New Pictures of Travie McCoy

Travie posted these two pictures of him in Atlantic City on his offcial blog.

Backstage Interview with Gym Class Heroes

Most looking forward to seeing:
Travis McCoy: Four Year Strong — those dudes, the energy is really tight. It's been one of my favorite records that I've been listening to lately.

If I had five minutes alone with Snoop ...
Matt McGinley: We did a show in japan with Snoop, and his band was absolutely amazing. Me and Eric saw him because his van pulled up next to our van, but we looked at him and he gave us a head nod and it was like "yeaaaaah."

Bamboozle vs. Warped Tour
McCoy: Bamboozle is like a two-day thing, it's cool and it's a precursor to Warped Tour. You put in that vibe and then it's just gone. Warped Tour is all summer.
McGinley: Bamboozle is kind of the sampler platter for Warped Tour.

Photograph by Ryan Muir for RollingStone.com

Gym Class Heroes Working On New Album With Patrick Stump

Visit Gym Class Heroes in the studio as they work on their upcoming album called "The Quilt" with Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy.

Most ridiculous Tattoos Ever

These people are definitely going to regret these tattoos of Conan, Oprah, Britney, and other famous faces.

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How Busta Rhymes Helped GCH Sew Their “Quilt”

Since we last spoke to Gym Class Heroes about the recording of their third LP, the band has embarked on a college tour to debut songs from their new album The Quilt, due this July. When we caught up with the band this weekend at Bamboozle, frontman Travis McCoy and drummer Matt McGinley talked about their recent touring, as well as their recording sessions with Busta Rhymes and Daryl Hall.

“The college tour has been kind of a warm-up for us. We’ve been playing four or five new songs,” McGinley says. “We have more prepared, but we find that some songs almost don’t translate to the live show as well [right now].”

“Some of the songs are a little moody,” explains McCoy. “Not that this album has dark undertones, but this past year has been so crazy for us with success and personal things, like my cousin committing suicide last November. It bubbled to a point where I went out to record in L.A. and I freaked out. I was so excited, but I was going through so much shit emotionally so I jetted out of L.A. and went back to Miami.”

While in Miami, McCoy met up with Andre “Dre” Christopher Lyon, one half of production duo Cool & Dre (who worked on The Quilt). “Me and Dre are kindred spirits,” McCoy says. It was Dre who helped McCoy de-stress enough to head back L.A. and hit the recording studio — but not before hooking Gym Class Heroes up with a guest vocal from Busta Rhymes. In his best Busta voice, McCoy recalls Busta’s reaction after Dre played a demo for him on speakerphone: “Yo! I’m coming to Miami right now! If you don’t save me a verse on this song, I’m going to kill all of ya’ll.”

Though McCoy says he’ll never assign song titles until a track is complete — “That’s like naming your baby before it’s born, and what happens if you name it Scott but it comes out looking like a Michael?” — the Busta jam is tentatively called “Peace Sign.” “It was that hyped ‘95 animated Busta that I’ve been in love with forever,” McCoy says gleefully.

Another high point in recording was Daryl Hall’s guest session on the track “Live Forever,” about McCoy’s cousin. “Playing along to that track was a pretty surreal experience,” McGinley says.

“At the end of it he did this whole stream of conscious improv freestyle thing and we just let him go,” McCoy says. “I broke down in tears because he was saying all these things that were so relevant; I felt like I witnessed magic.”

By Erica Futterman, www.rollingstone.com

Video: Travis McCoy Performs with Estelle

Check out the video of Travie performing with hot British singer Estelle, who recently made a collaboration song with rapper Kanye West.