Elizacutsfans' Journals

Eliza intreview Sarah Lewitinn

Eliza Cuts: Hello beautiful!
Sarah Lewitinn: Hi! Sorry, I was walking to my gate.
Eliza Cuts Thatâ�™s ok. Just let me know when youâ�™re ready.
Sarah Lewitinn: I'm ready!
Eliza Cuts: Thatâ�™s what I like about you dude. Okay, so lets begin. I wanted to let you know that you are only my second interview.
Sarah Lewitinn: Weeee! That's exciting! Who was your first?
Eliza Cuts: Brandon [Saller], the drummer from Atreyu. He has a side project called Saints.
Sarah Lewitinn: I think my first was Moby when was 16.
Eliza Cuts: Oh man... Who can beat Moby?
Sarah Lewitinn: Anyone. Haha. He's like 100lbs, soaking wet.
Eliza Cuts: I used to listen to Moby back in the day, around the same time I listened to Bush. When I first heard Placebo.
Sarah Lewitinn: Hahaha. Placebo is still one of my all time fave bands.
Eliza Cuts: Itâ�™s funny. I was going to bring them up. I did some research on you and most of the interviews kind of bummed me out. They seemed rather combative. Do you find that a lot when you give interviews?
Sarah Lewitinn: Hahaha. There are a couple good ones out there. A lot of people have issues with me and preconceived notions of who I am and what I'm about. I'm a â�˜slutâ�™, I'm a â�˜starfuckerâ�™, I'm â�˜talentlessâ�™... There are a million things they think about me that are not true.
Eliza Cuts: Do you think its because you have accomplished so much at such a young age? I mean lets face it... it takes most people a good chunk of their life to have the resume that you do.
Sarah Lewitinn: I think that's a lot of the issue. While everyone was at college, I was going to night school and interning during the day. I had 3 internships when I was 18. I got a head start. I knew I wouldn't succeed in academics, so I took my charm show on the road.
Eliza Cuts: Do you think youâ�™re a workaholic?
Sarah Lewitinn: I definitely am a workaholic. I currently have three projects in the works - and that doesn't even include the label. I'm never listless. There's a Morrissey lyric that stuck with me when I was 14 or 15: The devil will find work for idle hands to do [What Difference Does it Make - Morissey] and either he found something for them to do, or I kept them busy.
Eliza Cuts: Wanna elaborate on the three projects?
Sarah Lewitinn: Sure... I'm working on my book, the Pocket Karaoke, which comes out in the fall on Simon and Schuster.
Eliza Cuts: Hot!
Sarah Lewitinn: And I'm developing a TV show with some friends and a group of really interesting and talented people.
Eliza Cuts: Hotter!
Sarah Lewitinn: And I'm resurrecting the Stolen Transmission party! May 4th!
Eliza Cuts: Hottest, as long as I am invited.
Sarah Lewitinn: I've also been trying to get a clothing line started with my boyfriend, Brandon.
Eliza Cuts:So this is your second book, correct? Any problems you get to avoid this time now that youâ�™ve already had one smash hit?
Sarah Lewitinn: Yeah, my first was called the Pocket DJ. It sold so well that they asked for a 2nd. 38,000 books sold, 30k of which were sold in Urban Outfitters!
Eliza Cuts: I worked at Urban. Thatâ�™s how I first heard of it.
Sarah Lewitinn: I'm not on Ritalin this time around.... which is mostly a bad thing. Ritalin really helped, but I had to illegally acquire it. Ha! I've got a week to go, I hope that I either get a hold of Ritalin or find a way to focus! Haha. Basically, I'm able to do so much because I don't have a single focus. I want to be everywhere at once... and since I physically can't be, my mind is. I really should be prescribed it.
Eliza Cuts: So people ask you about guilty pleasures. I think that question is beat. I want to know about your non-guilty pleasures (This is where I hope Placebo comes in.) And this can go for songs you listen to on your own.
Sarah Lewitinn: Yeah... Always back to Linkin Park whom I haven't listened to in years. Oooh! My favorite favorite bands: Placebo, Muse, old Radiohead, the Smiths, old Idlewild, Hole, Beatles, Echo and the Bunnymen, [and] Lee Hazlewood. Oh, and Interpol and Joy Division.
