Cute Is What We Aim For

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Cute Is What We Aim For
Origin Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Genre(s) Emo
Alternative Rock
Pop punk
Powerpop
Years active 2005–present
Label(s) Fueled By Ramen
Atlantic
Website CuteIsWhatWeAimFor.com
Members
Shaant Hacikyan
Jeff Czum
Tom Falcone
Dave Melillo
Former members
Jack Marin
Casey Maccio
Fred Cimato

Cute Is What We Aim For (CIWWAF) is a Pop/Rock band, formed in 2005 in Buffalo, New York and currently signed to Fueled by Ramen. In 2006, their Billboard 200-charting debut album The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch was released on Fueled by Ramen.

Contents

[edit] History

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The band was formed in January 2005 as a side-project by Cherry Bing singer Shaant Timothy Hacikyan (born November 7, 1986) and lead guitarist Jeff Czum after tensions in the band rose. The band's name originated from the phrase "cute" on a phone call between him and Fred. ("cute" had become his trademark expression in high school as a synonym for "cool"). However, in high school, Shaant was often seen as an outsider, even though he has the best combover. When they decided to devote themselves fully to Cute Is What We Aim For, parting ways with their other bands was less than amicable. Some members of Shaant's former band, Cherry Bing, blamed Shaant for the demise of the group. Despite their efforts to start anew, Cute Is What We Aim For has been criticized for their past engagements and their band name, as well as allegations of plagiarism.[1] Nevertheless, the band went on to record demos with multi-platinum producer Shep Goodman and Kenny Gioia, and managed to rapidly build a fanbase. A considerable amount of the band's swift success is likely thanks to the large amount of coverage received from online magazines. One such webzine, Absolutepunk.net, featured band on their "Absolute Unsigned" feature, only to have the website's founder, Jason Tate, openly harass the band via the site's message board, accusing them of being marketing marionettes of their label and excessively using Auto-Tune on their debut album. Hacikyan and the album's producer, Matt Squire, admitted to using some Auto-Tune but denied the other allegations in the following Absolutepunk interview.[2][3]

However, the drama surrounding the band was further fueled when they announced that they were firing their manager, who accused them of unethical business practices,[4] and underwent several line-up changes. In an effort to compensate for the absence of temporary bassist Don Arthur at a concert, Cimato permanently swapped his six-string for a bass guitar, while rhythm guitarist Chris Flury completed the quintet in November 2005.[5] Although already suspected by fans due to several indications on the band's part, on November 29, 2005, their signing with Fueled by Ramen was officially announced. Shortly thereafter, another line-up change occurred, when Flury and the band mutually agreed to part ways and Cute Is What We Aim For went on as a four-piece.

On June 20, 2006, Cute Is What We Aim For's debut album The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch hit store shelves, debuting at number 75 on the Billboard 200. With 13,651 in first week sales, the album broke the label's internal record set by Panic at the Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005) by almost 4,000 copies.[6] As of January 2007, the album has sold 94,410 units.[7] The Academy Is...'s William Beckett lent vocals to the album's first single "There's a Class for This", which openly addresses the band's ever-surrounding drama (culminating in the song's chorus "Drama doesn't follow me, it rides on my back/I may be ugly, but they sure love to stare"). The music video directed by Jay Martin premiered on mtvU on July 17, 2006. On February 26, 2007 the group's second single, "The Curse of Curves", was released. The video was directed by Lex Hallaby. For the band's third single, "Newport Living", the video was edited by Dylan Steinberg using various footage (over 15 hours) of the band members on tour plus a live show at The Metro in Chicago. The video was released on October 29, 2007.

In October 2007, Fred Cimato was interviewed by www.musicscoop.net When asked if he viewed his role in the band as permanent (after returing in early 2007 many believed it was simply a temporary role) he replied, "Definitely permanent. I had 7 months at home to finish up high school and after that I was like "wow I miss playing music". I was blessed enough to get that opportunity again."

In early 2006, it was revealed that the group has signed with Fueled By Ramen.[8] For the 2007 Vans Warped Tour, singer-songwriter Dave Melillo joined the band as a backup guitarist. He also joined them on the Young Wild Things tour with Fall Out Boy, Plain White T's, and Gym Class Heroes.

After their stint on the Young Wild Things Tour, the band has take some time off to continue writing for their second release. They have headed into the studio with producer John Feldmann. Their main website has been updated frequently of pictures from the individual band members iphones. The album, simply called "Rotation", was finished on March 19th 2008, as stated on their website, and will be released on June 24th 2008. Some rumored guests on the new album will be Anthony Green (ex-Saosin, Circa Surive) and Alex Gaskarth (All Time Low).

In mid-March, bass player Fred Cimato parted ways with the band. Nothing was announced, but the main picture on their website as well as all of Fred's information was removed from the site and myspace. However, the band has not revealed any news as to why he left. It was announced that Dave Melillo will now be the new bass player.

On, April 21st, 2008, the new album name "Rotation" was revealed on their website and forum "The Social Scene". Also a clip of the new single, "Practice Makes Perfect" was played on MTV's The Hills on April 21st. The band then premiered another new song "Doctor" on their myspace at midnight on April 22nd. Their new song "Practice Makes Perfect" was released on iTunes on May 6th. The album "Rotation" is also available for pre-order.

Recently, announced the band will head out on a four month long tour in support of "Rotation". They will be in the UK from May 25 until June 2 before heading back home to the US to start the tour here on June 15 in Pittsburgh, PA and ending on August 17 in Columbus, OH. Support for the US part of the tour will be Ace Enders, Danger:Radio, and lable-mates Powerspace.

On, June 3rd, 2008, the band posted their newest song called "Safe Ride" onto their purevolume page. As well, the lyrics were posted on their official website.

[edit] Band members

  • Tom Falcone – drums
  • Shaant Hacikyan – lead vocals
  • Jeff Czum – guitar/piano
  • Dave Melillo- bass/vocals

[edit] Former

  • Don Arthur – bass (2006)
  • Fred Cimato – bass (2006, 2007-2008)
  • Jack Marin – bass (2006 - 2007)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

[edit] Compilations

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cute is What We Aim For Gains Fans, Battles Enemies Online. Andpop.com. Retrieved on September 29, 2006.
  2. ^ Cute Is What We Aim For Questionnaire. Absolutepunk.net. Retrieved on July 20, 2006.
  3. ^ Cute Is What We Aim For/Matt Squire (6.17.06). Absolutepunk.net. Retrieved on July 20, 2006.
  4. ^ Cute is What We Aim For Loses Manager. Absolutepunk.net. Retrieved on September 29, 2006.
  5. ^ Interview with Pete of Cute Is What We Aim For. Decoymusic.com. Retrieved on July 20, 2006.
  6. ^ US Billboard Charts (08/07/2006). UKMIX - Forums. Retrieved on July 20, 2006.
  7. ^ Soundscan Results: January 04th. Absolutepunk.net (Google cache). Retrieved on January 5, 2007.
  8. ^ Interview with Cute Is What We Aim For. Today's Teen. Retrieved on January 13, 2007.

[edit] External links