PROFILE | Pulling Punches

On April 16, I had the opportunity to sit down with Pulling Punches for an interview. Pulling Punches consists of keyboardist Andrew Sposato ’27, guitarist Derek Block ’27, rhythm guitarist Lucas Mitchell ’27, bassist Lynden Cellini ’27, drummer Sam Cook ’25 and vocalist Stella Crawford ’27 — a big group, yes, and I was lucky enough to speak with five out of the six of them. What made this interview especially interesting was that the band has recently undergone a rebrand; once known as Compost, Pulling Punches is redefining itself — and its music. Courtesy of Derek Block

The band recently released their first original song as Pulling Punches, “Can You See This Through?” — a catchy, all-encompassing Smashing Pumpkins-esque track. Mitchell described this as an inspirational shift from songs like Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” and Blur’s “Song 2” to a more alternative sound, or as he puts it, a “more bombastic” sound.

Cornell Does Comedy

You’ve got to have a sense of humor to get by at Cornell. With the fluctuating weather, the sometimes near-impossible courses, the even more ridiculously obscure prelims and the generally serious academic mood, something’s gotta give. Comedy offers no better way to balance the C.U. pressure cooker.
Cornell’s Program Board (CUPB) rolls out the laughs by hosting a gamut of comedians to offer their biting wit and spot-on observations. But did you know that there are student on-campus comedy troupes, too? And that a few of said comedians have dipped their toes — even gotten their feet wet — in the waters of stand-up? And, lastly, did you know that these kids are funny? I mean, really, really funny?

Spun Stories, Mixed Tales

[img_assist|nid=32525|title=Adam Vana ’09|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]Adam Vana ’09 doesn’t mind if you don’t call him a musician. “I think DJs who insist on that are just insecure,” he says. One of Cornell’s most prolific practitioners of electronic music, Vana prefers to use the word “prosumer,” a concept that fuses the roles of producer and consumer.
Vana, along with fellow Cornell DJ Dan Bailey ’08, has a residency at Le Poisson Rouge on Saturday nights at Collegetown’s City Style Salon and Sake Bar. An equally talented DJ with a complementary style, Bailey plays alternate weekends. Since its introduction this summer, Poisson Rouge has become one of Collegetown’s few dependable non-top 40 club ventures.