The band Cartel is the kind of band that can have you singing and dancing within just a few seconds of a song starting. Their new single “Lose It” is hitting it big with previous fans and has helped them gain new fans steadily.
This past summer Cartel starred in the reality show “Band in a Bubble,” in which they were scheduled to record an album in twenty days, all while being watched by fans on TV. The pressure was on and it seems as though Cartel has delivered with their new self-titled album, which was released in late August.
The Chronicle spoke with lead singer Will Pugh about the new record, girls, crazy fans and working with other bands.
One of the stand out tracks on the new album is the remix of the song “Wasted,” which was done with Wyclef Jean. The song discusses people and different events that take place in their life, while also making a clear statement about wasting one’s life.
“It was a growing up phase for me, like life is a temporary kind of thing,” Pugh said.
Pugh is also enjoying the chance to play the songs from the new album for fans live. One of his favorite songs to play from the old record is “Burn This City” because “you can rock the entire time.”
His musical tastes are somewhat surprising when comparing his favorite bands to a lot of the music he makes. When asked what band he would want to work with he said, “The Beach Boys because of the timeless factor” and “Oasis because all the songs are really well written.” Recently Pugh also helped contribute to New Found Glory’s new record by doing a cover of the song “Iris” originally by the Goo Goo Dolls. Cartel also toured with the band last year.
“It was awesome,” Pugh said. “I consider it an honor and growing up in high school, I listened to them a lot, so it was a dream to be on tour with them.”
Cartel has also had some run ins with some pretty crazy fans on tour. Pugh remembers a time at the Minneapolis stop of the Warped Tour in which he was approached by a fan. “This guy comes up to me and says ‘Hey man, I want you to sleep with my girlfriend’. I said ‘No way dude, I have a girlfriend.’ That’d classify as the weirdest thing,” Pugh said.
Although there are obviously some crazy times while on the road, Pugh’s favorite part of touring is being able to see the country, although he does miss being home.
Pugh seems to gain many female admirers with his good looks and voice. Unfortunately it seems that this doesn’t always help when it comes to approaching girls. Pugh described a time when he was around 12 or 13 and was trying to ask a girl he liked to be his girlfriend. “I said something like ‘Do you trust your heart with me?’ She looked at me and said ‘Yes but never say that again.'”
However, Pugh is in a relationship now, but does confess to having one celebrity crush. “Jessica Alba, got to be one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen,” Pugh said. “I promised I’d only go see the movie [Good Luck Chuck] with my girlfriend.”
With girls on the back burner, Cartel is waiting to see how their current single “Lose It” does before they decide which song will be put out next. Don’t worry though, the two contenders, “Wasted” and “The Fortunate” are two of the strongest songs on the album, so both are sure to please.
