HTM: How did you guys pick “Let’s Go” on your new album Cycles over the other really catchy songs?
Will Pugh: I think it’s just one of those songs that’s very energetic, there’s a lot of movement so I think it’s good to have out there. It fits the new approach of us wanting to bring a new energy to the whole thing.

HTM: You spent two years on the album, how many songs did you write?
Will Pugh: We had 30 ideas come about but we never finished anything that wasn’t on the record, we had song structures or a general idea or a melody, but nothing serious. I think it just kind of turned into 11 songs - we’d go from 3 good songs to 5 good songs to 7 to now we have a record.

HTM: You guys did a pretty good job of keeping your fans interested during this, did you do special campaigns, like following up Band in a Bubble?
Will Pugh: We just kind of kept it real. We figured fans who were fans weren’t going to let that bother them, and it sort of takes you away. We just kind of had to keep it moving, I think Twitter helped, it was easy to make updates. We thought we were going into the studio waaayyy before we actually did and I think that kind of benefitted us because if we knew it was going to be such a long time we might not have kept such updated stuff. We played shows in the meantime trying to fill up the gap and I think everything worked out.

HTM: The songs on your new album are diverse; they have a more grown up sound. Did you each write some songs or did the whole band contribute?
Will Pugh: It was basically just me.
HTM: Don’t take all the credit!
Will Pugh: Not to be that guy, but yeah, I think the main focal point in the band is the vocals, so being the vocalist and writing the lyrics and melodies is natural. It’s easier for songs to come about, Joseph wrote a few songs and Nick had a few things but it’s kind of different when you’re not writing them together, and not living in the same house like we used to, and even then I’d create a demo of the song before everyone ever heard it and we’d put it through the ringer, Cartel-wise.  There are always basic songs - chords and melodies and lyrics, it’s nothing more than just that, so we all just put our usual touches on it and make it a Cartel song.

HTM: How is your tour with This Providence and The Summer Set? Have any cool tour stories?         Will Pugh:  When we were in Baltimore, all the bands got pretty hammered. It was really funny to watch the other bands get down; it was like the second night of tour and we were just like “Really, we’re kind of hammered right now!”  It was a lot of fun to watch, I don’t think This Providence got too bad, a couple of them were drinking, but The Summer Set was just canned. It was just a lot of fun to watch people, we’re in a bus, they’re all in a van; they’re traveling kind of caravan style, but I think they’ve got a good bond; it makes a good tour atmosphere. They have their group and we all blend together once everybody gets get to the show and we all have a good time. It’s fun, it’s laid back. No drama; that’s the most important thing.
HTM: Are the crowds really into the shows too?
 Will Pugh: Yeah! I think they’re all having a good time, there’s a good mix as to what’s going on, and musically I think it blends very nicely.

HTM: Have you developed any pregame rituals that you do before your shows?
Will Pugh:  I wouldn’t call it a ritual, but I guess it is, we all knuckle tap it before we go out onstage.
HTM:I was going to ask about Band in a Bubble, but I’m sure you’re sick of questions about that. Was it weird to be under constant scrutiny for almost a month?
We’re kind of used to it to honest, it really wasn’t that distracting, it was more, just an experience. The camera guys were the same people basically, they had different shifts. The whole time, they had the same people at night, and while that was going on, we had a blast. Those were some of the craziest times, obviously we weren’t paying for food and they were feeding us alcohol like crazy because they were trying to get us to fight but we all told them they weren’t going to get any drama from us, all they were going to get was a bunch of dudes from Georgia who want to have a good time and there’s going to be whiskey or vodka and we’re all going to drink a lot of it and laugh at each other, and so we did that and we had a good time. We were hitting golf balls outside, having food fights, general craziness, just boys being boys; it was seriously a lot of fun, but there was also a lot of drama. None between us but like “Uhh this is stupid, why do they want us to do this?” Like waking us up at 9AM to work out for an hour when we’d all been drinking that night. They had some lady from the Fitness Channel or something come in and work us out.  And, seriously, I threw up! I’m in shape, I work out but she made me throw up. It was terrible! We had stayed up til 2AM drinking, and even if you only have a few drinks, you’re not going to wake up and work out twenty minutes after you wake up. With no food in your stomach? They were just trying to make us hurl, and it worked out. It was awful, they’d put stuff in that had nothing to do with making a record.

