Let’s be honest, I haven’t really known of Chelsea Cutler’s music besides her features with Quinn XCII, and Jeremy Zucker. But after tonight’s show, I can definitely say that I am a bigger fan than when I walked into Terminal 5. The whole point of a tour for a performer is to put on a good show, and for the fans, it is to enjoy it. Knowing all the lyrics and songs is up to the audience. Regardless of my lack of prior knowledge in Cutler’s music, I genuinely enjoyed the music and from the looks of it, so did everyone else.
There were already high expectations as it was her second sold-out show in New York City at Terminal 5. Along with her phenomenal openers, X Lovers, and Alexander 23, Cutler definitely did not disappoint. Visually, her use of lights, colors, and visual pieces made it all the better. The backgrounds painted a beautiful picture for her to be captured in and really kept the audience honed in on her performance, whether it be a ballad or dance anthem. Sonically, her vocals were so perfect live that it didn’t even feel real. Her tone and texture in her voice remained the same all throughout the show. No cracks, no weak points, it was just spot-on which is incredibly impressive for a vocalist to have that strength and control.
From the beginning of her performance to the end, we’d moved several locations to get a decent spot as the place was packed. And each time, fans everywhere were singing and dancing, lyric by lyric, note by note. It was inspiring to be surrounded by people so in awe from the performance that Cutler exhibited, and we couldn’t get enough. Overall, this performance was raw, fun, engaging, and nothing short of magic. Until the next show!
The day after the Band of Brothers Road Show wrapped, we got to sit down and talk with PUBLIC about the tour, their music, and what’s coming next.
CROWDSURFER: First of all, I loved the show last night!
PUBLIC: Thanks! Thanks for coming out!
CS: It was the final show of the tour. Was it a different energy, or was it bittersweet? How were you feeling?
John: I would say both of those things, as some of the things you didn’t know you cared about on the tour hits you on the last show.
Matt: I think bittersweet because you spent so much time with the same people. And at the same time it’s like, this is the moment to really crank and move on to bigger and better things. Exciting things like writing new music.
John: Saying I was ready to move on sounds negative towards the tour, but it’s not at all. That was a great thing to go through, but now I’m ready for the stuff we have coming up ahead. I feel energized and tired at the same time.
CS: What’s it been like being on tour with American Authors and Magic Giant?
John: We felt very taken care of by the AA guys, they just were always asking how were doing and encouraging us. They are also on Island Records as well, so they were always just encouraging us a new band like “We’ve been through it before, you guys are crushing it.”
Matt: They’re very aware of what we’re going through right now so they give advice if they feel like they can.
CS: I love it, so much support. So you recently released a sequel music video for your hit single Make You Mine.It’s got a different vibe from the original, and I absolutely loved it. How did the idea to follow up the first video come about?
John: So our team that put together the first one, we had a great time with them, we just had a great time and it did so well. And they pitched us an idea for a sequel and at first I was like that seems gratuitous and people are gonna hate that. But when they were pitching it, and also with the zombie route, that’s when we were kind of like –
Matt: That actually sounds fun.
John: Because it starts off the way you’d maybe expect with a romantic proposal, but then stuff goes really wrong.
Matt: And John bites a dude in the face…
John: Yeah, I just get that bloodlust you know? [laughter] I think for me in this one, I was more like, let’s just have fun. We had a blast, we love this production team, let’s make a movie.
CS: There are a few different versions of Make You Mine out. Do you have a favorite?
John: I think mine is the Rino Sambo remix. It’s got kind of a beachy vibe to it, it’s got some MIDI horn stuff going on.
Ben: I like the acoustic version. The acoustic version is really nice.
John: Honestly, my favorite is the original.
Ben: Yeah, as it should be. It’s the way we wanted it and originally imagined.
CS: So, as we said, tour is over. What’s next for you?
John: We’re going to be doing some really exciting writing sessions with some people that we’ve looked up to for a while. I think we have some TV stuff coming up…
Matt: [whispers] We can’t talk about it though.
John: We’re gonna do MTV Cribs.
Ben: But it’s of our van. Pimp My Ride.
[laughter]
John: So those are fictional things, we’re gonna write.
Ben: Because there are more songs to be made that aren’t Make You Mine.
CS: On that note, it’s been a few years since Sweet Lemonade–
John: Thank you, nobody talks about that EP!
Matt: It’s so underrated! We think all of those songs are fantastic songs.
John: We play two of those songs live almost every show. They’re great songs. I think that EP is a very good representation of how our music has evolved. It’s more poppy, there’s disco stuff going on in there, too. It’s just good.
