Look At Me Now - Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes (Cover by @Karm...

Emarosa Vs. Jonny Craig

Considering his history with Dance Gavin Dance, were there any reservations when you guys first brought Jonny into the band?
LADEKJAER: Of course there were reservations, especially after DGD released their official blog [about kicking him out]. I remember we read it, then called Jonny and had him pretty much explain every accusation in that blog. After that, I think we all knew that this was a person unlike anyone we’d ever dealt with before; good or bad, we were willing to take that risk at the time.
WHITE: We thought he had to have learned something after all that.
STEWART: When he started to work with us, it felt like it could work. We were always on guard, but we felt a second chance could go a long way.

When did you first begin to think it might be better to move on without him?
LADEKJAER: Jonny and I pretty quickly clashed more than anyone in the band, so that thought entered my head relatively early on.
WHITE: His first visit to jail at the beginning of our first headlining tour.
STEWART: There were various low points where it seemed like it wasn’t going to work. Some even as early on as the first tour together. Every time things went really bad and we gave him another chance, he respected it for a bit and things would go smoothly. There was rarely a calm time in Emarosa, though; it was always an up and down thing.
KOSZEWSKI: It was apparent to me in the studio this past time we recorded. He expressed some feelings to me about possibly leaving and feeling out of place. But we had also heard that a few times before.
SOWERS:Honestly, I don’t think I ever completely gave up on him until he started turning on his best friends and the people who loved him in order to support his habits. I think Jonny is a great guy—he’s just a person with a very addictive personality, and that leads him into very dark places.

Was there anything specific that prompted this decision?
SOWERS: I think the MacBook scam was without a doubt the final straw for everyone.
KOSZEWSKI: We had a member who didn’t want to put effort into cleaning up for the better of not only him, but the band. This band is our job. If you can’t dedicate yourself enough to something you supposedly love, then why bother?

How did you go about addressing it?
KOSZEWSKI: We just wrote up a simple statement. We knew what we wanted to do. But a band also have to attack problems from a business standpoint—weigh the pros and cons and how it will affect our position. We gained input from peers and people we look up to. But ultimately, it was entirely our decision.

How did you break the news to him?
SOWERS: E.R. called him on the phone. We had planned to make it a conference call and explain reasoning to him, but the exchange between them literally was maybe a 20-second phone call.
WHITE: I told him we were kicking him out. He said, “Okay.” I asked if he was all right. He said he was, and we hung up.
STEWART: I believe he had some idea it was coming his way, but it still was not an easy thing to do.

The story on Emarosa for the AP Tour issue (AP 268) last fall had a lot of revealing and controversial info from Jonny. Was any of that news to you or shocking to read?
KOSZEWSKI: It wasn’t shocking; it was expected. It was clear that he was trying to dig up some dirt. This band have never been about “Jonny’s way”’—or anyone’s way for that matter. What’s unfortunate is that a lot of kids found us thinking Jonny kind of ran this band, which is far from true. The article only provoked that more, while we had been working really hard to try and show people that’s not true.
WHITE: It was shocking to see how much we actually muffled just to save face for the band. It was shocking to read that and just think about everything that’s happened since the AP tour. It’s insane, really.

What are the plans for the vocalist position?
STEWART: We’re not looking for Jonny Craig 2.0. We just want to find someone who can bring something unique to the band.
KOSZEWSKI: I just want to find someone who wants to put as much work into this as we do.
LADEKJAER: We’ve never written with a vocalist, and I feel like doing that could be really beneficial to our songs. Jonny’s thing is to go into the vocal booth and basically improvise over the recorded tracks, and if it sounded good, it would pretty much be on the record. It would be mind-blowing to me to have a singer who actually seems to care about the end product as a whole, and not just his own performance.

