VANS WARPED TOUR: Mike Posner

“All Posner, all hits” or “All killer, no filler” are two of the catchphrases Mike Posner is using to describe his highly anticipated LP, 31 Minutes to Takeoff, which drops August 10. The “Cooler Than Me” emcee keeps it as real as possible. Matter of fact, probably the only thing not authentic about the album is its cover, which was not actually shot in an airplane.

“We rented plane props,” Posner admitted backstage at Vans Warped Tour to “The Ralphie Radio Show.” He also revealed that the record is finished, but he might have to scale back on that first slogan a bit, as there are two collaborations of note on the album.

“I do have Travis Barker playing drums on a song,” Posner said. “I have background vocals sung by… guess who?”
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Yes, the Duke University graduate turned the tables on me with a pop quiz of his own. I failed before he let me in on the correct answer: Boyz II Men.

“I had this song written and I wanted like a barbershop quartet feel to it,” explained Posner. “We reached out, sent them music, and they were like, ‘Yeah, we’re big fans.’ Within a month we were in the studio and those guys are like geniuses… that was a great experience.”

It’s been a summer full of great experiences for the Michigan-native, as his single continues to climb the charts, only raising his popularity while performing on Vans Warped Tour.

“It’s a grind, but it’s awesome man, I love grinding,” he said. “I’m doing sometimes three shows a day, so, I love it out here and I have the opportunity to meet kids all day long, and that’s the best part of the day for me.”

Posner will continue meeting and greeting fans on Warped Tour through the summer before launching on his own headlining trek this fall.

VANS WARPED TOUR: Cassadee & Mike of Hey Monday

Hey Monday lead singer Cassadee Pope says the band’s forthcoming LP is about two years in the making – as that’s when she started penning tracks for it.

“I had a ton of songs all ready, to go in the studio,” she said aboard Hey Monday’s bus during a sit down with “The Ralphie Radio Show.” “We took the time off between the ‘Glamour Kills’ tour and the AP tour to go in and record the album, which was about a month and a half.”

Pope noted that the recording of Beneath It All went rather quickly because the band entered the studio prepared. Entering armed with some pretty big names never hurts either.
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Check out some of the new tracks now at Hey Monday's official site.

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Butch Walker was the first person the front woman named when I inquired about who she co-wrote songs with. Walker is behind a many pop hits, and co-penned Hey Monday’s “How You Love Me Now”, a single from the band’s debut Hold on Tight. But unlike the first go-around, Pope actually wrote with Walker in person, opposed to over the Internet. Other collaborators include Vertical Horizon’s Matt Scannell, the duo S*A*M & SLUGGO (Sam Hollander and Dave Katz), and The Hooters’ Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman.

Guitarist Mike Gentile revealed Hey Monday is currently planning a fall tour, amidst much promo for the new album, and may even find some unlikely time off in the process.

VANS WARPED TOUR: We The Kings Lead Singer Travis Clark

In an interview on “The Ralphie Radio Show”, We The Kings front man Travis Clark revealed that Demi Lovato may be performing “We’ll Be a Dream” while on tour opening for the Jonas Brothers. But would Nick, Kevin, or Joe be filling in for Travis?

“I mean… whatever!” Clark responded to my thought, clearly amused by it. “I’m entertained by the idea so it’d be funny to see it actually go down.”

The lead singer also let us in on plans to have Demi join We The Kings on a couple more dates of the Vans Warped Tour – Clark mentioned Atlanta and Chicago as two possible opportunities. While on Warped, the band has either deferred to the crowd for Lovato’s parts or invited Hey Monday’s Cassadee Pope on stage to fill in.

We The Kings first hopped on Warped Tour back in 2008, when “Check Yes Juliet” landed the boys from Bradenton, Florida on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and radio stations across the globe. Now three singles, two years, and one album later – much has changed for the band – but Clark believes the biggest difference is within the band members’ personal lives.
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“If we wanted to, for example, cut through the park to go to catering or something like that, we would get mauled, we would never make it. Where in 2008, we could walk around anywhere we wanted, go see any band we wanted, and now it’s just a little harder to get around,” he admitted. “It’s super flattering, and we want to go out and say ‘hi’ to everybody. But, we never want to be the band that takes away from other people’s sets.”