Eliza Cuts: So one of the things that keeps popping into my head is â�˜why werenâ�™t you ever a musician?â�™
Sarah Lewitinn: Thanks!!!! I know!!! Hahaha.
Eliza Cuts: Why didnâ�™t you ever start a band?
Sarah Lewitinn: I tried. I can't play an instrument. I took art classes instead of piano lessons when I was little. My parents couldn't afford both. And I can't keep a beat unless I dance.
Eliza Cuts: What about singing?
Sarah Lewitinn: I'm such a bad singer.... once I joined the choir in school to learn. When we had our recital, I didn't sing cause I could tell I was throwing everyone off. I took drum and cello lessons at school, but that really didn't do much. Maybe Iâ�™ll be a producer one day. I love the Phil Spector sound and the sounds of bands from the early to mid 80s. I think Echo and the Bunnymen albums still sound incredible. I think I met Mikey under the pretense of starting a band I was convinced when I was 18 that I could sing.
Eliza Cuts: So basically, you dedicated your life to help out people that can? Right?
Sarah Lewitinn: Exactly. I'm the biggest music fan nerd. I want the bands I love to become GIANT.
Eliza Cuts: The idea behind the label sounds so pure. Do you think that all came about because you are a huge music fan?
Sarah Lewitinn: Its part of why I left Spin. They're snarky and like to beat people up by writing... I like to love. I kept on wanting to write about new and young bands, but never could. So when Rob [Stevenson] asked me to join him with a label, it was a no brainer. Well, where I am comes from that. I just was a cheerleader in a sea of jaded snobs. I was always promoting bands I loved, telling everyone about them, getting stooooooked. I'm also not really pretentious. So that helps. I'm not the type of music fan that goes "Ew, you don't know about the arcade fire?" I'm the type that'll be like "let me buy you their record! It will rule your life."
Eliza Cuts: You have gotten to do many amazing things and you are in a sea of jaded snobs. Do you think that is why they come and go and your job gets to stay the same and grow?
Sarah Lewitinn: Its so weird, people try all their lives, fucking over people left and right to do the shit I get to do. But really, its like I wake up one day and get a call "do you want to put out a book?" "Do you want to start a label?" "Do you want to be an editor?" I think that pisses people off.
Eliza Cuts: Do you think its because at the end of the day you are a good person?
Sarah Lewitinn: I HOPE SO!

Eliza Cuts: Did you decided to live your life that way on your own or did you learn by example?
Sarah Lewitinn I love people. I think that helps. I LOVE people. And my parents raised me to be polite. So I treat everyone like they just got elected as president and their name is Bill Clinton. I definitely had a lot of influences -- all of them in my family.
Eliza Cuts: Do you ever feel beat down and like you want to quit it all and take off MIA style?
Sarah Lewitinn: Omg! Everyday! I keep telling Brandon [the boyfriend] that I just want to get married and take our kids to ballet class. I've been working NONSTOP since I was 18. Like 3 different jobs at a time, just so I could get out of the house because my curfew was that I could only leave the house for work or school.
Eliza Cuts: Do you have a final goal or an end result you would like to see from all of this hard work?
Sarah Lewitinn: I want to be SUPER RICH!!!!!! Hahahaha. I'm not joking.
Eliza Cuts: I could see you being the next Jay-Z, on the real.
Sarah Lewitinn: Omg, I hope! I hung with Hova all weekend. Sooooo amazing. I never ate/drank so well.
Eliza Cuts Ouch... you baited me... do tell!!!
Sarah Lewitinn: We had an Island A&R retreat to MIAMI at the Manderin hotel. All expenses paid.
Eliza Cuts: Was it a shredding vibe?
Sarah Lewitinn: We had 7 hour meetings with the A&R staff and LA Reid and Jay-Z and then we'd go to like Nobu and plates of food would come. The area roped off for people like me! I'm wearing my dirty free sweatshirt, and eating a meal with the Jigga. Totally surreal. I'm on greet-with-a-kiss-on-the-cheek terms with JAY Z!!!!!
Eliza Cuts: Nice. Do you ever look around your life and think â�œI am a normal girl... how did all of this happen?â�
Sarah Lewitinn: Omg, every single day. I've got this amazingly gorgeous boyfriend I worship whom I'd be stalking online if he didn't wake up next to me. This amazing dog... My relationship with my parents rules and the people I work with make going to work worth it. That doesn't even count the amazing bands I am putting out.
