Interview

The night was a little chilly for May as I walked out of the Basement, a music venue in Columbus, Ohio and I sifted through some kids standing around outside. No one really noticed me as I waded through the thirty or so kids who could not get into the sold out Columbus stop of the “Can’t Knock the Hustle Tour.” The local heroes, Hit the Lights, were about to take the stage and try to top the impressive band before them. Fifteen minutes earlier Will Pugh, lead vocalist of the Atlanta pop-punk act Cartel, had the sold out crowd in the palm of his hand. And now, as he left the venue with me, he was all but noticed.

As Will and I made the trek back to Cartel’s van parked just down the street, we made small talk about the fact that Hit the Lights were headlining that night and the next on this tour. Will explained that it was not a big deal since there aren’t really any egos on this tour, and it was more of a co-headlining tour anyway. The British pop act Train was playing at the small amphitheatre connected to the Basement and we tried to talk over the loud music. But once we were back to the van, I pressed record on my voice recorder, set it on the dashboard and proceeded to pick Will’s brain about the recent attention that is relatively young act was garnering.

“The bands have been great and they fans, even better.” Pugh said smiling when I asked about this tour. The guys were very grounded about the fact that four of the seven dates they had already played were completely sold out and the other three were extremely close to selling out. But he also spoke about the fact that the guys were a little nervous about headlining this tour.
“We wanted to do it and we knew needed to see where we were at to judge about bigger tours. But it has been truly awesome. We have been really humbled about how awesome it has been,” the front man smiles.

The guys sure have come quite a way from playing in bands in high school. All five members of Cartel have known each other since at least high school and have been playing in bands together for the last ten or so years. The various bands the guys were in went through different members and different phases, but Pugh, drummer Kevin Sanders and guitarist Will Pepper have always kind of stuck together. But after high school, guitarist Nic Hudson went off to school in Savannah and after trying to make the group work for the first year of college, the guys decided to throw in the towel.
“We had played show throughout all of high school,” Pugh says. “And that first year of college and nothing really jumped, and said, ‘Well, we had a good run’ and it was over after that.”

But after a while Pugh, Sanders, Pepper and bassist Ryan Roberts got together with guitarist Andrew Lee to just jam and have some fun. Finding that the songs came together really easily, the guys started booking some shows around Atlanta, and the rest is history. They put out “The Ransom” EP which garnered the interest of The Militia Group who signed the band and re-released “The Ransom” with two new tracks. Just before the recording of their debut full length, “Chroma,” Lee left the group and Pugh called in Hudson to fill the void. Hudson ditched his plans to join the army and re-entered the group.
“We had played in bands with Nic in high school and he is one of the most genuine people you will ever meet. Just a great guy,” gushed Pugh. “Plus the dude can shred on guitar so we called him up and were like, ‘Come on, bro!’”

After releasing Chroma, the guys were entered in a competition sponsored by Yahoo! to find a new up and coming artist. The guys were psyched about the competition until they saw who they were up against.
“When heard Say Anything were our competition, we were like, “Son of a bitch!’” laughed Pugh. “Because we are high fans of the band. I mean, the first time I listened to it, I hated it. ‘The guy’s was just rambling and being nuts.’ But Alive with the Glory of Love really caught my ear and all I thought was ‘Damn, that is a good song.’ That record was a huge inspiration for Chroma, production-wise.”
But due to great marketing by The Militia Group, Cartel came out victorious. It seems like everything they touched since has turned to gold.

Shortly thereafter, the guys jumped from the indie Militia Group to the major, Epic records. Pugh explained that the choice for Epic was pretty easy. Epic didn’t really have a band like Cartel on its roster; the label has a number of great acts (Pugh named Micheal Jackson, Fiona Apple, and the Fray just to name a few) and the general “Gung-Ho” attitude of the label.
“The president of the label pretty much is all about being behind us.” Pugh said. “He is extremely personable and a huge Cartel fan. If he was 18 years old, he would be down in the pit with everyone else tearing it up as well.”
Now in the thick of re-releasing Chroma through Epic, record sales jumping and a single that is working its way through national radio, the guys are poised for another summer on the Vans Warped tour.

But when I ask about the next record or perhaps the release of an EP, Pugh shrugs. “I am kind of over EPs. We just want to write a lot. But I would guess that by this time next year we will have already recorded something and or about to put something out.”
I thanked Will for his time and looked forward to talking to him again. I opened the van door as Train was playing their hit, “Drops of Jupiter.” As I hummed along, I felt that by this time next year, Cartel would be on the same stage, playing to a crowd five times as big as the crowd in the Basement that evening.