Bree!

Via Stereogum:

"I think that blogging should die a sudden death. It's just ridiculous. It's like a playground for four-year-olds. People say and do things in the world of blogs that they would never do in real life, and I think it's a false experience. You know, it's, like, eating too much candy. One of the things along those lines that bothers me about when people start citing blogs as news sources is that when people are writing on these blogs, they feel like they don't feel they need to do any research or back up their opinions with facts or anything, you know what I mean? Times have changed. It used to be, to be a writer you had to have experience and talent, and learn a craft. Now anybody with an opinion, which is anyone and everyone, feels that it's worthy. Technology is allowing people to have access to things where before it required very great skill. So there will be some interesting developments from that, and also some things that are pretty worthless. Pretty soon anybody with a cell phone is going to be able to be a news reporter. The blog is yesterday's parachute pants. It's here now but it's gone tomorrow."

Aw, Jared. I feel you. But don't H8?

NEW YORK — Gwen Stefani has great news for fans who want the singer to bring back her "Hollaback" vibe.

"It's part two to the [Love, Angel, Music, Baby] record," Stefani said of her second, yet-untitled solo album.

"It's a no-brainer, fun thing to do compared to doing music, which is very emotional and hard." — Gwen Stefani on fashion

On Friday, the No Doubt singer presented her spring 2007 L.A.M.B. collection to rain-drenched fashion insiders such as Mena Suvari and Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour. The new mom dished to MTV News about her upcoming LP, her fashion inspirations and 4-month-old son Kingston James (see "Gwen Stefani Delivers Baby Boy").

Stefani hopes the record, which she calls "ear candy," drops before 2007 (see "Gwen Stefani Holding Off On That Second Solo LP — For Now, Anyway"). She said she won't stray too far from what worked on her successful solo debut, even recycling some familiar collaborators.

"There's a lot of songs that were left over from the last album, and there's some new songs I did with Pharrell," she said. "There's a lot of Pharrell on this record. I did some stuff with [No Doubt's] Tony [Kanal] and some stuff with Akon."

MTV News also caught up with Swizz Beatz during Fashion Week (see "Fashion Week Update: Christina Milian Hikes Up Her Pants, 'Project Runway' Final Four Debut"), and he said he's working with Gwen too.

"She's always taking it to the next level," he said. "I love her background for music. She likes a lot of Caribbean sounds with hard beats."

As for her fashion line, Gwen took a page from Elvira Hancock's handbook. The "Scarface" blond bombshell, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, halted all conversation when she entered a room, wearing tight silk gowns, draping chemises and slick white suits with bold confidence and a no-nonsense attitude.

All these qualities made Hancock the perfect inspiration for Stefani's L.A.M.B. collection. At the intimate show Friday, models wore blond-bob wigs and showcased more than 45 looks, including braided gowns, sweater tube tops, scoop turtlenecks, khaki suits, long cream gowns, off-the-shoulder dresses, yellow track jackets, gold motorcycle jackets and white skinny pants. There were lots of funky prints in the mix too, ranging from origami to cheetah to tie-dye.

It was a much broader and more sophisticated line than last season's thuggish collection (see "Gwen Previews New Songs, Clothing Line For Diddy, Kravitz, Others") — which means L.A.M.B. could replace even more fashion lines in department stores like Bloomingdale's and Macy's.

Stefani had on a long, sultry black gown with cheetah trim, wearing red lipstick with her hair in pin curls.

"This was the dress that inspired me," she told MTV News about her outfit. "And it was a friend of mine that had this silhouette, and that's what made me start thinking about that time period — the Michelle Pfeiffer late '70s, early '80s.

"And then I always have that Jamaican 1970s rude boy [look] in there," she added. "And there are scenes from some international, global-print inspirations as well. There were some old vintage men's kimonos that we got some of the prints from, and we always add in an animal print, so this time there was a mama cheetah and a baby cheetah. And just trims from India and stuff from Guatemala and stripes."

