This past weekend, Less Than Drake threw on their gear and got ready to rock their first show as the premier Less Than Jake cover band. As part of my attendance to this madness, I took some time to talk to their leader, Jason Wall.

Cut & Sewn: Why did you decide to start a Less Than Jake cover band?
Jason Wall: When I was younger, when it was actually popular in the late 90’s, I was a big fan of ska music. Reel Big Fish, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and Goldfinger; I enjoyed it all. At some point, my friend Jon showed me Hello Rockview and changed my whole opinion on playing music. I started watching Less Than Jake videos, reading interviews, basically imitating everything they did in my junior high and high school bands.

One of the biggest things I respect about the band, however, is their live show.

Confetti, dancing, interactions with the crowd, jokes, costumes…every show was different, fun and done to ENTERTAIN. There are too many bands that record a CD, try to just play their songs and try to create a sort of “ambiance” for the crowd. That sucks.
(more…)

Our West Coast Cut Crew Reps Emma Allison and Makenzie Lynd came all the way from Santa Barbara to donate some sun to the cold coast. Their first adventure in Brooklyn brought them to Williamsburg’s Nita Nita and the exclusive filming of British music maker Neil Halstead’s (of Slowdive and Mojave 3) music video “Elevenses.” A big thanks to Chris Piazza of Jigsaw Soul for hooking it up.

Cut Crew East: How’s New York treating you?

Emma Allison: There’s no beach around and that’s weird. But I love it. I like the city and change of pace. It’s refreshing. – culture shock is refreshing, anything new is refreshing. It’s a bit nipply but I like it here.

CCE: Rub it in. Brooklyn can be a scary place for new comers. How has it been treating you?

Makenzie Lynd: I feel like it’s more like we’re living here than visiting. We are doing every day sort of stuff. We’re living the Brooklyn life.

CCE: How do you feel about tattoos?

EA: I like them. They are hot.

CCE: So how was the video shoot today with Neil Halstead?

ML: Everyone was really welcoming and really nice. They wanted to get to know us.

EA: It was set in a cute garden, pretty windy. I like how it was supposed to be set in the summer and it was freezing out.

CCE: How was the music?

EA: I loved it. I know every word now.

ML: It was my first time hearing it and now I’m sick of it. But the music was relaxing.

(more…)

Though the chalked up photo of US AIRWAYS Flight 1549 in a previous post seemed to be of a phony nature, I was able to get my hands on the real one.

Needless to say, it isn’t less of a brain buster. I present to you a head shot of the ordeal. Dubbed as “Miracle on the Hudson,” I now wonder if veteran-piolot “Sully” is really the one to thank. Are those men and women standing on water? I thought Jesus was the only one who knew how to do that.

It is quite clear after seeing both real and faux photos of the flight.

Don’t call it a come back – US AIRWAYS Flight 1549 attempts to overshadow Highlights for Children Magazine. We all remember the feature “What’s Wrong?” on each issue’s back cover.

Recall The Past:
Separate Water Fountains

Neither does his art. Mark Jenkins’ website has a great section on Street Installations. In what must be a very confusing situation to see, he displays what looks like bodies in weird positions such as halfway in a fountain, diving in a trashbag and even with their head through a wall.

I am curious to people reactions. It seems as though his stuff is all over the world, so I am wondering if anyone who reads this has ever seen one of his pieces.

We would like to give a big THANKS to our good friends at Uncle Magazine  for helping us get hammered the right way!

Friday night at Public Assembly, formally known as Galapagos, (we all remember Cut & Sewn’s epic Everyone Wants a Piece Party) brought good vibes, good people and excellent exclusive reading material.

Sponsored by New Rome, the night kicked off right with mix-masters Indian Giver. There wasn’t a single booty in the crowd that wasn’t shaking. Using a Girl-Talk minded mix, they spun their own original flavor with a very energetic guitarist, drummer and singer. Singing along with Bono takes cajones. Here’s a video quicky if you’re curious and feel free to download their sweet album, Taking It All Back: The Mixtape Album.

Closing the night was DJ Swaaan. He rocked the house, we danced until bedtime aka when our motor skills began to shut down.

So why were we there anyway? To celebrate Uncle Magazine’s launch of Issue II . To read it in full, click here.
In only a matter of days will you be able to get your hands on a hard copy. We assume you don’t want to have to look long for it, so here’s an answer to the savenger hunt.

If that’s not enough for you, put on Indian Giver’s Mixtape, load up the photo album of the night, and let the slideshow begin.

For more stuff about the Uncle Empire, click here.

This week as I was roaming the streets of Noho, I noticed this contrast of black and white on the ground known as a crosswalk. As I approached 3rd St and Broadway, maybe, I found this:

This begs two questions:

1. Is that true? Has the origami I’ve been so fond of for years been for the uncool? Diddy told me he liked it!

2. Who is behind this?

In answering these, I found new depths of sadness. The first answer is a resounding yes. I didn’t know it, but I was tricked by supernerds to make origami; they schemed for a long time and finally pulled me in. Oh well, I still think I’ve been majorly suave giving origami cranes on all of my first dates. The second answer came to me in a dream or better yet, google. It turns out this crew, the Not So Cool Kids were just doing some advertising. Also unfortunately, I wasn’t the first to find this.

