No Doubt 2.0: New Album Out!

album cover courtesy of No Doubt's facebook

Hi guys, long time no see. Hope you all are starting your October with a bang if not wish you the best on one.

Hectic as usual I have been lost in transit most of the time going places and meeting people. However big news!!!!

No Doubt just came out on September 25, 2012 with their new album Push and Shove and so far have been able to climb up the Billboards as #33. Folks at Billboard predict that with 125,000 they will be able to be No.3 in the charts.

It was really unexpected that the group will come back with a new album after being "on hiatus" since 2004 (according to the interview on their facebook page) and each going onto their own projects (unexpected babies included). But after their North American tour on 2009, the band decided to get together and make a new album . These past summer months passing by, their facebook page has been updated with new pictures: anticipating their new album Push and Shove.

picture courtesy of celebritybug.net

Infused with old sounds and new sounds of ska, dancehall, and electronic pop, Push and Shove brings out the growth of No Doubt. You will find with songs like "Looking Hot" and "Undercover" the influence of the dancehall sound AND find their old ska elements in songs like "Settle Down" and "Push and Shove."With soft lyrics and Gwen Stefani's sultry voice. I definitely think with this new album they will be back on the charts as a cross-generational band. Hopefully they will be around for the long run.

Point: Check out their album.



Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

P.S. here's a video of one of their songs. Check. It. Out.

Etsy Shop Alert! Interview with an Etsy Seller

an acrylic painting done by Amanda

Being the hermit that I am sometimes in the summer, I have been surfing the net and windowshopping on Etsy. I have found some shops that have matched my interest and was able to land a couple of interviews with two excellent Etsy sellers. One of them is a fabulous 23 year old girl named Amanda Pereira from Toronto, Canada.I decided why not ask her 13 random questions. And luckily, I did. Here is the interview with her.Hope all of you enjoy it. 

1. What got you started on selling on Etsy? 
 Truthfully, I started selling on Etsy because a few friends suggested it. They thought I’d enjoy it, supported my artwork, and encouraged me. It was a good idea. I love Etsy, and I’ve met a lot of great buyers and sellers there. I’ve come across so many shops filled with lovely wonders from amazingly talented people, which in itself is great inspiration.

2. Was there any trouble or questions in the beginning process of selling?

I didn’t have much trouble - Etsy is a lot easier to use than Ebay in my opinion, and [I] think anyone can get the hang of it pretty quickly if they take a quick tour and navigate around the site. It has a Help section on the website where you can email them for support, or live chat with someone. Your items stay listed for months and can be favourited by other users, so it helps get your name and products out there; I prefer it to any other site I’ve listed on thus far.

3.What's your inspiration when you make your bookmarks and art prints?

Amanda Pereira the artist

The smell of burning wood or the feel of grass on bare feet can inspire a painting or an art piece in the same way that a breakup or a death could for me. It’s all in how you perceive it and what it brings out of you; what it makes you feel, think of, remember... that’s the good thing about inspiration, there is an abundance of it, even if we have to wait for it to become obvious sometimes.

4.What do you do when you get "art blocked"?
It's not so much what I do, but what I don’t do - I don’t force it.  I wait until it hits me again, and then go from there, where ever it takes me. Sometimes it takes an hour, sometimes a day, sometimes three months. Art for me is fueled by strong emotion, and sometimes you’re not ready to bring it forward. It has to come naturally, though, because I can't create anything without putting part of myself in it, and that is something that can't be fabricated. Art has to be genuine. [And] I think it shows when someone has created for the sake of having a finished product, rather than creating because they ‘need’ to. 

5.When you are not drawing or selling on Etsy, what are you doing?

Reading books, reading the newspaper, reading emails; journaling, writing letters, writing poems, writing nonsense; bugging my boyfriend and spacing out to his beautiful music, hanging out with my momma, hanging out with my cats, hanging out with myself; making soap, making lists, making a mess; tending to my garden, brainstorming ideas for things I want to make, healing, thinking way too much... and Sims? Don’t even get me started. I’m a geek, basically.

6.Talking about books, what are your favorite books?
Oh, man... I‘m such a book nerd. I hold so many close to my heart, but my all-time favourite book[s] have always been Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel, followed closely by the Crank series [or absolutely anything, really!] by Ellen Hopkins. The level of admiration I have for what she is able to do with words is endless, and she is by far my favourite author; the one who inspired me to keep writing when I thought I lost that, years ago.

7. Favorite horror movie?

another wonderful creation by Amanda

I love horror movies, so that’s hard to answer. I’ve always been partial to Stigmata, though. I fucking love that movie, to put it not so elegantly.

8. Any tattoos?
 I currently have 13 tattoos:  I have a painting I’d completed for my soulmate tattooed on my arm, a flat-line turned heart monitor with the number of my hospital room which I stayed in after an intense situation, 6 inkblot butterflies and three ink splats, ‘live through this’, and ‘doll parts’ – 11 of them were done by myself... but lucky for me in the future, my brother is going to be a tattoo artist! ;D

9. Most embarrassing moment?
Oh jeeze, that’s a loaded question! I’m one of the clumsiest, most awkwardly anxious people you’d ever meet, and that alone leaves me with an abundance of horribly embarrassing moments. I walk into walls and trip over my own feet on a daily basis, when I’m not scrambling my words or speaking before thinking in general. It’s hard to say... I embarrass myself quite frequently.


