to date so far is the festival for the BBC one big weekend in the UK. I don’t know how many people there were, but there were thousands and thousands all singing our song. It’s very different. We just try to keep it the same really, we haven’t tried to change the bond, we haven’t tried to make it anything that it wasn’t; we just keep being ourselves and you know, people either like it or they don’t. We don’t try to manipulate it for other audiences or anything. Read More »

For a group of twenty-something young lads, the guys of Panic at the Disco have made quite a name for themselves. Their first album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, went double platinum. Before they were even 20 years old, the guys were blowing up the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards. And now, three years later, Panic (no more exclamation point) at the Disco is touring the world with Pretty. Odd., their wildly successful new album.

CollegeCandy got to sit down with Jon Walker, Panic’s super hot and talented bassist, to find out the secrets behind the music, how the band is handling all the success and just what a group of guys does on a giant tour bus. (Well, CollegeCandy was actually lying on the couch, but we assume Jon was sitting down on the other end of the line…)

CC: So, you guys are back on the road again. How is the tour going?
Jon: This tour right now is actually really fun. The Hush Sound is a really great band and Phantom Planet is out on tour with us right now, as well, and they’re also a really great band. We’ve been on this tour for about 2 months now we have about three or four shows left. That’s pretty exciting.

CC: And what do you guys have coming up next?
Jon: We are wrapping up this tour and going over to Europe. That’s our main focus right now.

CC: Wow. The tour never ends. What do you like best about being on the road?
Jon: Just playing shows, I guess. It’s fun to be able to travel around with your friends and hang out everyday, but some days it’s not always that fun until you get on stage and remember why you are out here doing this.

CC: Yeah, I am sure being cooped up on a bus all day isn’t always so glamorous. What do you guys do all day to pass the time?
Jon: Well, luckily Nintendo recently came out with Mario Kart for the Wii. That’s really pretty much what we’ve been doing . We’ve been writing a lot as well on this tour and we’ve been trying to demo some songs. In between Mario Kart and demo-ing songs and sleep… that’s pretty much the top 3 things we do on the bus. Read More »

Recently, Keith Murray, from We Are Scientists [if you don’t know this band you should sincerely check them out], chatted with me for a bit while waiting in a long European buffet line about his band’s emerging presence and much more.

E: You’re in the middle of a really big tour right now. Do you think that touring plays a bigger role these days in being a band than when you started the band?

K: Um, I mean, I think perhaps, proportionally, no. I don’t think anything’s really changed about touring for us and I’m not sure that the fruits of the touring labor are necessarily more substantive. It does seem like the selling of records has become definitionally less…of a factor in measuring how well you’re doing. I feel like touring is probably about as important as it ever was and the space that…the big gaping chasm that’s been left by diminishing album sales has sorta filtered itself into other things. Like, I feel like, weirdly, licensing now is playing a much bigger role than it used to. And online presence, in general, is sorta replacing sales. I feel like touring is a rock that is not changing.

E: Speaking of online presences, I’m interested in knowing what you think about Myspace since it started getting big in the middle of your career with We Are Scientists.

K: I feel like…and I’m sure there are examples that can contradict what I’m about to say…but in my experience, Myspace seems…..sort of like the free release thing that Radiohead did with In Rainbows…it works really well once people know what they’re looking for. But I’ve never experienced a situation where I was trolling around Myspace and discovered a band. That seems like a reach for me. Read More »

Everyone knows someone in a band. Those guys that play in the basement. That band that played at every frat party. Your guy friends who are obsessed with Rock Band. You go to their shows, you rock out to the covers they play and you put them in your list of favorites on Facebook. Sure, you like them, but they’re really nothing more than a group of guys playing some instruments in between bong hits.

I knew a group like that. Or, at least I used to. Now that band has blown up, gotten a record deal and are touring the country. Their name is Tally Hall and they are some of most talented musicians I have ever heard.

And I am not just saying that.