Gwen's favorites include a gold motorcycle jacket that was "a vintage coat that I had bought while I was pregnant and we copied the fabric." She also loves the cheetah print and the "high-heel jean."

"You can wear them tight or loose and with heels," she said. "They make you look really skinny. And I think the cheetah print will look good on anyone. It goes with everybody's personality. I always love an animal print."

Stefani said she still has fun with the collection and calls it her "art project."

"It's a no-brainer, fun thing to do compared to doing music, which is very emotional and hard," Stefani said. "That's the thing that weighs me down, but it also is the fire for everything. It's a draining, emotional process compared to designing, which is very greedy and easy."

Gwen's hubby, Gavin Rossdale, told MTV News he was "clearly very proud" of his wife's fashion work.

"From what I've seen, it's good," he said. "It's very stylish, and it's got lots of good attitude."

Gwen's baby, Kingston, was backstage during the show.

"The baby is amazing," Gwen said. "He just had his little food backstage, and now he's having a nap. It's bizarre how he fits in, and I didn't know how it was going to work out. He's just there, and it's just exciting to know that I can go around the corner and just kiss him if I need to. He's the most delicious thing you've ever experienced. It's like a three-dimensional amazing thing to my life."


Source: MTV.com

In The Current NME issue (reported via stereogum):

Bottled at Reading! Tabloid stories! Where do you stand? Plus, we hear from the guy who bottled Panic! At The Disco's Brendon Urie.

Where do we stand? We stand on the side that acknowledges these bands are not actually emo. How did MCR and P!ATD even get classified as emo? It's a terrible misnomer we've gone along with, but let's put a stop to that.

Not to get all Brandon Flowers, but it's time for a debate! Have these 21st century MTVu eyeliner rockers anything in common with the DC hardcore scene twenty years ago? What was the last great emo album? What's the greatest emo album of all time? Is America losing the war on the emo? Is there even a war on emo? Why is Gerard dressed for battle?
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Thank GOD someone is finally acknowledging this. Then again, I can understand... those who were around long enough to know where Punk roots probably don't like the way casually toss the word around these days. Likewise, those who knew of emo before every band with eyeliner was getting slapped with the moniker know that Panic!, Co/Ca, FOB, MCR, etc... are not emo.

I guess I, personally, have an issue with it because like, 5 years ago I met a boy at a Yellowcard show (yellowcard is not emo!) and we talked on the phone a few times and one day he emailed me his fav song. It was an old Bright Eyes song-- straight up slit your wrists warm-up music. I decided the kid had issues and never called him back.

Superficial, I know, but if I could remember which song it was, I'd tell you and then you'd go listen and then you'd completely understand. Who wants to date someone who listens to on the verge of ending it all music? Not me.

The Emo that I know is slow, sullen and sounds as if its recorded 5 minutes before the artist hung himself. The Emo that I know sounds like artists have been sucked dry of all their life energy and barely have the heart to choke out their lyrics before they go cry themselves to sleep.

Just sayin'...
Wiki Emo

Here are some of my fav questions, you can read the whole interview here.
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So lets start off by talking about the new album “Coming Home”. What was the inspiration behind the writing of this album?

I think every record we make we try and capture a time period…when writing the songs for “Coming Home” for some reason it was coming out more positive than negative. I felt on the last record, “Catalyst,” we were very negative lyrically. You can tell that by the titles “All Downhill From Here,” “This Disaster,” … it was a heavier record. “Coming Home” on the other hand takes you to a different place. It’s the record I feel we’ve been waiting our whole career to do… taking everything people love about NFG and bringing it to the next level.


Now NFG is about to hit the road with Cartel, The Early November, and Limbeck (and Hit The Lights). How did you go about choosing who to take out on the road?

