Set It Off

Alright, it's been a while and I'm breaking my silence for a good reason. I have fallen in love. Never did I think that I would find something that includes all that I look for and love. Set It Off has captured my heart and can definitely be ranked in my top 5 favorite bands. I first heard their song "Uncontainable" when I was binge watching Luke Holland drumming videos. Apparently they did an extended music video with Luke and had him doing a drum battle in the middle of a ring with someone. I liked the song, so I added it to my Spotify and kept it on reply. As anyone in the music world knows, one song leads to another. The next thing you know, you have a new addiction.
Set It Off was formed in 2008. Current members are Cody Carson (lead singer), Maxx Danziger (drummer), Dan Clermont (guitarist), Zach DeWall (Bassist). Maxx is 26 while the rest are 27. Do they look their age? Hell no. Fun Maxx fact: He was nominated for Best Drummer at the 2016 APMAs. Anyways, the band can be classified in many genres. However, they fit more in to pop-punk, pop-rock, and alternative. If you listen to a couple of different songs, you can see how they are hard to fit in one clique. Their influences come from many different musicians. They draw inspiration from bands like Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, All Time Low, A Day to Remember, and even *NSYNC and Destiny's Child.
Cody Carson got his start in college. Alex Gaskarth from All Time Low helped him pursue his real dream by giving him permission to perform and film "Coffee Shop Soundtrack". Cody had shared multiple videos and messages with Alex who obviously supported him. After his success with that, he dropped out to start Set It Off with hometown friends Dan, Zach, and Austin Kerr. The group went through 3 drummers in one year before sucking Maxx Danziger in to the whirlwind of success they are in now. Austin was a long term member. He left the band 2015 due to allegations against him for sexual assault. The band didn't want to be associated with those allegations. Austin didn't want them to be drug down with him either, so it was a mutual decision to split with Kerr. Austin apologized for his actions and said that he would be working on himself. He also promised that he never meant to make anyone ever feel uncomfortable. The fans of Set It Off were the most important thing to him and he would do nothing to harm them. That was the backbone of reasoning when he left the band.
On to their success. Their first EP Baby, You Don't Tripajaharda was released in 2008. Calm Before the Storm was their second EP and was released in 2009. Their first single "Hush, Hush" was released in 2010. The accompanying music video was released that October. 2011 was the year they released the Horrible Kids EP. All of this was a build up for 2012. The released their first full length album "Cinematics". For the release of this album, they partnered with VH1 Save the Music Foundation. For every album sold they donated a $1 to help support school music programs. In total they raised $5,000. You can figure out how many albums were sold then!
2013 was the release of a Christmas song on Fearless Record's Punk Goes Christmas. "This Christmas (I'll Burn it to the Ground)" has got to be one of the best Christmas songs out there ha! It has a creepily awesome music video to accompany it. 2014 was another big year for the group. They released "Duality", their second full length album. It earned a well deserved #5 spot on Rock Sounds Top 50 Albums of the Year. They also did a cover of Ariana Grande's "Problem" on Punk goes Pop. They released an acoustic version of "Duality" in 2015. Their third full length album is soon to be released! (Another reason I'm writing). Upside Down will be available soon. Pre-order on iTunes NOW! On another note, they have also put out 12 music videos and have 4 official lyric videos.
The band has also been on so many tours for a group that hasn't been around all too long. They have played in over 19 tours! I'll list a few, but not them all. In 2013 they toured around with Yellowcard, Tonight Alive, and Warped. 2014 consisted of WATIC's reunion tour, Come Alive Tour with Our Last Night, and supported on the Black Mass Tour. Their first headlining tour was the Glamour Kills Spring Break Tour in 2015. They were also on the Rise of the Runaways Tour, Warped, and they did a tour in the UK. In 2016 they did the Fight For Something Tour and Warped again.
So that's Set It Off! They recently released a new single and a hilarious music video to go with it. When you get a chance look up "Something New". Trust me, you will not be disappointed. Play their Spotify, buy their music, binge on YouTube, and finally pre-order Upside Down on iTunes! If you message me or comment, I might be able to gift it to you! :)       <l>

