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Linda Perry Talks About Not Producing Green Day

Green Day
Jason Tate

Linda Perry called out Green Day in a new interview for dropping her as the producer of the follow up to American Idiot.

When asked if there was any truth to that, Perry said the band had indeed reached out and asked her to produce their next record. “I had a full calendar and cancelled six months of work to do it,” she recalled. “I met with Billie Joe [Armstrong], and we talked for three hours […] Like every artist, I think he had got to a point where you feel like I have nothing to say and need help – there’s a therapy aspect to producing too.”

“Then Courtney blabbed her mouth that I was producing. Suddenly they started getting backlash from their fans, upset they were ‘bringing in Linda Perry, who produced Pink and Christina Aguilera’.

“And then those guys just stopped calling me,” Perry continued. “I would reach out to figure out what was going on. Nobody called. I lost six months of scheduled work. That was fucked-up – all because Billie-Joe’s a little pussy and got all this backlash from his fans and didn’t like it.”

Spotify Announces New Partnerships

Jason Tate

Spotify has made a bunch of new announcements. They’ve partnered with Live Nation:

Spotify said that starting in the U.S. this summer, select artists will be able to use Reserved to set aside tickets for fans on the platform. The platform has partnered with Live Nation on the program as part of a multiyear agreement. The platform will use streams, shares and other types of activity to “identify an artist’s most dedicated fans and hold two tour tickets for them.”

And they have a new agreement with UMG to let users create AI covers and remixes:

[W]ill enable Spotify to launch a new tool allowing fans to create covers and remixes of their favorite songs from participating artists and songwriters. 

The tool will be powered by generative AI technology that the announcement states “will open up additional revenue streams and new ways to drive discovery.”

Jack Antonoff Talks With Rolling Stone

Bleachers
Jason Tate

Jack Antonoff talked with Rolling Stone about the upcoming Bleachers album:

While making Everyone for Ten Minutes, Antonoff was also working on Kendrick Lamar’s GNX and Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend. And though he often taps the members of Bleachers to play on his other projects, making them both band and Wrecking Crew, he notes that “there’s almost zero sonic crossover” between his own records and those he’s producing for others. The sounds and tones are generally not what inspire him, anyway. 

“If I’m in a room with Kendrick… I think, ‘Oh, the way he’s telling the story about his past is so vivid. I’ve been trying to do a story about my past.’ Or the way Sabrina can vacillate between the most brilliant, sad poetry and comedy — which are really linked — I was like, ‘Maybe there’s a moment I could put a wink in.’ It’s the broad strokes of someone’s honesty or artistry.”

The All-American Rejects Breakdown ‘Sandbox’

All American Rejects
Jason Tate

The All-American Rejects talked with Alt Press about all the songs on their new album:

I wrote that hook for the Eels. E was trying to finish his record, and he was like, “Do you have any more songs?” I said no, but I was driving my son to school that morning, and right when I dropped him off, I heard the chorus for “Get This,” and [it] just came out. It was going fast, so I got home, and in 10 minutes, it was done. I sent it to him, and he was like, “I don’t think I can pull that off.” And I was like, “Good, because I want it.” That song, in the spirit of this record, was just pure fun. I showed Nick the demo, and he loved it. It came together the fastest out of all the songs. Super easy to put together. The good ones are easy. Sometimes everything about a song like that is just easy. It’s where we have always rung the bell as a band, just a fun song. It doesn’t mean anyone any harm.

Daisy Grenade Talk New EP

Daisy Grenade
Jason Tate

Daisy Grenade talked with Rock Sound about their new EP:

I think when we started this band, we didn’t know really what we wanted, or what we wanted it to feel like or sound like, and we were just kind of open to trying everything. We knew where our influences were coming from, but we didn’t know what felt like the best way to express that, and as we’ve grown and changed, we’re closer to what we want. Some of these songs we’ve been sitting on for two plus, almost three years, and I think it was just time that we put our foot down and say this is what we are going to do. Our sound is very eclectic because it comes from a million different places, and we don’t necessarily feel like we fit in one genre, but the musical landscape we’re in right now is so genre-less. And regardless, we don’t really give a fuck what label people put on this. We want to put out the songs we want to put out.