Have you seen this?

This week’s playlist is provided by Goldie Jawn, an up and coming rapper out of Philadelphia. With her name growing every week in Philly, we’re were lucky to get her to talk to us for just a minute.

C&S: Pick 10 musicians that influence your music.
Goldie Jawn: JDilla, Carmen McCrae, Black Milk, Beyonce, Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle, Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill, Jay Z, Little Brother, Ella Fitzgerald, Jill Scott.

What’s your worst gig?
My absolutely worst gig was the first time I performed. It was at this community center here in Philly. OMG, it was the summer time and it felt like I was in the middle of the Sahara Desert rocking a leather jumpsuit with 3 pairs of socks and a big wig without water. So hot. My throat was soooo mad at me cuz i did 5 songs! The water provided didnt help but I guess thats what you call paying your dues.

(more…)

Today’s guest t-shirt comes from friend of the company, Dynah. When she isn’t looking good in our shirts, she’s hard at work at Bali What, her blog.

My lovely new Cut & Sewn shirt proclaims, “This is how I roll”.  How is it that I roll, you might ask?  On a pink TiLite AeroZ, with Natural Fit rims, Stimulite Contour cushion, and MaTRx Elite back.  That is, in a wheelchair.  There are a few cool pre-made wheelchair-themed t-shirts out there, but I wanted something special.  So the fine folks at Cut & Sewn took my wording and ran with it, creating the awesome piece of apparel you see here.

(more…)

After living in Columbus, New York City and Cincinnati in the last several years, Reena Samaan is now making her home – and hopefully for some time – in rock and roll capital of the world: Cleveland, Ohio, where she works in the communications department at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

In our department, we handle public and media relations for the Museum and of course, all of the great events, educational and public programs, and this year, the 24^th Annual Induction Ceremony! Every day brings new challenges and of course, it’s always a lot of fun working in and being surrounded by music. It’s an especially exciting time around here and I feel really lucky to be able to work at a special place like the Rock Hall. I thought I’d be somewhat misplaced in a city like Cleveland. I always had fun visiting, but where do you go after living in a place like NYC? I’m definitely learning Cleveland does rock – in its own way. There’s always a band playing somewhere, great independent restaurants and record stores, and of course the Lake Erie beaches in the summer. It’s a big city but with a more intimate feel…I’m into it!

There is no rhyme or reason to my playlist. Here is just a sample of what I’ve been listening to lately. Enjoy!

Since the beginning of time, things have been awkward or boring. Then after alcohol was discovered, things drastically improved. Sadly, quickly after that groundbreaking discovery, another terrible one came, events that discouraged boozing. No longer could drink at funerals, church, or even elementary school. Or could you?

This is where you realize that you’ve stepped into trend two of the growing Don’t Call it a Comeback series. The solution to your sober situation in third grade geography class is the flask.

Wood flask courtesy of Julia Davis

The original flask was likely made of wood, which means loss of liquor to porousness and splinters (it is wood). Mucho Oucho.

After great innovations, we’ve inched closer and closer to the flask you might now have at your side. Now they come in a much more convenient metal casing. This flask can be hidden in your pocket for opportune times to Irish up your coffee or Brazil up your sugar-lime water.

Even better are the newest formations of the flask. They can come in any shape, especially if that shape can be hollowed out.

Even a beer bottle could be a flask I guess.

My favorites, however, are both in my current collection. While I don’t have a Garfield flask or even a Super Mario Bros. Question Mark Box, I do have these nifty binoculars ones that can hold liquor in one side and soda in the other, OR, liquor in one side and more liquor in the other side. See this flask, buy this flask.

(more…)

I met Janine Martel, the creator of Thumbook a few months ago. Not knowing if this was an undercover scheme, Janine pulled out a set of different colored stamp pads, asked me to smudge my thumb into the color of my choice, press it onto a page of her teeny tiny book, and draw a self portrait with her matching colored markers. As if my finger print couldn’t be more of a self-identifier, she had me write a quote or philosophy that I live by on the opposite page (see below).

(more…)

Leave it up to the folks at Uncle to uncover something like this. A rum-drinking, whore-mongering old man who calls himself Tony Baritone. And they’re proud to call him their de facto DJ. Here’s what he gave us.

Uncle Presents… Tony Baritone Plays The Hits
We met Tony Baritone in a record store in Miami. He wore a gold pinky ring, drank rum out of a paper bag, and kept telling us stories about hookers he’d fallen in love with. It was incredible. Weird and kind of creepy, but incredible. As we were leaving the store, he said he liked us and wanted to send us some records. Against better judgment, we gave our address. Whatever strange possibilities he represented, we wanted to find out.

When we got back to New York, there was a package waiting for us. A beat-up Havana Club Rum box, full of dusty old records. Havana Club isn’t even legal in the states. But of course Tony would have a box of it. Probably more where that came from.

And that was shipment one. We didn’t know what to expect, and it blew our minds. A few months later, a second box came. Shipment Two. A note said “I surprised you,” in chicken scratch. He was probably drunk when he wrote it, and definitely drunk when he paid for the shipping.

But Tony Baritone is the man, so who the fuck cares. (more…)