Eliza Cuts: Do you talk to J about the bands you work with?
Sarah Lewitinn: Yeah, that's during our meetings. Outside of meetings, its all about hearing him tell stories. He loves the Oohlas
Eliza Cuts: We know that you love them and I like them but what does he think of them?
Sarah Lewitinn: He thinks Ollie, the singer, is 100% a star.He was blown away by Ollie when he saw the Oohlas. And he was singing a Permanent Me song once - which blew my mind.
Eliza Cuts: So of course, I have to ask... Blogging... and blah blah blah the Internet...
Sarah Lewitinn: Yes. I started that in summer of 03. I was hanging with my friends, Greg and Raphael. We were known as "Sarah and her boyfriends" and I crushed soooo hard on Greg. We'd make out every night. We'd get wasted make out, and he'd go home with another girl. I would get so drunk every night to deal. And we'd go to every open bar in the city. So one night in the summer it got out of control. I had a party on my roofdeck. I got wasted, made out with Greg, told my high school crush I was still in love with him, and managed to scream at my friends about cleaning up while I cut my foot on glass. After that... My family said it was time for AA or rehab. I begged them to let me work on it - my sobriety. So I went sober and I'd get a call from all 4 of my family members about things. What I did the night before. "Are you sure you didn't drink?â� And so instead I kept a blog and let them keep track and itâ�™d be about the shows I went to, the people I saw, the experiences I had, as a sober person. And other blogs wrote about it. And I got huge.

Eliza Cuts: Would you have read your own blogs and do you read other peoples?
Sarah Lewitinn: I don't read blogs. Once a week, I read Perez and Trent.
Eliza Cuts: How many people would you say pay attention to you frequently through blogs?
Sarah Lewitinn: Omg, our flight is postponed! We're calling to find out if we can get on Hova's jet! Eliza Cuts: Good call. Please keep me posted on the jet.
Sarah Lewitinn: I don't have numbers on my blog. It affects the way I write. I try to write like I'm talking to only Karen and Gurj (my best friends). But, keeping in mind that Brandon's parents read my blog - which they do. So I can't write about having a litter of puppies fall out of my vagina when I see Franz Ferdinand.
Eliza Cuts: Lets just say its a grip of people. Who do you hope is reading your stuff?
Sarah Lewitinn: Karen and Gurj. Hahaha. I hope that 10 people read my blog, and no more. I write it for me, to remember thongs. *Things. To remember things. Although, I'd love to remember thongs.
Eliza Cuts: So, you donâ�™t feel a responsibility to say things because you have the attention of a lot of people?
Sarah Lewitinn: No, just because I have the attention of my boyfriend's parents and my brother. I've got such a disturbingly dirty and filthy mind. None of which either of those two parties should be privy to.
Eliza Cuts: Do you think the internet took away your freedom or do you think it gave it to you?
Sarah Lewitinn: It definitely gave me a voice I didn't have before.
Eliza Cuts: Enough about music and the internet... You get to talk about those enough. What movies do you back? Whose fashion do you love? How do you change your hair so much without it falling out?
Sarah Lewitinn: 1. Trainspotting, donnie darko, pretty in pink. 2. Dior homme !!!! 3. It falls out!!!! I have such thin hair. But I have this crazy henna creme that I condition with that is great.
Eliza Cuts So... we are almost done. I have two more questions.
Sarah Lewitinn: Ok! This has been fun!
Eliza Cuts: How did you hear about WMHC and what do you think?
Sarah Lewitinn: I heard about WMH from my friend Alicia's away message. I think its an awesome concept and I'm waiting to get jumped in -- I think I've passed my initiation!
Eliza Cuts: Hmmm, I will see what I can do... Final question: Misshapes and that whole scene.... is it tired or does it still rip? Be honest!
Sarah Lewitinn: Well, they're a brand now. The brand is awesome. The people involved rule beyond belief but the party is filled with people that none of us know. I used to know everyone. Still, I back the misshapes 100%. They're as nerdy as me. They just look cooler.
Eliza Cuts: I guess thatâ�™s the way it always goes.... right? Uou have an amazing time and then.... a bunch of people show up that you donâ�™t know.
Sarah Lewitinn: Exactly. But I love Leigh, Geo, and Greg. Man, do I love Leigh. She's one of the best people I know. I want to take care of her. She's so great.