HTM: How is the recent switch from Epic Records to Wind Up Records working out for you?  Well, you know the bands on Wind Up.

Will Pugh: It’s great, actually! We had the initial evidency of being that label that has Creed and Finger Eleven and Seether and we don’t match any of those styles but all those bands are successful.  We were like “You don’t want us to sound like that, do you?” They were like “No, we want you to sound like what you sound like” and we were like “Cool!”  So basically after that, they’re an awesome label, they treat their bands really well; there’s no reason not to. They run their business side pretty smart, so it kind of made sense for us to do something with them.

HTM: Do you have anything else planned, upcoming tours, EPs or anything?
 Will Pugh: No, not yet. After this tour we have a couple shows in December, then we’re going through options for tours in February and March. Then we have a new single coming out in January. We’re going to put out “Faster Ride” next.

HTM: Honestly, the first thing that came to my mind when I heard about this interview was to ask how “Honestly” was such a cool song....
 Will Pugh:  Umm... I don’t know, it kind of just happened. We had a riff and then we had a chorus, and it just happened. One of those things kind of worked. There’s really no romanticism at all... Well... riff! Song!

HTM: Do you have information or advice for band that want to get started?
 Will Pugh: You just have to believe in it. That’s all it is, you gotta get in there and it’s gonna suck and it’s gonna be hard, and unless you have a mom or dad who’s willing to front a bunch of money and not get pissed off, you have a hard financial road. And there’s never any guarantee. Maybe short-term, you could only have one record that did anything and you’ve spent three years of your life where you could’ve made a career doing something else and you’ve spent three years of your life not doing anything. Basically it’s a crazy Plan A/Plan B thing, but ultimately it’s awesome if you can make it work out, even at all. So it’s recommended but not recommended. You just gotta believe in it, and if you believe in it enough to throw caution to the wind and go out there and do it, then do it. Never regretted the band, so...

HTM: My other big question is, how do you feel about Digital Music Rights and Digital Distribution, things that are really affecting the music industry?
Will Pugh: You can’t really talk about it honestly in any sort of truthful way without just calling it what it is. People are downloading music which costs money but they’re downloading for no money and in the current model that doesn’t work for the labels and all. And the labels happen to be the ones who make it work for the bands to be able to do it. Bands rarely can do independent releases without having some sort of initial success. So basically people who are downloading music are making it very, very, very hard for new bands to do anything because the money’s just not there to sell... you used to be able to sell 100,000 records really easily; it’s tough to sell 100,000 records now. We sold 250 of Chroma in ’95. Patterns, the way it was selling, would’ve sold 5 million, but that’s ’95. It’s just crazy, I mean, we would’ve hit 5 million, I think... they were talking about these numbers at some point in time and they’re crazy over how much it’s been reduced. You’re talking about an ethical thing, and trying to change people’s minds to not download is ridiculously hard without sounding like Lars Ulrich. He kind of blew it for everybody, but I think that people will adapt, and people are still selling, but they’re selling singles.  I think if fans are okay with creating this atmosphere where everybody’s just going to download everything for free anyway unless it’s 99 cents and easy, then I guess people need to start putting out singles because singles are really cheap to put out, and if you can make any commercial success with it then you’re basically lowering your overhead you just do one song and have it do ridiculously well for $20,000 and end up making a million dollars off the song, but it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a record, and you only end up selling 50-100,000 copies, it just doesn’t pan out, and I think that’s what it’s going towards and as long as people who are downloading music are okay with that then fine. Is it such a business now? It’s just weird how things work.

HTM: Thanks! Any last words?
 Will Pugh:  Nah, I said it all!