CS: How would you say your sound has changed since then?
John: We’ve got some unreleased stuff that’s really interesting, I think.
Matt: Yeah, and I don’t think we’re scared to go outside of what we would be labeled as. We’ve always kind of geared our sound to whatever we found interesting at the time. I think we write music because we love writing music, and it kind of comes out in different shades sometimes. I think recently it’s been a lot more disco funk, pop disco funk, than anything else. A year from now it could be alt rock, but it’s still gonna be PUBLIC.
John: I think it’s more common for bands and artists to be multi-genre right now. I’m hoping that it’s a little more accepted that we do stuff that’s not – like oh they’re a pop rock band but this song is pretty funky. So I think that’s what we do because that’s what we love.
CS: You’ve been friends since grade school. How have you grown as friends throughout all these years of being a band?
Matt: I think being friends has really helped with the growth of the band. I think specifically, on tour, when things kind of get really stressful we’ve always had a mindset of bringing it to the table. It’s always kept us closer than ever rather than pull us apart.
John: I feel like the enemy of, not just band but anyone doing something intensive for a long time, is repressing stuff. It’s like a relationship. If you keep something inside it’s eventually just going to poison you with resenting that person. People hear why certain bands break up, and like, it gets really hard. But we laugh really really hard still, and I think that keeps us together and keeps us fresh. We see a goal and we wanna get there and we believe in each other.
CS: Well thank you for taking the time to talk! Can’t wait to see you at your next concert.
Tove Lo headlined two sold out nights at Brooklyn Steel and unfortunately fractured her ankle during the first one. But the show must go on, so she gave us an equally stunning performance on February 13, 2020 with a bedazzled boot from a velvet throne. Tove Lo had us all dancing to some sexy beats and then brought tears to our eyes when she slowed down the show to sing “Moments,” accompanied only by the piano. She brought out ALMA to sing “Bad As The Boys” and Sean Paul to sing their new single “Calling On Me,” and showed us all that rocking a concert from a chair is no problem!
We’re big fans of funky throwback pop records and up-and-coming NYC-based musicians, and Keep in Touch is a trio that fits the bill. With their uber-catchy beats and contemporary flare, they’re hoping to be next big thing in music. We caught up with the boys in Ray’s Harlem apartment for some behind-the-scenes shots of their jam session, and asked them a few questions.
How did you guys first meet?
“We met at through the rock climbing community that we’re a part of, we both new of each others musical endeavors and wanted to collab, kinda right away.” -Ray
“After we jammed a couple of times we really realized our overall vibe and tastes in music were very aligned.” -Nate
How’d you come up with your name?
“I had a song called “Keep in Touch,” with the last band I was in All Types of Kinds, and someone from BMG heard the song and thought it was a better band name than the current one the band had, so I’m taking their advice.” -Ray
What would you say is the genre/vibe of the band?
“When we first started making music together, we learned we both share a love for 70’s disco/funk music, as well as what’s happening with modern synth-based pop and R&B. So our goal throughout this whole project has been pretty simple, to make music that people can either dance to or make love to. As long as people are dancing, we know we’re doing something right.” -Nate
Talk about the recording process, what’s it been like?
“We’ve never recorded music at this caliber, we commute up to Connecticut currently from the city to work with this producer Mike Rogers, who’s really developing us into true studio musicians. We now spend hours working on the smallest details on any given track, which has helped us fully realize the concepts of these songs. His studio is in this little restored barn a 30 second walk from the Appalachian trail, which is a stark contrast from NYC and with both of us loving the outdoors its pretty rad. ” -Ray
Challenges getting the band up and running?
“Overall, making this music has been an incredibly seamless process. When it comes to lyrics/arrangement Ray and I have tons of ideas to work with. One major challenge though has been figuring out how to play these songs in a live setting. Because we’ve been working so much in the studio, most of our songs have more parts to play than we can accomplish with a few of us! Luckily we’ve met some fantastic musicians who want to support our sound in a live setting.” -Nate
Favorite song you’ve written/recorded?
“The one we’re currently working on in the studio now, actually! It’s one that has felt special since the first day we started working on it. It’s a bop.” -Nate
When can we expect to hear your first single?
“Sometime in spring 2020.” -Ray
We can confirm their first song is a bop, and we can’t wait to share it with you when it drops. Definitely put these guys on your radar if you haven’t yet! Go check them out on Instagram at @keptintouch. And for more pictures of the boys and tons of other musicians, check out the Crowdsurfer Instagram @crowdsurfermag.
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