How do you respond to fans who comment online that Jonny “was” Emarosa?
STEWART: Jonny’s only real involvement with this band was his voice and some lyrics. He was not a part of the writing process. He didn’t come to practices, he didn’t take part in many interviews and he didn’t do any of the grit work that goes with a band. So the majority of Emarosa are still here and working.
SOWERS: E.R. would usually write a lot of Jonny’s lyrics for him. Jonny is a great singer, but that’s as far as he goes musically.
LADEKJAER: I’m not surprised some people are reacting like that. They’re wrong, that’s all I can really say. Jonny represented Emarosa as a frontman, and in all honesty that was it. He wasn’t a guy who everybody loved to be around or who treated his fans well. He wasn’t some musical genius who put amazing effort into his writing of lyrics or vocal melodies. He realized what he’s really, really good at, and that’s how he’s getting by. Yeah, the new Emarosa will definitely be different fromRelativity and the self-titled album, but not having Jonny doesn’t mean it’s not going to be worth listening to. A smart man once told us, “If Jonny was the only singer in the world, you would be the only band.”

Do you plan to stay in contact with Jonny?
WHITE: Yeah, I still love him to death. It was just time and for the best.
STEWART: I would certainly hope to. We will for sure cross paths on tour and I hope we can all continue to be friends without issues. Our decision was purely business, nothing personal to Jonny.
LADEKJAER: I will be nice and respectable if I ever happen to run into him, but that’s as far as it goes for me. I have no reason or desire to talk to him again after this.
KOSZEWSKI: This was clearly for the better of both parties, and absolutely no one should have hard feelings. So, yeah, I plan to keep in touch. We will see him again. I’m not about to deal with an unneeded awkward situation.
SOWERS: I do not. Jonny and I were never really close in the first place. I love the guy to death; I mean, I spent more than three years of my life with him. But I do not want to be involved with the things he brings into his life. If he ever does clean up and change for the better, I’d love to keep in contact.

What do you think the future will be like for this band now that Jonny is no longer a part of it?
WHITE: Professionally and personally, I think it will be better. As sweet as it is for [Craig] to hold down scene gossip and news headlines constantly, it wasn’t the publicity we wanted. Bad press is still press, but we just had our fill. [We’ll be] replacing him with someone we all get along with and who has a voice to pull off past, present and future Emarosa [songs].
STEWART: There’s no limit, really, even without Jonny. Every member of this band is ready to work and do everything we can to continue to evolve as musicians and put out music for our fans. We plan to be on the road more than ever now that we will have a singer without other commitments. We really hope fans keep an open ear and continue to support us.
KOSZEWSKI: When someone listens to our music, I want to be taken seriously. I think this might be the first chance we’ve had in a long time to actually do that. alt (Via AP)

Egg Laying Bunnies

Honestly what the fuck do bunnies who lay eggs have anything to do with Jesus Christ? I never understood the whole idea of it and I even went to catholic school. I get the whole Jesus being a zombie thing but never understood the bunnies. It would make more sense if it was a dove since does lay eggs and the dove is a symbol of purity and freedom. All I know is Easter you get some delicious food, dress fancy, and its hotter than hell outside. Easter always happens to land on the hottest day. It doesn't matter if it snowed yesterday cause you know that Easter will be the hottest day of the month. Weather stations told me rain for Easter, my HTC Thunderbolt told me rain for Easter yet its still beautiful hot. Easters just one of those holidays you celebrate just to go out to eat like Mother's Day or Father's Day or Take Your Child To Work Day. Just another dumb holiday to waste away your whole Sunday celebrating nothing. But I can't complain cause I enjoy being with family and having the home cooked Fiesta Spanish Tradition, just a mass blend of Spanish food. Gotta love the stupid holidays.