Jack Antonoff Slams AI Music

Jack Antonoff
Jason Tate

Jack Antonoff has shared some thoughts on AI music:

You don’t have to write music, you don’t have to record it and you don’t have to bring out the band and play it. And yet for us, the idea of optimizing what we do is a complete miss of the entire point of what compels us in the first place. We (myself, the band and everyone I know, frankly) have never been looking for this work to become quicker or easier. We were never frustrated by the randomness and magic it takes. We do it for that exact reason – and without the process itself ::: nothingness.

Dua Lip Sues Samsung

Dua Lipa
Jason Tate

Dua Lipa is suing Samsung for using her image to sell TVs:

The lawsuit includes an image of what it says is the infringing television box. On the box is a photograph of Lipa backstage at Austin City Limits in 2024, which the complaint said is a copyrighted image owned by the singer.

Lipa asserts Samsung has refused to stop using her image despite repeated demands. The electronics company “has been dismissive and callous” to her requests, according to the complaint.

The Spill Canvas in Bus Crash

The Spill Canvas
Jason Tate

The Spill Canvas have started GoFundMe after their tour bus was totaled:

For us, the most immediate impact has been the loss of a significant amount of merchandise, which is a major part of how we sustain ourselves on tour. Losing that inventory, along with damage to gear and equipment, including crushed instrument cases and other touring essentials, has created a serious short term financial gap as we work to keep the tour moving forward.

A claim has been initiated with the trucking company’s insurance, and that process is ongoing. This fundraiser is not intended to replace or interfere with that process, but rather to help cover immediate needs and bridge the gap while everything is being sorted out.

Steve Evetts’s Recording Studio Lost in Fire

Jason Tate

A massive fire has taken Steve Evetts’s recording studio. He posted a video on Instagram.

The Belleville Fire Department said the fire spread to other buildings and added there were several collapses within those buildings.

At one point, firefighters actually ran out of water and had to wait for a delivery, which came in tankers from five different towns and the U.S. Army, Melham said.

Yellowcard Once Again Top the Charts

Yellowcard
Jason Tate

Yellowcard once again have the number one song on Alternative Radio.

The song, from Yellowcard’s 2025 album Better Days and featuring Good Charlotte, marks Yellowcard’s second total and consecutive No. 1 on the list, following the three-week reign of “Better Days” last August-September. The act led the chart 22 years after it first reached Alternative Airplay, then setting a record for the longest wait between an initial appearance and reaching No. 1.

That record stood until now, as “Bedroom Posters” is Good Charlotte’s first leader on any Billboard airplay ranking. The rockers first hit Alternative Airplay in September 2000 with “Little Things” — making it an unprecedented 25 years, seven months and one week between an act’s first appearance on the tally and its first No. 1. (Yellowcard still holds the mark for the longest wait among artists first hitting No. 1 as a lead act.)

Chad Gilbert Talks With People

New Found Glory
Jason Tate

Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory talked with People about his battle with cancer:

Through it all, he remains grateful. “Again, I got my dream in my family, and to have done so many things creatively,” Gilbert says. “We wanted to write songs and music that would inspire people, everyday people who could relate. What’s crazy is through this journey, to this part of my life … as painful as it is, I’m able to inspire people who are going through really tough things in their lives.”

Tim Cook Announces Apple CEO Transition

Apple
Jason Tate

Tim Cook has announced he will step down as CEO of Apple:

This is not goodbye. But at this moment of transition, I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you. Not on behalf of the company, this time, though there is a wellspring of gratitude for you that overflows inside our walls. But simply on behalf of me. Tim. A person who grew up in a rural place in a different time and, for these magical moments, got to be the CEO of the greatest company in the world. Thank you for the confidence and kindness you’ve shown me. Thank you for saying hi to me on the street and in our stores. Thank you for cheering alongside me when we unveiled a new product or service. Thank you, most of all, for believing in me to lead the company that has always put you at the center of our work. Every day we get up and think about what we can do to make your life a little bit better. And every day, you’ve made mine the best I could have asked for.

I thought Gruber’s take was good:

Cook has transformed Apple in his own image. The company is much more predictable now than it ever was, or could have been, under Jobs. It now runs on an annual schedule that can be printed on a calendar. There is far less drama, and no scandal. And there is seemingly no drama, at all, in this particular transition, despite the incredibly high stakes and the (justifiably) large egos in Apple’s leadership team.

And while true, the success from a pure dollars and cents standpoint is undeniable, I have felt the “magic” missing from the company for a while now. They still make incredible hardware. I still use macOS every single day (but refuse to update to Tahoe). I am excited to see where John Ternus takes them. And please fix Liquid Glass on macOS, it’s an abomination.