No Cigar

Part of our daily routine at Pauseandplay.com is poring over the thousands of new-release submissions through our partnership with ReverbNation.

We try to list as many upcoming albums as we can, but it’s a tall order: We have received more than 1,500 submissions since the beginning of April.

Because Pauseandplay.com fully supports indie artists, here’s an up-close look at some of the bands we have included on our massive release schedule. Included is a link to the page where you can find their album listing. Give them a listen.

No Cigar – Montana rock band, founded by former Photo Atlas drummer Nick Miles, who is now front and center on guitar/vocals. New release: “Four Way Stop” (four-song EP) - Pause & Play Magazine

popVLTR: You've been making moves in Montana, how'd you get into music? No Cigar: Thanks for noticing. I’ve been into music since I was young. I started playing the drumkit in middle school(my band rocked the 8th grade talent show), and I booked my punk/rock band’s first show at a K-mart parking lot. With help from some friends and other bands we set it up, used a “handcrafted” stage, and a borrowed PA system(It was awesome!). I continued my passion for music throughout high-school by booking local shows and giving touring bands some shows they wouldn’t have had otherwise(My grades suffered severely). When I reached the magical age of 18 I joined up with a punk rock band from WY called The-Front. I spent the better part of a year with them before parting ways. I then spent some time(a couple years) pursuing musical endeavors in Phoenix, AZ, before finding my way to playing drums with the Photo Atlas(Denver, CO). I spent 3 years touring/recording/partying with The Photo Atlas before finally giving into the stress of constantly being broke, out of drumsticks, and bumming smokes. I moved back to my hometown in Montana to get my feet back on the ground and start something for myself… No Cigar is one of many great things that came from that decision.

popVLTR: Congrats on releasing 'Four Way Stop', who are some of your influences? No
Cigar: Thank you! “Four Way Stop” was more of a collaborative effort than our first CD “Monsters”. It was still recorded by myself in my home studio/garage/scary room I don’t go into enough, produced, mixed, and mastered by No Cigar. My influences have evolved drastically throughout the years. I’m 27 years old, which means I’ve been smoking, drinking, and rock n’ rolling for at least a decade now. I can enjoy, or hate a lot of different music… especially since one of my primary jobs has been a sound guy since I was 16. Anyway, collectively we all grew up on early Blink-182, Alkaline Trio, and whatever else was around back then. MT has always been hard up for good shows, but we did get to enjoy some Near Miss, A Wilhelm Scream, and plenty more back in the day because of Slynch at 1111 Presents. Our new guitar player is into some more pop punk stuff like Real Friends and Allister. Our drummer is pop-punk influenced, but very versatile in his music selections. Our bass player loves Bayside. I still consider Osker(Look ‘em up!) my favorite band to this day. I’m also into Oh No Not Stereo, Far From Finished, At The Drive In, Against Me, and more. I’ll rock some Beethoven if those around me don’t get too irked… I like all music that’s played with true passion.

popVLTR: What are some of your proudest moments in music? No Cigar: Playing with the Photo Atlas has brought me some of my best times. We played CMJ and SXSX 3 years in a row, played a packed home-town Warped Tour show, Bamboozle in NJ, and the X-Games in Aspen. I got to tour upwards of 40 US states usually playing close to 200 shows a year. Quite often I would get to play at venues I had dreamed about like the Chain Reaction or the Viper Room in CA… The Bowery Ballroom or the cmj purevolume party underneath the old CBGB’s in NY. We recorded an album with Jay Robbins in Baltimore, MD which landed a licensing deal with SBK X Superbike World Championship for Xbox 360, and also had a song on the popular phone app, Tap Tap Revenge 2. Even though I have lived a lot of my dreams through playing drums, nothing beats the pride I feel from writing, recording, mixing, and producing my own songs with No Cigar. I was able to put out our debut album by running a Kickstarter Campaign, and even though it turned out to be a lot more work than I anticipated, it felt amazing when it all came together.

popVLTR: What cool stuff is on the horizon for No Cigar? No Cigar: Although we seem to be trapped in this vast mountain range 600 miles from the nearest legitimate music market, No Cigar plans to break out as a national band. We have our first real tour in the works supporting our second release, “Four Way Stop”… including Las Vegas and Denver dates. We plan to book a second, much longer tour in the Fall of ’14 including ID, UT, NV, CA, OR, WA, AZ, NM, WY, and CO. We’ve also been confirmed for the Denver Underground Music Festival in July. Unlike our first release, “Four Way Stop” was accepted to Pandora and will be available very soon. All of our releases are on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and more. Follow No Cigar everywhere! @nocigarus #nocigarus - PopVulture Entertainment Network

There isn’t a whole lot coming out of Billings, Mont., these days, but the geographical seclusion is a virtue that leaves the music scene unscathed by bandwagoning space-fillers. No Cigar’s debut studio album “Monsters” holds classic tales of dissent and individuality surfaced with loud guitars, crashing cymbals and grainy vocals. It’s old-school punk rock and makes no argument towards the contrary. - See more at: http://www.therooster.com/blog/quickie-reviews-yawpers-logistixx-matt-pryor-and-no-cigar#sthash.jDwWoKIM.dpuf - therooster.com

BILLINGS -

A couple of weeks ago, KULR-8 News covered some Billings resident's effort to get funding for their project via the internet fundraising web site Kickstarter. Nationally, there are several high-profile projects funded by people who use the site, from the Veronica Mars movie, to the Pebble smart watch.

One of the people in Billings trying to secure funds is Nick Miles and his band "No Cigar".

"I don't just want to be the little Billings, Montana band. I want the community to really get behind us...and push us out to a national level," said Nick, in an interview in late May. Nick and his band will now get their chance to pursue their dream. They hoped to raise $1,500 on Kickstarter, and wound up getting $1,800. The band crossed their fundraising goal just hours before their fundraiser deadline.

"We were probably about a hundred dollars away the night before, and checking it the morning of the very last day of Kickstarter, and it was there. It was like "Yes! Success!" said Chris Reeves, the band's guitarist.

"We knew there was no failing. We couldn't not get it. Even though the band's name is "No Cigar", we didn't wanna have that cliche ending where we just almost reached the goal, you know?" said Nick. - KULR8