Give Me The Creeps

One of my biggest fears is loosing people i consider close to me. Don't go run off and hate me for no reason, act immature about it, and not even talk to me about. It's a little childish and thats what gets under my skin. I don't understand why we cant just talk things over or even talk about why you hate me. Nope people like that don't like to talk. They are quicker to throw you away than they are to friend you. It's like i meant shit to you, well thats just great, have fun in your life. This is exactly why i try to keep a few close friends, cause once you break the trust bond or step out of a friend zone with me then we are no longer on the same level again. Its stupid I know, just it saves me the trouble of being upset over someone who i could have seen a friendship ending. People come and go in my life, but my true friends will always stay here forever, probably even long after death. I think i have too much hope in the afterlife and contacting the dead. Always searching for my lost friends just so i have hope that they are really there. I've been Ghost Hunting lately. Its when you go and try to make contact with ghost of course. There are so many skeptics and they say you'll never believe until you actually see it. Well its true you wont, I have experienced it. Many ghostly encounters right after my grandpa died; I was in the garage cleaning out his car when this old scroll dial phone rang. I froze there wondering if I should answer or not. Finally it stopped so I went upstairs to ask my aunt Tayler who called, she responded with a what. I asked again who called and she said Tristan, pop pop doesn't have a working house phone he got rid of it two years ago. I then remembered that i have never heard that phone rang in the longest time. Chills ran up my spin, so we bolted down the stairs only to hear the phone ringing again. This time I answer. The only sound I hear is this crackling out of tune sound, so i hang up. A few days later me and my mother return to the house. I start to tell her the story and the phone rings again. Like the last time I answer it, only this time it was different. I still hear the crackling sound but faintly I hear a woman looking for someone. She said she belonged to a bank right on the corner of these two cross streets in Trenton. I told her I didn't know who she was looking for so I hung up. I had told my mom what the woman said, or at least what I can make out of it. My mom then told me that the bank the woman spoke of was on the corner of where my grandpa had died in Trenton. Ever since that moment i was convinced he was calling. The phone never rang before that week or ever again after that. Just goes to show i have better luck keeping friends that are dead, rather than the ones that are alive.

Nowhere like a diner to get to truly know someone.
Like a library up 17 or a spin around the center of town.
The smell of saltwater. I left my pocket change at the Molly Pitcher.

A sound we can live with, no sound.
A smell we can live with, no smell.
A home we can live with, no home.

But the morning sun is not too far behind.
I'm lit up like the night sky- I told you I trust this place.

The night jug handles as I'm swept through northern lights.
Quick Chek coffee is cooling down.
We're sweeping along the shoreline,
On some journey I cannot repeat.
Matilda will meet us at Martell's
Barefoot in the sand,
Hanging on the boardwalk for dear life.

The smells, the sounds
Long way from home, I can't go on.
The garden state

I'll always bounce back down these roads

Nothin' like home

We danced and split. Exit 117 driving east.

I'll never turn around in the place where I was born.
I'm left without directions or a road to follow

There's A Snake In My Boot - The Nightlife

Audrey Fights Back! - Gettin Over You (David Guetta Cover)

4/19/11

Its my birthday today! It's the day where I tell everyone what to do and they have to listen. It would have been an awesome day to wake up to in the morning, if only my dysfunctional family wasn't screaming at each other for hours. As if waking up in a cold sweat from a dream about your friend falling in love with Usher wasn't bad enough. Now I have to sit hear and listen to them attempt to kill each other. The strangest things always happen on my birthday. Last year my psych teacher died in the spring semester. Actually thats probably the only weird thing that has happened, but screaming and fighting is pretty weird still. Sure the weather isn't bright and sunny out, but I don't mind the gloomy weather cause i'm going to make the best of my birthday. Last night around twilight, my friend Heather took me to iHop and bought me an omelet and some pancakes. I begged her not to cause I didn't mind paying but she pouted until I caved in and let her. Realistically my birthday started off amazing, plus I love when people text me happy birthday or write on my wall about it. There's just something about it that makes me feel happier about my birthday. So far my birthday has been good, but it's still the morning so anything can happen. Im not letting anything disrupt my birthday though.

In Dedication To My Pop-Pop

The loneliest day of my life has come back again. The day i lost my pop-pop, my grandpa, my best friend. He was pretty much a father to me and my closest friend ever and no one got between us. April seventeenth two thousand nine was the day my life changed forever. I havent been the same person since then. I never realized how much i would miss him as my life carried on. But it never feels like he never left. I still feel him and still hear his motorcycle pass my house. I feel like he gives me signs to know he's here and tries to help me through life still after he's gone. I've spent almost everyday of my life with him and to have him taken from me just shocked me. He was the last person i would have thought to die. Hit by an elder woman cutting through a yellow light, hit him and instantly killed him as he was thrown from his motorcycle. I try not to vision what exactly happened, but i cant help to think about him every day. I can go on and on about how i miss him and how much this hurts me, but i just need to remember everything he's ever done for me and how happy he's made me. He will never be forgotten because he is always with me. I love you pop-pop forever. Ride In Peace.