Clark explained the last part as if it’s an unwritten rule of the Warped Tour handbook – you never attempt to upstage another band, especially one that may fall within the same lane of music as your band. How far do We The Kings go to ensure this doesn’t happen? Clark said that his tour manager will specifically schedule the band’s tent signings at times that do not conflict with similar artists on stage, so that the mutual fans won’t have to miss a show for an autograph.

VANS WARPED TOUR: The Pretty Reckless Singer/Gossip Girl Actress Taylor Momsen

At the end of season 3 of “Gossip Girl”, Jenny Humphrey heads on a train out of Manhattan, seemingly warn out and tired by the drama on the Upper East Side. Taylor Momsen, the actress that plays “Little J”, seems ready for a break herself.

Momsen is traveling across the country with her band The Pretty Reckless on Vans Warped Tour this summer. She divulged in an interview on “The Ralphie Radio Show” that she enjoys performing more than acting, staying consistent with comments she made to me last year that she always loved music and aspired to rock out in a band. But she became mum towards the end of the interview, when asked about her status on the hit TV show.

“They’re shooting (season 4) already… they’re shooting right now,” Momsen said of her cast mates from “Gossip Girl.” “As far as this season, I’m contractually obligated not to talk about it.”

The soon-to-be 17 year-old would not comment further on the TV show, refusing to answer a question about whether she would appear at all on the next season of “Gossip Girl.”

Instead, it seems Momsen is completely focusing her time and energy completely (well, shy of that new modeling deal she scored for Madonna’s “Material Girl” fashion line) on The Pretty Reckless – with the first album set to drop this August. Vans Warped Tour is perhaps a preparation or tune-up or initiation… heck, maybe all of the above, for Momsen and her crew.
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“I mean, each crowd is different. We played a couple shows in Canada and those fans were insane,” said Momsen of her trek on Warped Tour thus far. “The general response has been good. You’ve got the ‘Gossip Girl’ fans who watch it and then there’s some people who kind of meander over and don’t really know what they’re looking at.”

But the lead singer insists that they too, sometimes end up becoming a fan of the band. She certainly has one fan in band mate Ben Phillips, who was taken aback by working with Momsen in studio.

“I was surprised by her talent and it was a grueling undertaking to reach the heights she wanted to reach,” the guitarist said. Phillips co-wrote the entire album with Momsen. “It was impressive to meet someone who was that intent on making something good.”

The Pretty Reckless will drop Light Me Up August 31. The first single, “Make Me Wanna Die”, is available in iTunes now.

VANS WARPED TOUR: Nick & Chris of The All-American Rejects

If you’re craving new music from The All-American Rejects… well, you might not want to hold your breath for an extended period of time. Guitarist Nick Wheeler says the band hasn’t recorded a thing, yet.

“We’re hoping to be in the studio by the end of the year,” he said, after sounding bit surprised that lead singer Tyson Ritter told Rolling Stone something would be released by March. “We’ve been writing for about six months now, and we’ve got a couple handfuls of songs.”

Wheeler, along with drummer Chris Gaylor, sat down for an interview on “The Ralphie Radio Show?” amidst the band’s headlining trek for this year’s Vans Warped Tour. It’s AAR’s third trip on Warped, and first in five years. The boys from Stillwater, OK certainly have noticed changes.
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“Yunno, there’s only one main stage now, there’s all these new young bands, there’s a lot of kids out there wearing neon plaid – I don’t get it!” he joked. “We were apprehensive about how we’d be received. I mean there’s no modest way of saying it – we feel like we’ve kind of ‘grandfathered’ this scene. We came around seven, eight years ago and were getting compared to all kinds of bands. Now, we’re the only ones left. It feels really great, but we were kind of wondering if these kids listening to all these new bands would get it.”

Both Wheeler and Gaylor say The Rejects have been anything but rejected, and that the response from the crowds each night has been overwhelming. The clothes and style may change, but thankfully for AAR, the music persists onward.