This week, we feature a pair of up-and-coming artists who caught our ears big-time, along with an interview with James Fontana, who just started an awesome new website. Keep feedin’ my inbox: jesse.beerdietz@hitsmagazine.com

ONE TO WATCH
Living Days (http://www.myspace.com/livingdays): This new, extremely romantic electro-pop group from Brooklyn makes us (well, Erica, at least) long for ’80s new wave, a la General Public, we (she) grew up on. This melting pot of musicians, “inspired by broken hearts and first loves,” is composed of former members of Matisyahu, Coco Rosie, Lee Scratch Perry’s group and AQUI. Frontwoman Stephonik Youth is engaging vocally and infectious on stage. This quintet has completed a full-length album, Make Out Room, produced by Matt Boynton (Butthole Surfers, MGMT, Gang Gang Dance), and you can stream four of the tracks now. Their flawless cohesion can be attributed to their shared living quarters, where we suspect late-night creative sessions are the norm. This band is definitely living the days of their youth and could soon be on every music lover’s radar. If you are in the L.A. area, be sure to catch them at The Silverlake Lounge on May 17—and get hip to their Myspace page for other dates and tracks to bounce along to.

BUZZIN’
South Jordan (www.myspace.com/southjordanmusic): These pop rockers from Indiana have spent the last few months writing songs and doing sessions with Richard Marx and Kyle Kelso (Parachute). They have a strong online fanbase, especially on Facebook, and have played numerous college campuses in the Midwest. The label interest is defitnetly brewing on this one, and we expect things to heat up in the coming weeks, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on this one.

EMAIL Q&A WITH JAMES FONTANA, CMO OF SONGVOTE.COM
First off, James, congrats on the launch of your site. Since Songvote.com is fairly new, can you please tell everyone exactly what it is?
SongVote connects people by reflecting the diversity and similarity of musical tastes of the group. People can express their taste in music with votes, explore and affirm the votes of friends and/or strangers, and collaborate on a playlist for a party, event, or anytime users want to create a musical democracy. The host of a party can launch a contest and invite friends and partygoers to participate. Once the contest ends, SongVote can send a link with the most-voted songs that can then be downloaded onto one MP3 player.

How did you come up with the concept?
A few years ago I put a pool in my backyard. Every weekend, I’d have the docking station out with six-seven iPods around it. No matter what, every single weekend we had this friend who would say, “Put my iPod in—I just downloaded new music,” and the looks on my other friends’ faces were like, “Don’t you dare put his iPod in.” Every time someone would refresh their drink, someone would pull that person’s iPod out and put theirs in. I started thinking…how can I make everyone happy at my parties? Why not give them a choice in the music selection; if everyone else likes their choice, it will most likely make the playlist. If you don’t like the song, then wait your turn—your song may be next.

When my wife was helping her sister figure out music for her wedding, your site would have def come in handy. What exactly is the demographic you are aiming for?
Anyone who enjoys music or would like the consensus of a group, or anyone who has no idea about music and wants to open the selection process to the masses. We are noticing several wedding and high school reunion contests being created. Someone was even looking for suggestions for the father-daughter dance song.

What type of strategic marketing are you using to spread the word about your site?
PR, social media and grassroots campaigns—we’re also targeting party planners, DJs, marathon organizers, gym instructors, wedding planners, radio stations and anyone with a joy for music.

Will there be a way in the future to be able to take the playlists people create and instantly sync them to their portable devices?
It’s been on the table along, with a slew of ideas for integrating other forms of media. Right now, with only a month behind us, were focusing on enhancing our core function and delivering a new concept to the masses. Everything else will fall into place.

Final question: boxers or briefs?
Ha, boxer briefs, coincidentally—a collaboration of both.