Eliza Cuts How did you get the name ultragrrrrl? I forgot to ask.
Sarah Lewitinn: My brother started an aol account and I needed a screen name. I wanted purplegrrrl. And he chose for me. He named after a feminine product he had me test run. It was called ultrafemme. So he did that to bum me out, as most boys do.
Eliza Cuts: I got my nickname from my screen name too. Hahaha.
Sarah Lewitinn: Wait. Explain yours.
Eliza Cuts Well, I needed an sn. I chose my name and then cuts because I honestly couldnâ�™t think of anything else and, well, I am obsessed with cutting hair. So I had it as my sn and then on warped everyone started calling me elizacuts. It suck.
Sarah Lewitinn: Hahha
Eliza Cuts: So thank you so much for taking time out to do this.
Sarah Lewitinn Oh travel update - My plane is delayed.
Eliza Cuts: So your not taking JZ's jet?
Sarah Lewitinn: (sad face)
Eliza Cuts: Bummout.
Sarah Lewitinn: Totes.

A hero for the heartbroken - Eliza Cuts sits down with Jon Rivera.

Eliza Cuts: Besides the fact that you are an amazing dancer, you also have an amazing comic. In a totally self-plugging way, tell me about it.
Jon Rivera: I am, and I do. Heartbreak is an autobiographical account of two cartoonists, Nick DeStefano and myself, and their tragic adventures in the world of dating. Nick and I both write and draw our own stories, and it's just a very fun and real look at the problems faced by many people who are trying to find the love of their livesâ�¦Or at least a date.
Eliza Cuts: How do you find enough to write about all of the time? And are these actual things that happen to you or do you embellish?
Jon Rivera: All of the stories are true. Of course, real life doesn't really move in a conveniently paced manner so certain things always have to be moved around when you are adapting a true story. In terms of our book, there were a few scenes that were shifted around or combined for pacing reasons. But all of the major moment, all of the "shock" moments...those were all real. Terrifyingly real.
Eliza Cuts: Is it difficult telling the world tales of your adventures?
Jon Rivera: It is sometimes. At first, Heartbreak stemmed from an intense desire to let people know how I was feeling after a really bad breakup. Later, when it was time to work on the actual books, it became something that I thought other people could relate to. But to do that, you have to be really, really honest, and not be afraid to cast yourself in an unflattering light. So yeah, sometimes it's difficult spending hundreds of hours working on a book about how much of an idiot you are.
Eliza Cuts: Is it weird to think that some of the girls in the comic might actually read stories about themselves?
Jon Rivera: Yeah, that's one of my biggest fears. I think Nick has actually heard back from some of his girls...and he's still friends with some of them. I, on the other hand have not, and the day that happens I'll probably be really embarrassed. I just hope none of them comes to a signing with a gun.
Eliza Cuts: What if you fell in love... would you run out of material if a relationship actually worked out?
Jon Rivera: Most of the girls in my Heartbreak stories are girls that I had crushes on. I've never really delved into any of my actual relationships. Anyone who's been in a long-term relationship knows that even though the problems of being single and dating are over. There's a whole new set waiting for you at the end of the rainbow. But I also think that for right now, I've kind of said what I had to say with this book. Any more Heartbreak stories from me would start to feel redundant after a while, one of the things I love most about these stories is that most of them deal with more issues than just the incident with the girl. Addressing other things I was feeling or going though at the time.
Eliza Cuts: Do you see it as a form of therapy for you?
Jon Rivera: Initially, it was really great therapy. As the series went on, I found that I took most of my pleasure out of hearing that people related to this stuff. It's comforting to both the artist and the reader when you know that you're not the only one who's gone though stuff like this. At least I think so.
Eliza Cuts: I know its huge to have people you know react to your work but do you ever get contacted by people you donâ�™t know on a personal level?
Jon Rivera: Yes! It's weird. Sometimes you feel like some kind of relationship counselor. It's cool though, that people feel they can open up to a stranger like that. But I guess since you've seen a ton of my personal embarrassing moments, it's kind of a fair trade... I've heard some really cool stories, though, from other people. Nick and I have discussed that if this series were to continue, the next book would either be us telling other peoples stories...or other artists telling their own.
Eliza Cuts: Do you ever feel like you put to much of yourself out there?
