William Beckett Interview: “A Lot Of It Is Luck.”
While his band continues to rock out in support of last year’s fabulous Fast Times At Barrington High , The Academy Is… vocalist William Beckett has been oh-so-tentatively stepping out on his own, including in a series of recent acoustic performances. In an exclusive interview with our pals at Idolator , Beckett totally opens up about his ambitions for the band to be more than a hottie sensation, the cues he takes from Conor Oberst and the end of "rock stars." Oh, and what’s this about a possible solo album ??? Hear it all from the horse’s mouth in the interview .
Pete And Ashlee: Is The Couple Goin’ Down?
Two months shy of celebrating their first wedding anniversary, have Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz hit the skids? It would seem so, according to a recent item in Page Six .
We wouldn’t necessarily calle Page Six the Bible Of Truth, but with Pete Wentz spending much of 2009 (so far) traveling around the globe with Fall Out Boy, we aren’t so quick to call "foul" on the following tip that "Ashlee and Pete are on the rocks," according to a tipster. "He is going out all the time and she’s stuck at home. It’s just not working."
A rep for Simpson insists that "everything’s fine in their world," and says the new mother is currently spending some alone time with her man in Australia sans baby Bronx Mowgli . Freals? The couple have been parents for, like, two whole minutes… and they need a vacay already? Give us break, Nell Carter-style.
Do you guys think this story is bunk or do you smell trouble in parenting paradise?
Chad Gilbert Interview: ‘Hayley Is My Best Friend’
New Found Glory guitarist Chad Gilbert seems to have some newfound perspective on matters of the heart. A year after he divorced Eisley singer Sherri DuPree, she is just weeks away from tying the knot with someone else (a certain Max Bemis, of Say Anything) and he — well, he’s pretty stoked to have found a new partner in Paramore front-pixie Hayley Williams. Though he still tries to keep it lo-pro.
"A lot of relationships put themselves out in the public, we don’t do that and we don’t really talk about it unless asked," he recently told Rocksound . "Hayley is my best friend and that is pretty much it. The whole transition to dating Hayley has been super annoying as no one knows the real story on what went down and maybe one day I will write it all down and send it to you guys so you can print it."
Then, again, it’s hard to keep things quiet when your rock star girlfriend (with the best hair ever ) is buying your whole band Snuggles and then your bro blogs about it.
Anyway, Gilbert seems hopeful that Dupree’s impending nuptials will also serve to mute critics who blamed him when they split.
"At the end of the day actions speak louder than words," he said. "A lot of people made judgments about my divorce but let’s look at it right now. I’m not saying this out of spite but my ex is engaged and gets married in a few weeks so how am I, if you really want to think about it, such a horrible guy if the person I was with a year ago is engaged and getting married. That should be proof enough that what you read is not always what is true."
Hey Chad, we just want everyone to be happy, is that so wrong?
“Russet Noon”: A Tribute To “Twilight’ Or Copyright Infringement?
Come September 2009, a new volume in the Twilight saga will hit bookstore shelves. It’s called Russet Noon and picks up where Eclipse leaves off—except the story is told from Jacob Black’s perspective. Oh, one more thing… The book isn’t written by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer . Instead, self-proclaimed "gothic webmistress" LadySybilla takes a stab at the series. Confused yet? Us too.
Although author Stephenie Meyer started writing a follow-up to Twilight (entitled Midnight Sun , which would be told from Edward Cullen’s POV), she quickly shut down the possibility of the companion novel after an incomplete partial draft was leaked online . Meyer eventually made the pages public (and can be viewed here ), but she insists that she’s taking a break from Twilight duty "indefinitely." However, that doesn’t mean that someone else can’t come in and fill the void, right? Enter LadySybilla.
We don’t know a whole lot about the author—an intial Google search for "LadySybilla" came back with nothing more than a weird YouTube channel attributed to her—but we have some sparse deets about the book’s plot. According to PRLog.org :
The Volturi are now watching the Cullens even closer, and a conspiracy is brewing deep within the catacombs of of Volterra. Aro is determined to put an end to Bella’s happily ever after. He is obsessed with getting Renesmee to join his clan in Italy, while Edward and Bella refuse to make Renesmee a full vampire. Renesmee hates herself for being only a half breed, and her unhappiness turns Bella against her own daughter. Humans in Forks are starting to suspect something about the Cullens, and Renesmee’s lack of self-control is to blame for it. Bella and Edward might have to leave Forks permanently to protect Nessie. Meanwhile, the spirit warriors have returned to live among the Quileutes. Taha Aki has made contact with Jacob to warn him that great danger is coming to La Push.
Wait a hot sec… Doesn’t this lady need permission to write a book based on characters she didn’t originally create? Good question. Here’s the official statement from AV Paranormal , the publisher of Russet Noon :
"When fictional characters become such an intricate part of the popular psyche, as is the case with the Twilight Saga, legal boundaries become blurred, and copyright laws become increasingly difficult to define. This is especially the case when actual cities like Forks and Volterra are used as the novel’s settings. Such settings are not copyrightable, as they are considered public domain. Similarly, the Quileute Nation is also not copyrightable, and neither are vampire or werewolf legends. Copyright laws protect writers from unauthorized reproductions of their work, but such reproductions only include verbatim copying. Characters are only copyrightable if their creator draws them or hires an artist to draw them. Stephenie Meyer herself borrowed a great deal from previous works dealing with these mythologies."
Um, still sounds like copyright infringement to us but guess it’s up to Stephenie Meyer—and her team of lawyers.
Finally, if you want to hear something hilarious, here’s a dramatic reading of Russet Noon ‘s preface by Lady Sybilla. Try not to drink anything while watching because we can’t promise that it won’t shoot out your nose.