Newton Natives Land Record Deal with Warner Brothers

It's been a decade or so since Michael Ian Cummings and Noah Rubin sat around Newton listening to records and playing music with friends -- but not much has changed. 

Well, one thing has definitely changed: they have a record deal.

Cummings and Rubin are two-thirds of the New York-based band SKATERS, and were signed by Warner Brothers roughly four months ago along with bandmate Josh Hubbard. 

The trio is currently finishing up their debut full-length album, which is due out this summer. They're also gearing up for a few months of touring -- including a show tonight at the Brighton Music Hall. 

Cummings, who graduated from Newton South in 2003, has traveled coast to coast playing music with different bands -- from Boston to Los Angeles to New York.

But when Cummings (vocals) and Rubin (drums) finally crossed paths with Hubbard (guitar), something seemed to click. 

"Noah and I had moved to New York from Los Angeles with hopes of starting a new band," Cummings explained. "We met this guy [Hubbard] at a party -- we had always known of each other, but our paths never crossed."

The three musicians started talking about forming a band and, before long, the group was recording an EP in their house, putting together shows, organizing club nights and promoting their music through the New York nightlife. 

"We just started playing a show a month -- we'd pack it, sell out little rooms and did all the old school stuff like handing out flyers at bars," Cummings says. "We were all bartenders, so we would just push our shows to everyone that we met." 

Whatever the group did, it worked. 

Buzz about the band got out and Warner Bros. eventually flew the group out to their offices to chat record deals, Cummings says.

A veteran of the record deal process, Cummings says the Warner Bros. deal felt right because the label "cared the most about what we wanted to do." 

"It had a lot to do with them coming to us, and not us trying to shop our record," Cummings says. "They just wanted to be a part of it because we created something that was tangible -- something they understood."

The group's first single from the album -- "I Wanna Dance (But I Don't Know How)" -- is already out on a 7-inch single. The video for the single's B-side, "Armed," was just released this week.

Although he finds trouble putting an exact label on his group, Cummings says SKATERS has been described as post-punk, "humblecore," or "pre-Giuliani" New York punk. 

Like the band's description, Cummings' influences are also hard to define.

"They're all over the place," Cummings says. "You have be open to liking everything and not have lists and favorites and stuff like that. It's too confining."

Nevertheless, Cummings says SKATERS has much more of a "clear vision" compared to his previous projects, and creates something that is "easily digestible" and "tangible" for listeners.

"When I was younger, all I wanted to do was show off what I could do -- now, I'm less concerned about that. I just want to keep it simple," Cummings says.

SKATERS will be playing at the Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave. in Allston. Doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m. Tickets are $12.