The Blue and Gold March 2011
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Entertainment http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
Artist Profile:
Call Me Anything
Brittany Foley Managing Editor
F
rontman Will Tenney claims that his quote to live by is as follows: “We never grew out of this feeling that we won’t give up.” As a proud member of a project that began when Tenney was a mere seventh-grader, this quote could not prove itself more appropriate. After approximately six years, a namechange, new management, several tours, and countless immigrating and emigrating band members, that project, the band now known as Call Me Anything, is ready to release its debut record, set for a release summer 2011. The band consists of 19-yearold Tenney, 18-year-old Brandyn Dougan, and 18-year-old Matt McNulty. While Tenney is lead vocals and guitarist and pianist/ keyboardist of the group, Dougan covers the percussion, and McNulty is the band’s bassist with talents in drumming as well. According to Tenney, this “wide range of ability helps the songwriting process.” Their influences—among them artists and bands ranging from the
infamous Blink 182, “to Bright Eyes, to Jack’s Mannequin, to what’s on the radio”—also contribute to this process. Having recently begun working with New Age Media Management, the band has played several shows and has even gone on tour over the past few months, getting their new name out there to potential fans. They have played all around New England, in places even as local as Cambridge’s The Middle East Restaurant & Nightclub, where they opened for the up-and-coming poprock band, Stereo Skyline. Tenney admits that while he supposes their music could be considered “pop/rock,” he would rather avoid the labels that are genres and their “stigmas.” Instead, he claims that, he, Dougan, and McNulty are “just a group of guys that love writing music that [they’re] really feeling.” But where will that take them? Tenney hopes that, within the next year or two, Call Me Anything will be “touring full time and spreading [their] music to as many people as possible.” This, however, is obviously up to their currently-ever-expanding fanbase. If you’re a fan of the new, alternative pop-rock mu-
sic scene, or are into bands like Rocket to the Moon and This Condition, Call Me Anything might just become your new favorite band, and as both Tenney and McNulty are studying music at Boston’s own Northeastern University, they’re bound to become a local hit. To keep an eye out for upcoming shows, to check out their music, or for more information on Call Me Anything, please visit: facebook.com/ callmeanythingband and callmeanything. com. From left: Brandyn Dougan, Will Tenney, Matt McNulty. Photo by Brittany Foley.
Lady Gaga and Madonna: Born the Same Way? Catherine Poirier Copy Editor
O
riginality: something music artists search for when creating their look. Almost all of the songs on the top charts currently lack just that. One would think there is some hope for this with Lady Gaga, an artist who seems to have found her niche amongst the craziest outfits and stage performances ever created. In the past, many have compared Gaga to Madonna. The two support platinum blonde hair, or a wig in Gaga’s case, racy outfits, and an upbeat dance style in their music. These comparisons were typically vague, but recently some have accused her of plagiarism. Gaga seems to have surprisingly disappointed her “monsters” with the release of her new single “Born This Way.” The single is an almost exact dupe for Madonna’s 1989 release “Express Yourself,” some say. “Born This Way” and “Express
Yourself” both contain opening word chants, ad-libbed speaking parts, and 80’s style dance music. Gaga openly admitted Madonna is a muse for her music and fashion sense. On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Feb. 14, 2011, Gaga expressed “There is no one that is more of an adoring and loving Madonna fan than me. I am the hugest fan, personally and professionally.” She then went on to explain “The good news is that I got an email from [Madonna’s] people and her sending me their love and support on behalf of the single. If the Queen says it shall be, then it shall be,” Gaga added laughing. In the rest of the interview, Lady Gaga describes the rest of her upcoming album, “Born This Way.” She promised it is an eclectic record, and there will be diversity in every song. “The rest of the songs on the album are quite different from ‘Born This Way,’” she stated. Hopefully this will provide some relief to those who are normally fans of her work, but were surprisingly let down by the new single.
Students at Malden High School weighed in on the topic as well. Their opinions ranged from those in support of her music, to those totally against pop music in general. Senior Andrew Terenzi said “I think that ‘Born This Way’ is actually really brilliant, because it subtly argues for gay rights without being super obvious about it. The melody being similar to express yourself?” He asked rhetorically, “[It is] pop music. All pop music already sounds the same anyways.” Sophomore Anthony Johnson agrees with Terenzi about the message in the music. “Music is intelligent, pop is not. Although it is a good tool for getting good messages out there.” Senior Hong Chung expressed her views on the music industry by adding “There is no such thing as an original song composition, same thing as there is no such thing as a original creative story. Popular melodic beats and saccharine sounding melodies tend to trickle down the musical generation.” She finished by offering “If we as a majority push for music outside of Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne and such, I’m sure the music industry would be more compelled to breach creative comfort zones and thus instill confidence to their signed artists more creative freedom as well.”
This occurrence does present a question to fans of pop music. If the face of pop music herself can not seem to find a place to be original, according to her fans, then what will the rest of music industry do? Radio is becoming boring quite frankly. Stations continually play the same ten songs on a loop all day, and most of them sound the same. Junior Kyle Carvalho added in “Everything mainstream or on the radio is just really uncreative. Same [four] chords, generic lyrics, and autotune. But I guess [it is] all preference!” When an artist as outrageous as Gaga comes along, you hope to find something new and fresh on the radio, not a recycled 1980’s song.
Left to right: Lady Gaga’s new single, pop icon Madonna. Wikimedia.