You know who you are. Stay in my life.

It's The Day Before 4/20 Some Where

Finally some nice weather. Yeah i love how the nations number one trusted network gets shut down for hours because of a little rain and wind, thats April for ya. I love this month because of course my birthday, but also because its when spring really starts to kick in. It's been way to long of a winter and honestly im done with everyone complaining about it, like do you think everyone else likes that shitty weather? Regardless what the weather is like in April, it's still gonna be my birthday next week. Of course the day after it is the legendary 4/20 where everyone has to smoke something or else its like breaking the law, when technically your still breaking the law. I really dont understand why people are always like, its 4/20 some where! Honestly though why must you say that, not everyone cares that your a lifeless stone that still lives in a basement. Plus no one ever takes note its my birthday, it just starts this count down to 12 o' clock am so they can start smoking. Then again why should we celebrate my birthday, its not like I've done anything amazing in this world. I guess its just the fact that I've never had a legit party for my birthday. There has always been occasions where some people would make it and others wouldn't, but i want everyone there this year. I dont care what i get, i just want my friends and the people i love to be with me on my birthday. Now I have been planning a Star Wars themed costume party, but nothing is set in stone yet. How awesome is that gonna be? People can dress up like any Star Wars character. Possibilities are endless and hopefully my high expectations for my birthday are endless.

H.U.M.A.N

Why do i hate the human race so much? Probably because no one has respect for anyone any more. People go about life not even acknowledging the fact that someone has done them a favor. People who dont even respond to you when you tell them to have a nice day. What have people become now in days? Just because someone doesnt fit your social expectations doesnt mean you can go about disrespecting them or people with needs and disabilities. Those people are thankful for life and love every second of it. Other people go about their day not even remembering the nice person at the cash register. People need to realize that life can end just like that and no one is excluded from that. You should really value life and respect anyone you see. Even if they dont respect you, the fact that you know you did something right will still feel good. Sure everyone can be mean sometimes but no one said you had to be mean all the time. Hate only leads to bad things and bad outcomes. Carma will really come back to bite you. Its something you should do not be forced to do, but dont go around being an asshole to people just cause your in a bad mood. Learn some respect.

Fuck Everything But Music

Music surrounds my life. Correction, music is my life. You cant take it away from me, ever. New Jersey may seem like a shit hole but its the perfect place for music besides New York. Between the local music scene that comes and goes and all the people that support music. Its just a major place to start in the music world. Growing up here made me realize what I want to do in life. Beside perform live and record my own music, I am going to major in Music Therapy to educate children with disabilities about music and use music to help them cope with disabilities. There's nothing better than teach music and to teach it to kids who would respect it more and actually mean something to them, it would be amazing.

Fall in Love.

At this point i am convinced no one really falls in love, they just know everything about one person and actually love who they are. Truth be told though, love is take in two different aspects. I love you, to a friend is a totally different meaning than, i love you, to a boy/girl friend. Everyone should know that by now, but leading someone on to love is the most hurtful thing anyone could do. When someone gives you there everything and you just through it out the window it just shows how you feel about them, how you dont love them...you just like them. This is all just babbling so I can get to my actual point. Splitting up is never a good feeling but to just completely drop them because you have a boyfriend or girlfriend now is even worse. What, just cause you have one single person in your life you think you no longer need the people that will always be there for you. That, im sorry to say, but that is not love. You dont go ahead and drop people just cause you met this quote, wonderful person that you love so much, end quote. There are rules to relationships obviously, and the major one being never say i love you to early. How early is to early? Like the first few months of actual dating. People seem to wear their hearts on their sleeves so much these days. I feel like everyone is desperate for that one person who will want to be with them forever. Sadly, in the world we live in...no one wants to be in love forever. You'd be lucky to find someone who even wants to be in love. People cant stay committed, yeah its hipocritical to say but its true. Another thing to, why must you change your image. Its fake and no one likes fakers. It's acting and people see acting as a form of lying. If you can act, you're probably a really good lier. Be you're self and express it and dont let anyone hold you back. No one can love you more than you love yourself. All the time i hear, I hate my self. Why say that when you know you dont? Hate is such a strong word and no matter how much someone pisses me off i can never say i hate them. I love everyone that enters my life because i know that there is a reason why they entered it. Be your self, Fall in Love.