King Of The Acapella App

Everybody has seen the acapella videos produced by an extremely cool new app. It basically replaced Vine for uprising singers. And for people just to goof around. One kid stands out from the crowd of consumers. That would be Austin Jones. All of his acapella videos have gone viral! But who is he? He's way more than a singer on an app and another teen heartthrob.
Austin is a 23 year old from Chicago. His musical styling ranges from Alternative to pop. Of course he has mastered acoustic and acapella music. Austin is definitely a musical king when it comes to social media. He has managed to gather 528,400 likes on his Facebook page, which for a fairly unknown artists to the public is pretty good. His Youtube channel has rapidly expanded since he first started it in July of 2007. As of right now he has over 117,295 subscribers and, as of today, 3,551,894 total views. His Vine following is roughly around 248,000.
Austin started his musical journey in 2010. He began writing his own music that year after "tragic events". He didn't go much deeper than that as far as I know. Honestly, I don't care. I'm just glad that he started in the first place! Austin released his first EP, "We'll Fall Together", in July 2014. The EP went to #12 on the iTunes charts and hit #34 on Billboard's Heat Seekers Chart. Not only did he have a very successful debut EP, he also had rather successful singles. He's released "Love Yourself (acoustic), Meds and Beds, and Fly Away. All of the above are available for download on iTunes.
Since Austin had gained such a big following in such short amount of time, Alternative Press invited him to join their 2015 Warped Tour. With this opportunity, Austin was able to expand his fan base and work along side big name artists. Some of those names included a few of my favorites: Black Veil Brides, Pierce the Veil, AS IT IS, Metro Station, and Our Last Night. Of course there were many other names. Those were just a few of my favorites.
However, Austin didn't walk away from Warped with all positives. Austin was caught up in the middle of a scandal. While touring he was accused of asking underage girls for videos of them twerking. When the rumors started, Warped was forced to take him out of the line up along with other social media sensations. He didn't deny the rumors long. Instead he released an apology. Austin immediately apologized for asking for the inappropriate videos. He also pointed out the fact that he was unaware that some of the people he was talking to were underage. Apparently he sent silly videos of him twerking back. He wasn't taking them very seriously. It was fun and games. He apologized for his actions and said that he was embarrassed for his family, friends, himself, and his fans.

Austin's "I Write Sins not Tragedies" cover

I believe the incident has long been forgotten. Warped Tour said that he had done nothing wrong and had taken responsibility for his actions. They weren't ashamed to have him on their line-up and would be happy to have him again. Since then Austin has regained a lot of his fans and fame with the help of the acapella app. His most popular videos are covers of Fall Out Boy, Panic!, and even Sleeping with Sirens. Austin has true talent. He has made some mistakes, but unlike many other stars, he took responsibility. There is no doubt that he is the King of the Acapella App.

A Pop-Punk Christmas

I'm tad bit late on posting this, but it's better late than never! Since I missed Christmas this year, you can have this playlist ready for next year! I picked out my personal favorite ORIGINAL pop-punk Christmas songs. Some may or may not be covers that I just haven't heard... Anyways, I got sick of listening to the same songs every year during Christmas, so I came up with my own. Hopefully you guys like a few of these too and they can give you a break from the endless cycle of unoriginal Christmas carols.

1) Yule Shoot Your Eye Out- Fall Out Boy
        (My personal favorite Christmas song in general!)
2) 12 Days of a Pop-Punk Christmas- Sunrise Skater Kids
       (Hilarious!)
3) Fool's Holiday- All Time Low
4) I Won't Be Home For Christmas- Blink 182
5) Merry Christmas, Kiss My Ass- All Time Low
6) Nothing For Christmas- New Found Glory
7) I Don't Wanna Spend Another Christmas Without You- The Ready Set
8) Santa Stole My Girlfriend- The Maine
         (I also found this quite funny)
9) Merry Christmas I missed You So Much- Taking Back Sunday
10) My Christmas List- Simple Plan
          (Sounds very similar to my own Christmas list...)

Of course, these are my personal favorites. You can hate them for all I care. These are just the songs I was playing this Christmas. Next year maybe I'll post a list of my favorite Christmas covers. They'll be on time next year! Because let's be honest, Brendon Urie's cover of "White Christmas" is amazing! The Summer Set has a pretty good Christmas cover out there too...
Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year!!!!