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Often compared to a female-fronted Maroon 5, Bittersweet's soulful, driving rhythms combine styles that appeal to many different listeners. Lead singer Julie Cymek effortlessly displays a wide vocal range, easily standing out as one of the most impressive singers to emerge from the Baltimore/Washington music scene in a long time. For nearly three years she has been the creative force behind the band combining her sense of melody and ability to speak from the heart with the notable song crafting experience of her band to create personal and meaningful songs. Bittersweet has enjoyed having their music featured in television programs on A&E and in independent films. Currently, the band is writing music for their second CD. Their first CD titled "This Is Bittersweet" is available for purchase on-line at CD Baby.com. MM: The Basics. Where are you guys from? BS: All around the Eastern Shore/Annapolis/Columbia area MM: What is the configuration of the band, and who plays what. Who writes the songs? BS: Julie does the singing, Jaime plays the bass, Don plays the drums and Omar plays guitar. Juls writes the lyrics and has done some song writing on her own. Lately most of our songs have come about from one of us (most often Omar) having an idea or starting point.... bringing it to the table and then we hash it out together. Juls takes it home and writes the lyrics. Because we've gone through a few member changes, particularly guitarists, our writing styles have changed. We definitely feel that some of our best original material has been written with the line-up we've got right now. MM: If somebody asked you on a train to describe the music you played, how would you describe it? BS: Sexy Smooth Rock and Groove MM: How long have you guys been playing together? BS: Julie and Jaime started at the end of 2001 as an acoustic trio with our producer Kevin Hill. We eventually formed a full band, evolving a bit along the way with a few member changes. The 3 of us (Jaime, Julie, Don) have been together for about 2.5 years. Omar joined about a year ago. MM: What do you like about being a musician in the "digital age"? BS: The biggest thing for musicians these days is the ability to reach so many people so easily. Digital media has opened a lot of doors for marketing purposes.... I mean, it was just a few years ago that we were walking around at shows collecting mailing addresses and then sending out postcards for shows through the post office... The ability to advertise shows with tools like email and myspace... priceless... It's also done a lot for the way we create music. Recording music has evolved in ways that I don't think anyone could have fathomed back in the days of cutting grooves into discs of warm wax... Being able to work on a song at practice, record it on the spot on a laptop, send the singer home with a copy to work on vocals, email it to a producer or supportive critic for feedback... and then slap it on the internet for the masses..... how did we ever get anything done without computers!!! At the same time, the pendulum is now swinging back the other way as musicians and producers have begun looking for that old school low-fi sound again. We like it when old and new schools collide.... in a good way. MM: The goal for bands fifteen years ago was "getting a major record deal." It seems like that is less important now. What would you consider a major milestone in the advancement of your band's development? BS: Getting interviewed by a swanky Eastern Shore music venue before a show!!! ( : Really, we’d be extremely happy if music was our only occupation. Who doesn't want to make a comfortable living doing what they love to do? MM: What is the local music scene like? What is frustrating about it? What is cool about it? BS: There are way too many ways to approach that question so let's stick the surface answers.... There's lots of places to play in the area, which is great because we keep busy (and therefore out of trouble). In an area with a decent music scene, there are tons of bands which means that there's always lots of music to be found, but that there's also lots of competition for gigs. The best is when you have bands networking and sharing shows and supporting each other... The local music scene can be tough because most venues want to hear covers, which can reduce the opportunity to be creative.... or rather, make it more challenging. There are some nights in some bars where it simply doesn't matter how good your original material is, people are going to want to hear covers... Lots of local bars will tell bands flat out, "you need to do no more than 1 or 2 originals per set." I think a lot of bands struggle with their identity for this reason. It's fun to write and play your own stuff... but it's also fun to get gigs and make money. We're taking that middle road.... we do both. As long as you're gonna get criticized on either side of the fence, and believe me you will, it's best to do what satisfies yourself. MM: (For the songwriter) What songwriters inspire you? What is the most difficult part of sharing something personal with audiences from the stage? BS: (Juls) I’m inspired by John Mayer’s and Toby Lightman’s writing. Sharing my feelings through music is actually a lot easier for me than sharing my feelings through conversation. Jaime and I have a sign in our apartment (my sister-in-law gave it to us) that says “When words fail, music speaks.” I think that sign really sums me up. FILL IN THE BLANK (Juls) Peace and calm (O) Easterners who are soooo shore of themselves! 2) Ten years from now I hope Bittersweet is... (Juls) Hoppin! Well-known! (O) Super heroes with bell bottom pants & big 70s afros who travel around solving crimes in a cool 70s van with a 70s van shaped bubble window!
3) Sometimes on stage I think about... (Juls)"Oh my goodness I can't believe I am up here in front of all these people what am I doing aghhhhhh! "Do I have anything in my nose? In my teeth? "I don't ever want to do anything else other than performing!" (Jaime) Sometimes I'm just lost in the moment, loving what I'm doing. But too often I'm thinking about the details... I'm a details guy, so it's easy for me to get lost in thinking about stage set-up... how's our mix?... is the venue happy with the turn-out?... I'm good at sweating the small stuff, but I guess someone has to..... (DonBoy)Why is Jaime looking at me like that?... Is Omar gonna finally crack his headstock on my crash?... How does Juls do that!? How does this song go? (O) Biting into a York Peppermint Patty and feeling like ice cold drinks are being thrown at me from across the room. 4) Fried food is...
(DonBoy) Awesome just add cheese and it’s the perfect food! (O) hot but revenge is a dish best served cold. (or luke warm if you have sensitive teeth) 5) The one artist I would most like to tour with is... (BLANK) because (BLANK)...
because he plays a mean guitar. Or Guster because they'd be sooooooooo much fun. (Jaime) Juls, because… well, duh!(DonBoy) any of our local friends, Viki Nova, Guthrie Matthews Method, Higher Hands and many more (O) A sandwich artist or the artist formerly known as the Sandwich Artist because they’re so delicious! |
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