Cities&Years- Out Running Stephen Hawking

Out Running Stephen Hawking?

For NYU I had to create a talent video of things that i have done or can do. In this video you'll see me play the begining of a Civeta Dei song then go into some random jam. After that you'll find that I have pretty much given you the unmastered version of Out Running Stephen Hawking by Cities&Years. Enjoy.

This Is When Things Fall Apart...

Feels like everything falls around me. Friends come and go, and love fades in and out. Trust is getting thinner and it feels like im better off alone. I just wait for the warmer weather to come so i can play these songs i wrote about how i've locked myself up inside. I never share how i really feel and it hurts me in the end. No one knows how i really am inside. These lonely times were I don't know who i've become, or if ill even make a difference. Maybe it just crazy talk but I have learned a lot from being on the outside. When no one liked me and everyone pushed me away. Sometimes I feel like i need that back in my life. When I think back to all the people i hurt i wonder why they still like me. Why would you put up with me if im no good. Between relationships or things that could have been, I've always found myself on the other side. Always hurting someone and always giving up or finding reasons to let go. Theres only few people that i trust in this world cause everyone else seems to be living lies. Im not one to talk but when you finally understand the mistakes that have happened in your life, you feel them and you feel them hard. People never remember the good sides of you either. Its always what they have heard or what they assume. If I could sweep my past under the carpet I would, but i feel like every where i go people want to bring it back in my life. They never see a change in me or see the real me. Everyone just see's this person they've thought up for me or this person that is said to be me. Hurting people isn't me, at least not who i want it to be. Even if I wanted the people that made me happy in life to come back, something or someone is always stopping me. Im then forced to push forward, in the dark and with no one there. They say love lasts forever, but what if I love the people who were in my life. They clearly dont want this forever. From relationships tearing me apart at the seams and me falling in and out, I dont know who is who anymore. Sometimes I just wish i had the people back who actually understand me. Dont take it personal but, this is where things fall apart.

C&Y

Currently recording some new tracks for our Acoustic EP said to release summer of 2011. So far, so good, Andrea has taken time to record her own song she wrote on acoustic. Of course im going to have to put a second guitar to it cause im just so awesome. Anthony is taking his time looking at old band names we had gone through and looking at old ass lyrics, and of course im sitting her blogging. Probably a count of five songs total on this EP that will include full band sequences and lots of harmonies with vocals. As far as Cities&Years' other Self-Titled EP, we are in the process of recording another song and also putting together a split album with our good friends in The Mix Tape. More C&Y news too come by the end of this week.

City and Colour- Save Your Scissors

May 21-Woodbridge, NJ
Sparks The Rescue
Somersault Sunday
Catch The Mouse
Like The Stars
Skateboarder Bob Burnquist
BMX rider Ryan Nyquist
Skateboarder Shuriken Shannon

...More to be announced

4yrSTRONG

Keyboardist, Josh Lyford of Four Year Strong is now out of the band. Though there has been rumors about why he left, Alan Day Vocalist/ Guitarist, speaks to clear things up

"To Clear up any confusion, josh did not quit the band. it seems like a lot of people might have thought thats what the statement we released had meant, but that is not the case. The band had been in a weird spot for a long time, with writing new material and all. Everyone was very distant. Things just didnt feel right. We felt that this decision would be the best for both Josh and the rest of the band. It's really hard to explain. but more than anything else, keyboards just didn’t seem to have a place in this band anymore."

(via AP)