Jon Rivera: That's a pretty good question. I'm not sure, I'm naturally kind of an open guy...willing to tell an embarrassing story if I think it's good for a laugh. There are stories that I cut from Heartbreak that I felt were too personal or would hurt people I care about and I'm very glad that I made those decisions. So there is a lot of me out there, but not too much! You have to draw a line at some point between your life and your art, if you feel like your art will negatively affect it. At least, I believe so. But everyone has their own levels of comfort with that kind of thing.
Eliza Cuts: Anyone off of the top of your head that canâ�™t seem to draw that line?
Jon Rivera: Hmmmm... I'm not sure. You could say that an artist like Robert Crumb gets VERY personal with his work. But if that's what he's comfortable with then good for him. It's probably why I'm a fan of his. Like I said before, it's up to the artist to find their own level of comfort with what they share with the world.
Eliza Cuts: Is there anyone you wish would share more, anyone you are curious about?
Jon Rivera: Wow, that's pretty interesting. Well there are guys like Dan Clowes, Adrien Tomine, and Craig Thompson who do a lot of personal work, and I would love to see more of that. Because I think they know HOW to tell a story about their lives. I think with the proper storytelling techniques you can make a mundane everyday occurrence (like dating) something special. I can't say there are too many artists that I know of who I'm so interested in personally that I'm dying to find out what they eat for breakfast or what their love life is like. But if they're willing to tell it to me through their art, I can't say I wouldn't be intriguedâ�¦ Oh except for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes... when is that movie coming out!? Maybe a trilogy about Anna Nicole Smith and a companion concept album. How amazing would that be?
Eliza Cuts: Amazing. So how do people get your comic so they can find out the perfect amount of info about you?
Jon Rivera: Right now the book is available on Lulu.com. We will also be in the May issue of Previews which is a catalogue from which comic book shops order their stock of books that will ship in July. We're still a small book, so if you want your local comic book shop to order some copies, you're going to have to tell them! We're on page 298 of the catalogue....do it.........DO IT NOW!
Eliza Cuts: Does the internet help you guys out? How about the â�˜space? Do you back it or are you over it?
Jon Rivera: We'd be dead without the internet. The internet gives a voice to people who don't have the money to run huge advertising campaigns. It also provides cartoonists with the movie gossip and pornography they need to get through the day. Myspace...I mean, it's got it's ups and downs. One of the big ups is that I constantly get emails from beautiful women who "love to party" are "moving to my area and want sexy friends" or would like to give me a free Target gift card. It's been really good to us though. Myspace recently opened a MySpace Comics page, and it's been instrumental in getting our name out there. We've also met some really great people on there like Kristie who runs our fansite The Heartbroken and of course all of the support we've gotten from MCR fans.

Eliza Cuts: You need to tell the hotdog shirt story.
Jon Rivera: I think that's giving too much of myself to the public.
Eliza Cuts: hahhaha.
Jon Rivera: Okay. So fellow Heartbreak superstar John Nugent (he wrote our afterword) and I heard there was a hot dog eating contest at a place called Spikeâ�™s Junkyard Dogs in Rhode Island. So we went up there and ate until we almost puked and were rewarded with t-shirts and our pictures on the wall. I have since started going to the gym and realized one day I was getting dirty looks from people...looked down and realized i was wearing the hot dog t-shirt. It was kind of embarrassing, wearing a shirt that's advertising a hot dog eating contest to a place where many of my fat brothers are trying to kick the habit.
Eliza Cuts: Hahahha. Thank you.
Jon Rivera: It's my pleasure!
Eliza Cuts: So have you every heard of Worlds Most Hated?
Jon Rivera: I have. You're terrorists right?
Eliza Cuts: Which one of us do you hate the most?
Jon Rivera: I can't hate you because you're the only person who will dance with me. So...I hate Sarah Dope, because she is small. And I don't trust small people. They just always seem like they're up to something. She can also kill more zombies than me in Dead Rising.
Eliza Cuts: Well, thank you very much for the interview. It was a smashing good time. Hit me up with your myspace and web addy real quick.
Jon Rivera: Sorry, my internet crashed. My last answer was "running around at night...knocking things off the cupboard. Casting spells and such."
Eliza Cuts: Its okay. Whatâ�™s the heartbreak myspace and web addy?
Jon Rivera: myspace.com/heartbreakcomics and www.heartbreakcomics.com