Lucky Boys lucky to get dropped from label
By KELLY WILSON
Get Out

It’s not always a bad thing when your record label drops you. Just ask Lucky Boys Confusion frontman Kastuubh “Stubhy” Pandav, who says the Chicago band was happy when they parted ways with Elektra Records.

“I don’t think they ever understood what the band was about,” Pandav, 26, says of the label, whose parent company, Warner Music Group, recently was bought out and 100 of 170 bands were let go. “At first they tried to make us like the boy band that rocks or the next Blink-182 or the next Sum 41 or whatever. That’s not who we are at all.

“Our music is a lot more serious than theirs. We do a lot more music than just pop-punk. And then the second record, they tried to make us the next Good Charlotte and that’s not who we are. Instead of being the next something, we just wanted to be who we are and I think that’s what became the problem.”

Now that the boys who meld reggae, punk, hip-hop and rock, are free agents, Pandav — a former Tucson resident — says they have some work ahead of them before they start thinking of joining another label.

“We’re going to tour are asses off,” he says. “And after that, we’re going to come home and write some music and take some time off. Then in September, we’re going to do a headlining tour.”

In the meantime, the group’s single, “Hey Driver,” is still receiving a lot of play on radio stations around the U.S., including the Valley’s KEDJ (103.9 FM). The catchy, sing-along tune is featured on “Commitment,” the band’s sophomore Elektra release.

“There was a lot of pressure amongst ourselves to make a record that we thought was going to go a little mainstream and make us successful,” says Pandav, who says he’s a fan of locals Jimmy Eat World and The Format. “So right now there’s a lot of weight off our shoulders so we’re just going to write music and see what comes of it.”