We gave a couple of college shows to Cartel a while back and just got along with them right off the bat. The singer is so funny -- he warms up by singing “Across The Night” by Silverchair…that kid is gonna break hearts I tell ya…. can you tell that we like to actually hang out with the bands we tour with!?? And we’ve known The Early November guys from the Drive-Thru family and besides, they have a Target commercial…and Steve Looker manages “Shit The Tights” so we gave them shows. and of course all of those bands rule.

Is it true that the album was written in the same house that Incubus wrote “Morning View” in?

Yes. And I think The Black Eyed Peas, Less Than Jake, and Alien Ant Farm also recorded there as well.

New Found Glory has been a staple in Pop Punk music for years. How does it feel to be one of the bands that has paved the road for many bands to come?

I really don’t know how to answer that to be honest. I mean I’m 26…Chad is 24…so in my eyes I still feel we are young. So when bands or people come up to us and say “man, I’ve been listening to you guys for years and now my little brother is in to you” and “you guys really paved the way for this style of music,” it’s very surreal…I was saying those same things to myself last year for months when we did that world tour with Green Day.


If the band was to play their last show ever, what song do you think you would play last and why?

Wow, I’ve never really thought about this till now. But I guess if I had to pick it would have to be “Hit Or Miss”…I mean, come on, that’s the song that originally got people into our band. We played it last for the past 9 years every damn night…so to close it out, say it with me now…”have I waited too long to seeeee yooouuu.”

What are some old time favorite bands that have been an inspiration to the band?

Well I can’t speak for the rest of the band, but for me personally (this is Steve by the way) my old time favorite bands in no particular order are: Mineral, Texas Is The Reason, Jawbreaker, Cursive, Sunny Day, Promise Ring, Lifetime, Chamberlain, Jimmy Eat World, Samiam, Knapsack…I can go on and on and on and on…

Are there any new bands that have come out in the last few years that really stick out and think are going to go far?

None of these bands are necessarily new, but I love Say Anything, Mew, Mashlin, Tilly and the Wall, Trespassers William, Imogen Heap, Owen, Cartel, and Lovedrug.


If there was one thing or one person that you could hold responsible for where you are today and what your doing with your life. Who would that person be and why?

It would probably have to be Billie Joe Armstrong for writing “Welcome To Paradise.” That was the first song I ever learned how to play on guitar. Thinking about it now I must have been so awkward when we were on tour with them…I was that guy --“Hey man, I’ve got a Green Day tattoo (I have the flower from Kerplunk on my arm). Hey man, let me make you feel old and say I’ve been into your band for 12 years.” Yeah, I still get star-struck.

Does the band have any songs that you absolutely love to play live and any that you really hate playing?

I love playing all the fast songs like “Truth Of My Youth,” “Something I Call Personality,” “Better Off Dead,” and I can’t say I really hate playing any of our songs, but I can say I hate it when someone will call out a song from the crowd that we haven’t practiced in years and Chad wants to play it so the kid can leave happy and we just murder the song…its all for the kids man I tell ya.

If there was any album out of all the albums that the band has put out, is there a certain one that sticks out or really holds a place in the bands heart?

I think Nothing Gold Can Stay definitely. When I have my iPod on shuffle and those songs come on it just brings me back to when I was the only kid with bleached hair and an eyebrow piercing in my school…when the scene had no boundaries…hardcore bands played with ska bands, emo bands with metal, jazz fusion with folk, man I miss those days.


Well that’s about all the questions I have for the band. Is there anything you would like to say to all the readers and fans out there in absolutepunk.net land?

First, I would like to say that I appreciate all of the people who defend our band on this site! And no matter if you love or hate our new record I still love you and your mom’s kid…no…but on the real tip, thank you for reading my blabber for the past 15 minutes, and go buy our record September19th!

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Awesome interview, I'm soooo excited for their new cd, you don't even understand. Oh and Steve ended the interview by saying "I will read the comments about this interview and if you talk crap I will find you and make you eat meatloaf as I push you off a cliff." So go comment and say nice things!