10.Vampire or Werewolf?
Vampire, always! I kind of have a soft spot for them; not just on my neck, [or] in the general vicinity of my jugular, either. I watched ‘Interview with the Vampire’ when I was six years old, and instantly fell in love with the essence that is the romanticised powerful immortal, capable of taking or giving eternal life.


11. Edward Scissorhands or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?
Edward! Two words – the hair. Enough said.

one of Amanda's prints

12. What fabric print could best define your personality?
My personality can be somewhat erratic at times... part of me says animal print but that’s too generic. Part of me says kittens wearing stilettos, fag deep in cupcakes... but that’s a bit manic. Part of me says raw silk with ribbon accents, but that’s slightly tame. I’m going to go with a solid colour yeti-esque furry fabric, for no other reason than I can contently say that feels more ‘me’. A bit loud [and] kind of curious...

13. And last but not least: what advice can you give to people who want to sell on Etsy but are being skeptical on their decision?

Do it – because the worst that can happen is... well, quite literally, nothing. If you don’t attempt to get your name out there and sell on Etsy, you can’t say, ‘At least I tried!’ Give it a go; chances are many people will come across your shop who will absolutely love what you have to offer. If nothing else, it allows you the freedom to offer your talents and passion to a wider audience from the comfort of your bedroom, living room, backyard, etc. It’s kind of awesome in that way.

if you like to see more of Amanda's Etsy shop, February Flowers, you may check it out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/februaryflowers

 or you can check her other websites if you like:

DeviantART:  http://youwillfade.deviantart.com/

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/februaryflowers

Twitter: http://twitter.com/februaryflowers

Formspring: http://www.formspring.me/mandaquin

Band Alert! Band Alert!

The Beatles, Nirvana, NOFX, and Green Day are all male bands that have started and bloomed in the subgenres of the rock world.  Whether for the purpose of fame, notoriety, or just for the music, they all have made hits and gained popularity with album after album making them celebrities. Although they are well-known names now, there was a point in time where they, like many others today, were struggling to get their names out there. Some have described the journey in music stardom not being an easy feat but still worthwhile.

Nova

And now with the music business booming with artists, one can even say that being an artist one has to have a talent, a name, and a dedication. In the case of Nova, a name that is now seen in venues like the Moonlight Bar and Webster Hall, that is not the problem. In an interview with Rockinglicious, both Ralgy Cepeda (vocals & bass guitar) and Alex (electric guitar) described their experiences being in Nova.

According to Salazar, the lead guitar of Nova, the band started in the fall of junior year of high school. The name back then was Running on Empty and they had 6 members already willing to put down music time. As time passed by, the band started “shedding layers and layers of people” and soon enough the band ended but on a good note.         

Ralgy Cepeda and Alex Salazar

After Running on Empty ended, Nova was born with band members Alex Salazar, Ernesto Baez III, and Ralgy Cepeda. And since then Nova has gained quite a fan base. 

When asked how the band members came up with a name like Nova, Alex answered, “I saw a supernova in my dream. It destroyed the galaxy. The next day I came up to Ralgy and asked him ‘what do you think of Nova?’ 

Of course some things have changed and other things have stayed the same with Nova’s members. At 14, both Cepeda and Salazar thought about different things than music: “I didn’t think about the world as a whole or about universal politics. I guess you can say I was more centered on myself and my friends,” Cepeda shared.

However for Nova, being young and in a band is not easy. “It wasn’t until we were 18 that we had access to venues. Now, venues don’t want to pay anymore. We don’t have money. So now I have to work for Starbucks eight hours a day,” says Salazar. Then there is band rehearsal to take care of as Ralgy notes in the difficulty of meeting up: “We don’t get to see each other every day. A lot of times Alex is in school and on the days that he is not in school I still work [on music].”

But for these two band mates, music is life. When asked what they do when they aren’t playing music, Cepeda answers “Our music reflects our life so metaphorically speaking when we are not playing music, we are playing music. When we talk to each other or look out the window, it serves as an inspiration. We don’t live outside the [band] lifestyle.” For Salazar, music changed his life a little more than expected: “My complete lifestyle was changing. I noticed my complete social life crumbled because I played music.”

Ernesto Baez III on drums

Despite it all, music has brought them many friendships and conversations with their fans. Of course, Rockinglicious was curious to ask what new goals Nova had in mind whether hitting the list of featured artists in the famous Warped Tour or taking part in the Loolapalooza music festival. Surprisingly, for Salazar and Cepeda that goal is not really the main deal. Salazar says, “At the end of the day it’s not about making the dollars but the music. The biggest goal I could say for Nova would be progression. Self- development is very important for us. Right now we are working on writing a five part song with a prelude, a symphonic poem (no lyrical parts), and a lyrical part. It would be mostly influenced by classical music.”

Through hearing the voices of both Alex Salazar and Ralgy Cepeda on what it’s like to be in a band such as Nova, it can be ascertained that starting your own band is like growing a tree: there has to be dedication, care, and a love for music along with the equipment to keep it going. If you want to check out this band and even attend one of their shows, check their gigmaven profile: http://www.gigmaven.com/nynova?f=c