When it came time to record their Warner Bros. debut, the band looked directly to its hometown for inspiration. Manhattan is more than an album -it's a statement of purpose and a portrait of life in New York City. "We were all bartenders, so the songs are tales of experiences we had or saw, and other people who were characters in our life during the first year we were in this band," Cummings says. (And for the record, SKATERS chose their band name because it captures their young and fearless attitude.)