It’s hard to tell who John Mayer really is or who he wants you to think he is. Everything seems layered, every response immediately analyzed for content and tone. To magazines, he’s a playboy; to the protestors, he’s a racist; to those who knew him a decade ago, he’s just some kid from Connecticut who plays the guitar. But whatever or whoever he is, thousands of fans love him and will continue to support him no matter what.

The Silversun Pickups have achieved more than most rock bands, let alone alternative-rock bands, can even hope for.

Musicians have always had a role in social and political change; just look at the Vietnam War, post-9/11, or more recently the Haitian relief effort. But that’s not the only cause music is currently helping. A Rocket to the Moon is one of several bands on the 2010 Take Action Tour, which each year picks an organization or cause to support.

In middle school, many students learn that a fight can take place without any face-to-face confrontation. It becomes a war of words, snide comments and notes passed to others. Now some members of the music industry have taken passive-aggressive fights to a whole new level with the help of the Internet.

Greta Salpeter wants to take the angst out of popular music. This prompts the question, what will people listen to now? Her answer: Gold Motel.

Salpeter, singer and keyboardist for the indie pop/rock band The Hush Sound and daughter of an AU grad, is ready to take the world of music by storm with her new project, Gold Motel.

The group is comprised of members from bands based in the Chicago area, in what Salpeter called in an interview with The Eagle “our own little super group.” Dan Duszynski, a member of This Is Me Smiling, joins Salpeter to play guitar and sing harmonies on both the Gold Motel EP and full-length album. Also from TIMS are bassist Matt Minx…

Up-and-coming band This Providence had a good year in 2009. They released their third full-length album, “Who Are You Now,” and their single, “Letdown,” got decent radio play and significant notice from MTV, as did “Keeping On Without You.”

They even got to play at Seattle radio station KISS 106.1 FM’s annual Jingle Bell Bash with, among other bands, the All-American Rejects. But they’re not slowing down; rather, 2010 may be just as big — if not bigger — for This Providence.

In an interview with The Eagle, bassist David Blaise discussed being on the road, the progression of the band and what’s next for This Providence.

After a month and a half of relaxation time — the longest amount…

With a name that makes automatic spelling and grammar fixes an unwelcome burden, fun. are simply as their name describes: fun, period. The band formed just a couple years ago when frontman Nate Ruess’s band, The Format, broke up. He joined forces with Jack Antonoff (formally of Steel Train) and Andrew Dost (formally of Anathallo) to create a unique indie-pop group.

In an interview with The Eagle, the multi-instrumental Andrew Dost talked about the band’s conception.

“We all just kind of developed a mutual respect,” Dost said. “It was something we’d kinda wanted to do but it was unspoken. So once The Format, Nate’s band, disintegrated, he called up me and Jack. And then within the week we just agreed…

Rooney, a five-piece group hailing from sunny California, signed a recording contract with Geffen Records in the early 2000s, but the band recently parted ways with the major label to venture out on their own again.

There are several ways in which you may have heard about Rooney, and they are not proud of many of them. Perhaps you were watching “The O.C.” one night and heard their song playing in the background. Maybe you saw them open for Kelly Clarkson or the Jonas Brothers. Or you could have even been so obsessed with the movie “Princess Diaries” that you Googled the male lead you didn’t recognize and learned that he is not only the brother of Jason Schwartzman, but also the lead singer of the band Rooney.

But at the Middle East in Boston on Dec. 13, it would be hard to imagine their music fitting in anywhere but a tiny club filled with quite…

Single File, a pop/rock band from Colorado, are just beginning to make a name for themselves. They’ve performed on Warped Tour and opened for big name acts, and, earlier this year, they debuted their first full-length album,  “Common Struggles.” But the band has yet to make much of an impression nationally.

Before the band Forever the Sickest Kids performed in the Tavern Friday, Nov. 6., the band members talked with The Eagle. Guitarist Marc Stewart and keyboardist Kent Garrison discussed the band and its relation to — among other things — karate and snuggies.

Taking Back Sunday, known for hits like “MakeDamnSure” and “Liar (It Takes One To Know One)” are trying to become the title of their most recent album, “New Again” — sort of.

Any non-believers were given proof of that when Cartel landed what seemed like a great publicity opportunity with MTV: 20 televised days of living in a giant transparent bubble in New York, culminating in a live concert where they would perform the CD they had recorded while inside the bubble.