Cute Is What We Aim For tells the N-L about life in Rotation

For the unmotivated masses hoping to laze their way through college, here's some food for thought: Cute Is What We Aim For's Jeff Czum has been making music and getting paid for it since his senior year of high school.

While most people his age hold monotonous, minimum-wage jobs and nonchalantly mainline quad-shot espressos in anticipation of pulling yet another all-nighter at the library, Czum wakes up each morning to the glamorous life of a rock star. The lead guitarist of Cute is What We Aim For was kind enough to answer some questions about the band, headlining the 2009 Take Action Tour.

Cute is What We Aim For, formed in 2005 by singer Shaant Hacikyan and Czum, has slowly been gaining momentum since the debut of their album The Same Old Blood Rush With a New Touch.

Despite liberal doses of drama (which can be read about on Wikipedia), the band has since recorded their sophomore album Rotation, toured with Fall Out Boy and introduced new bass player Dave Melillo to the public. Although Czum himself was an original member along with Hacikyan, other members have parted ways with the Buffalo, N.Y.-based group.

Mellilo joined the band just in time for the 2007 Vans Warped Tour and has continued to play with them ever since.

When asked about the line-up changes, Jeff replied, "I know, I know. We've had more band members than Spinal Tap." Nonetheless, they seem happy with their current band-mates, Clark Spurlock and Michael Lasaponara, who are currently touring with them.

Fame seems to agree with them, despite their rocky beginnings. Czum noted that things started to hit them "when we put our songs on Myspace and just started getting all these people requesting to be our friends and listening to our songs." He thought, "Wow, this is really taking off. Maybe we could actually do this." Currently, their MySpace page has 375,589 friends.

Mostly, though, the fame hasn't really caught up to them yet. "It's just really weird for me because I used to be the kid in the crowd all the time when I was younger. It's very surreal to me - just everything about it. I went from the crowd to the stage," Czum said.

So what has changed musically since those first months of recording? Rotation, released in June 2008, features a much more mature Cute is What We Aim For. For one thing, they are older.

"{When we released] our first album, we were all straight out of high school. When we recorded that, it was senior year and I had to do online classes because we went into [the] studio in Baltimore to record the album and then we started to tour. So that meant we didn't really have that much experience when it comes to music," Czum explained.

Rotation allowed the band to reflect on all the experiences they have collected since then. Topics of the songs span from a one night stand in "Practice Makes Perfect" to the jaded meditations in "Hollywood."

"From touring for two years [to] the bands we've met and listening to different genres of music, I feel like we've gained a lot more knowledge in music. So, going into studio a second time, working with John Feldman and a few new members like Dave Melillo just contributed to it. We all just matured," Czum said.

Nevertheless, as wonderful and rewarding as fame might be, Czum pursues more ordinary interests than those that landed him in the band. Extracurricular activities for him include photography and watching movies.

When on tour, Czum said it is a necessity to have his "phone, computer and DVD case." He listed a few of his favorites in his DVD case: "I have a lot of movies; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Fight Club. I just got Choke ..."

Before becoming a part of Cute is What We Aim for, Czum even held a job at Rizzo's, an Italian restaurant. However, despite good tips, Jeff moved on to bigger and better things.

Cute is What We Aim For is currently headlining the Take Action Tour. Czum describes the tour as being dedicated to "motivating kids to get out in their communities and take action, whether it's volunteering or whatever." When presented with the opportunity to join the tour, Czum said "[they] jumped right on it."

Earlier this school-year, Cute Is What We Aim For performed at Hopkins as part of the Fall Fest 2008. If you didn't get a chance to catch this burgeoning band perform then, there is another chance.

Cute Is What We Aim For will be performing on Friday at Ram's Head Live, located downtown. Tickets are $18 at http://www.ramsheadlive.com.