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All in a day's work: All-American Rejects to perform at Stampede |
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Written by Dan England for NEXTnc
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Friday, 15 June 2007 |
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Life in a popular rock band like The All-American Rejects can be pretty tough. Sure, there are the platinum records, the MTV clips, writing songs for major motion pictures, the money and the babes -- if you're into that sort of thing. But hear us out. Life was hectic, draining and at times lonely for guitarist and co-founder Nick Wheeler and the rest of his bandmates.
"In some cases, sometimes you've lived more than your grandparents," Wheeler said.
They were all in their early 20s, and yet it all caught up to them after they released their first record, an album that went platinum and was an immediate success on the strength of its catchy single, "Swing Swing."
There was the increasing demand for their time.
There was the unrelenting pressure to be great.
There was the grinding travel that comes with touring. That's always there: Just the day before, Wheeler gave a phone interview, he was on the road for 16 hours.
"You get used to not seeing your family," Wheeler said, "and every relationship you have is a long-distance one."
The band's success wasn't as immediate as it seemed to the average rock fan, Wheeler said. It took years of working with singer Tyson Ritter, founding the band, writing and playing in more than their share of what Wheeler called, um, dives (actually he called them something else, but we can't print it) before the success. And yet it did seem sudden once the record hit and started to take off.
"It was definitely life on fast-forward," Wheeler said. "All of a sudden, we're all on a bus, and every tour was bigger than the last. I think Tyson is the oldest 23-year-old I know."
It was great but exhausting at times, and when it came time for the band to make a second record, the guys put a ton of pressure on themselves, to the point where at times some members admitted they were terrified. They also took a year off to just write the album.
"We definitely tried to become detached and write for ourselves again," Wheeler said. "But we had a manager and a label and a million fans out there, and there's definitely a lot of opinions."
It worked -- the album sold even more copies than the first, and it spawned three hit singles, including "Move Along." But the band also went broke after a year with basically no income.
So with the band's third single just now waning, even though the album was released in 2005, the Rejects are playing a few summer festivals and concerts here and there, including a headlining gig at the Greeley Independence Stampede.
"We're trying to pay the bills this year," Wheeler said. "But it's also a good thing to get out and remember what we have. You can actually become so detached, you forget what you do, and we don't want writing songs and playing in this band to be second to anything."
That third album is coming, probably in 2008, and Wheeler expects pressure again. He also expects the record to be a little more mature without a huge change in direction.
"We're not trying to make a statement," he said. "We just want to have fun."
So if you want to complain that, yes, Wheeler's job is tough, but he's still got it pretty nice, that's OK. Wheeler would actually agree with you.
"On those tough days, I do say, 'Wait a second, it's my job to play in a rock band,' " he said, "and it's the best job ever." | Only registered users can write comments.
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