We recently had the opportunity to catch up with the long-time pop punk rockers, Cartel! Will gave us some awesome insight. Come see what he had to share with us!
Interview by Ashley Osborn
1) Since Cartel has been around for nearly ten years, you’ve experienced several changes in the industry. What changes do you think have affected you guys the most? Negative/Positive.
I think our era in the music industry is one of the more volatile and dynamic periods in the industry’s lifespan. We were just starting to play in bands in high school when Napster hit the scene and we made our way through Purevolume, Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook. I think technology has been the positive/negative all at the same time. While the onset of the tech-era gave us so much more opportunity to reach out to more people than ever I believe that the negative has outweighed the positive in that downloading has given every artist a more bleak big picture and shorter lifespan than ever before. It’s allowed the market to be over saturated with anyone who learns a few chord progressions and figures out AutoTune. It’s also had a more subtle effect in that some artists are getting popular before they’re fully developed and, as a result, they end up stuck in a pigeon hole that might not be their greatest potential musically. It’s almost like the nuclear energy era where the mentality is “we have the technology but SHOULD we be using it?” All of that may be the old man coming out but that’s just the way I see it.
2) In what ways do you feel that your music (lyrically and musically) has evolved the most overtime?
I think we’ve gotten away from trying to write songs about girls. When we started a band in high school that’s all we really thought about – naturally. However, we’re ten years removed from high school and there’s a lot more to discuss that moves us inspiration-wise just as much as who our weekend date was back then. “I guess this is growing up…” haha!
3) It’s been about a year since Jeff left to finish school, how has this past year been for the band? Do you think you have adjusted well to the changes?
The past year for us has been awesome. We took control of our own destiny and reshaped the future of the band. We had to considering we turned into a four piece. It’s like forced evolution. Adapt or die. We aren’t quitters so we figured out what we had to do and set out to achieve it in the best way possible. We’re still learning and growing so it’s an exciting time for us.
4) You had the opportunity to work with Juliet Simms and Wyclef Jean on your self-titled in 2007, do you want to collaborate with any other artists in the future?
I feel like we might have run our course with collaborations. They come off gimmicky at times and even though they’re fun and it’s exciting to blend styles, we’ve gotta focus on making the best music possible and leaving it at that.
5) You just finished your tour with Set Your Goals. Props on an incredible set here in Chicago by the way! What’s next for Cartel?
We’re writing a new record this summer as well as going to the UK for Slam Dunk festival and a mini tour with FTSK.
6) Personally, I feel that Cartel stands out so much in the pop/punk genre not only because of the catchy tunes, but because you write about real life events and not love song, after love song (no offense to those bands, haha). Where do you guys pull a lot of your influences from when it comes to writing lyrics?
Thanks! My lyrics tend to come from two places. One is the old school pop stuff that I grew up on that drives the love song side of things. The other side is based off all the angst and frustration I sometimes feel with humanity as a whole. We’re exceptionally good at fucking ourselves over needlessly so that feature of life tends to get the gears in my head turning a lot stronger than love song after love song as you put it.
BONUS: In Stereo-EP Track By Track
1) Lessons In Love – this song was kind of a B-side from Cycles. It was a little too close to The Perfect Mistake’s intro for us to really pull the trigger on it but we knew it would wind up on a record somewhere. I’m glad we waited because there’s a few things we changed that really made the song come to life I feel.
2) American Dreams – This one is special because of the groove in the verses contrasted by the “cruise” in the chorus. I’m a big fan of the melody in this track.
3) Conduit – By far our favorite song to play. It’s so much fun and I think it showcases the musicality that sometimes gets overlooked in our songs.
4) In Stereo – Just a big middle finger to The Man. The lyrics say it all about the label schemes that we’ve been through.
5) Something to Believe – I could write 50 verses to this song. There’s so much to say and so little time to say it. This is the blend of love song and objectivity that characterizes our band.
