Cute Is What We Aim For
(also known as CIWWAF
) was a pop punk
band from Buffalo, New York. The band formed in 2005, and were signed by Fueled by Ramen. They released their debut album, The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch
in 2006. Their second album, Rotation
, was released on June 24, 2008.
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CUTE IS WHAT WE AIM FOR TICKETS
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History
Early
The band was formed in January 2005 as a side-project by Cherry Bing
singer, Shaant Hacikyan and
lead guitarist, Jeffrey Czum, after tensions in the previous band had gotten worse.
The drama surrounding the band was fueled further when they announced that they were firing their manager, Brandon Davis, "Poppin' Bottles" who accused them of unethical business practices.
[1] and then 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 electric guitar for a
bass guitar.
[2] Although it was already suspected by fans due to several indications on the band's part, on November 29, 2005 they officially announced their signing with
Fueled by Ramen.
[3]
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.
During the fall of 2006, Cimato parted ways with the band, and
Jack Marin (formerly of
October Fall) became the new bassist. However, six months later, in April 2007, Jack left because of personal issues with the band members. Cimato returned as bassist once again. In October 2007, Fred Cimato was interviewed by . When asked if he viewed his role in the band as permanent, 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." However, Cimato left the band again on March 2008. It was announced that Dave Melillo would be their bassist until further notice.
2008
After their time with the Young Wild Things Tour, the band took some time off to continue writing for their second release. They went into the recording studio with producer
John Feldmann. The name of Cute Is What We Aim For's new album was announced on their website, and also on their forum "The Social Scene", on April 21, 2008. This coincided with a clip of their new single,
Practice Makes Perfect
, being aired on
MTV's
The Hills. At midnight on April 22, the band released another new song called
Doctor,
on their MySpace. On May 6,
Practice Makes Perfect
became available on the iTunes Store. The album called "
Rotation", was finished on March 19, 2008, and was released on June 24, 2008.
The band then announced plans to play a four month tour in support of "
Rotation" in both the United Kingdom and the United States. They played in the UK from May 25 until June 2, before heading back home to the United States to start the second part of their tour on June 15 in
Pittsburgh, PA; ending their tour on August 17 in
Columbus, OH. The men that supported the US part of the tour was
Ace Enders, Danger Radio, Dan Geraghty and label-mates Powerspace. On August 26, 2008, the band was part of the opening show for
Simple Plan
at the Bell Center (along with
Faber Drive and
Metro Station). The former
Dave Melillo Band guitarist, Clark Spurlock, was featured on that tour, as well as on the Canadian tour with
Simple Plan.
On September 2, 2008, there was speculation over drummer, Tom Falcone. He announced that he would be leaving the band. Falcone released an official statement on
ap.net, stating that; "I simply left the band because the personality conflicts and daily drama made it impossible for me to live a peaceful, happy life," also adding that; "I assure you that no one came looking for me." Hacikyan nor any of the other members have commented on the situation. Former
Roses Are Red drummer Michael Lasaponara (who is also the drum tech for the band The Academy Is...) is currently filling in on drums.
The band will be headlining the 2009 Take Action Tour. They recently stopped working with Kevin Spellman at Creative Artist Management.
2009
A clip of a new demo called "Catch 22" appeared online on June 9th
[4].
The band's single "Time" is included in the soundtrack for the upcoming movie
Jennifer's Body.
On Tuesday 18th August, Shaant announced he was going solo which seemingly spelled the end for Cute. Dave, Jeff and Mikey will continue making music.
On August 18th, Dave Melillo confirmed that himself and Jeff Czum had left the band.
[5].
Real talk was that the band was cut from the record company but still unknown
Members
Former
- Shaant Hacikyan – lead vocals (2005-2009)
- Jeff Czum - guitar (2005-2009)
- Dave Melillo - bass (2007-2009)
- Michael Lasaponara – drums (2008-2009)
- Clark Spurlock – rhythm guitar (2008-2009) (touring)
- Tom Falcone – drums (2005-2008)
- Jack Marin - bass (2006 - 2007)
- Fred Cimato – bass (2005 - 2006, 2007 - 2008)
- Don Arthur – bass (2005)
- Rob Neiss – drums (2005)
Discography
Albums
- The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch
(2006)
- Rotation
(2008)
Singles
Year
| Title
| Album
|
2006
| "There's a Class for This"
| The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch
|
2007
| "The Curse of Curves" [I
|
"Newport Living"
|
2008
| "Practice Makes Perfect"
| Rotation
|
"Navigate Me"
|
2009
| "Doctor"
|
- I
^
Peaked at number 191 on the UK Singles Chart. [6]
References
- Cute is What We Aim For Loses Manager
- Interview with Pete of Cute Is What We Aim For
- Interview with Cute Is What We Aim For
- Clip of new demo "Catch 22"
- http://supjustin.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=337:dave-melillo-talks-about-ciwwa
- British chart