Their first video – done completely by themselves – was a feature on YouTube last month. Their songs have been on the Real World and The O.C. (back when that show actually meant something) and their first album, Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum, has received quite a bit of well-deserved praise. Read More »

Are you, or any girls you know, dating a guy in a band? If so, I URGE you to read this. In an effort to stop the spread of YOKO, the disease many of us musicians don’t want to be within 100 feet of, I am going to tell you how NOT to catch it. Yoko is a syndrome that plagues many a band-boy girlfriend and once your symptoms begin to show, there is hardly any turning back. Here is how the disease starts:

You are dating a guy in a band. Naturally, he wants you to come see him perform. You go to his show and automatically, you realize something: there are chicks everywhere who want to, or who are at least acting like they want to, totally jump his bones. So as many girls would, you decide to play the role of the coy girlfriend.

You approach him after the show and kiss him, while looking out of the corner of your eye to make sure that the “groupies” see you two kissing. And this is where it begins. The day you become territorial, you are one step closer to being sick with Yoko.

Your boyfriend begins to talk to you about band matters just as naturally as he invites you to his shows. And bands have drama. So when the drama comes knocking; you start to offer your two cents. However, there is a place and time for advice when it comes down to band relations and many girls embrace Yoko by assuming that their opinions are warranted. (But they are not). Read More »

I do not think I’m an alcoholic. I do, however, feel like I’ve racked myself up some pretty reliable points for drinking frequently, and usually for free, in New York City.

I’m in a band. And all of my friends are in bands. You know what that means? It means shows…which means drinks. And my friends who aren‘t musicians, who work in offices, tend to like to buy me rounds at Happy Hour time–which usually precedes one of those aforementioned shows.

These factors combined with my sometimes modeling and myopenbar.com lead to a steady intake of alcohol on my part. And REALLY, I am okay with this.

However, I woke up today feeling especially hung over. My stomach felt like I imagine it would if it were working diligently to digest batteries. My makeup was caked across my pillowcase and the volume of god knows what kind of dirt under my nails made me afraid to look in the mirror. It was just another, typical night out on the town for me last night. Wine and beer and whiskey and martinis. Lost cash. Expensive cab rides. Shameful drunk snacking back at my apartment and finally the relief of passing out, but ONLY after an embarrassing drunk dial and even more embarrassing emotional drunk IM.

I woke up this morning and I challenged myself out loud to my roommate.

“You know what, dude? I’m gonna take the next week off from drinking.”

She laughed. Read More »

I’ll be the first one to admit that once a band wrongs my tastes musically; it’s kind of hard for them to undo that first impression. I mean, I believe in artists progressing and changing. In fact, I believe that if your art is static on any level…you may not be an artist.

After all, the idea is to CREATE, not to continually replicate. So for the bands who I hear and think, “OH GOD, I hate this…“, I do genuinely want for them to eventually appeal to me. It’s just that a lot of bands get set in their ways and begin to define themselves by the genres they have been shoved into.

However, more and more bands have been walking gracefully into my corridors of forgiveness these days. And THRICE is one of them.

I’ll admit that I was never crazy about Thrice before. When a friend told me last spring that she’d be on tour with the band in the fall…I couldn’t think of any song in particular that I knew, but I remembered not liking them. She elevated my hopes slightly by telling me the band would be releasing a 4 disc set starting in the fall called The Alchemy Index. Read More »

Ask me if I think New Kids On The Block can make a comeback, and I’ll tell you it’s about as likely as those 90’s snap bracelets (which were banned in my elementary school because kids whipped each other bloody with them) showing up in a display case at Barneys.

But of course, like most things in life, my assumption would be wrong.

PEOPLE is reporting that rumors of a New Kid reunion are growing, and the once defunct NKOTB webpage is back up.

“The New Kids are coming back” a “well-placed source,” told the magazine. “New Kids On The Block are indeed getting back together.”

As cool as I thought the band was when I was 10, I can’t say I’ll be as enthusiastic about their sound 14 years later. I mean, when I was 10, I also enjoyed showering myself in glitter and wearing giant t-shirts with the Coca Cola polar bear on them.

Besides, the oldest member of NKOTB is pushing 40. 40. Is a 40-year-old man really going to sing the songs of prepubescent lust and angst, and expect the world to listen?

Laugh is more like it. Laugh and throw snap bracelets.