Like many of you, we were thrilled when Bamboozle announced the addition of The All-American Rejects to the 2012 lineup. As we look ahead to that glorious New Jersey weekend, we couldn’t help but think of our cover story featuring the Stillwater gang for the 2010 Vans Warped Tour special edition of RAGGED. Enjoy the archived story below as the band was gearing up to release their third album, When The World Comes Down, and be sure to download the full issue of RAGGED here featuring more photos with the band.
STRAIGHT FROM THE PAGES OF RAGGED…
Going from hit singles to platinum albums and from playing friends’ garages to headlining international tours, The All-American Rejects have lived the all-American dream. What began as a collaboration between two friends (lead vocalist and bassist Tyson Ritter and lead guitarist Nick Wheeler) has since led to countless nights on the road, numerous awards and three incredibly successful LPs. And to think that the fairy tale all started when an employee at Doghouse Records found their demo in the trash—talk about rags to riches.
With their third and most anticipated album behind them and having wrapped up a tour at the end of last year, the Rejects—Ritter and Wheeler along with Mike Kennerty (rhythm guitar) and Chris Gaylor (drums)—have been busy working with the likes of Rihanna and Weezer, contributing to the Alice in Wonderland soundtrack, and writing another album. Even though the guys have had their musical plates full, they found time to move halfway across North America: After having publicly talked about relocating to Los Angeles for years, Ritter and his Oklahoma-based band mates have finally made the move to the West Coast.
“When I was 21, I thought, ‘Well, I can probably move to L.A. now but I would probably end up getting eaten alive,’” Ritter says. “Now I’m 25 and I’ve put it off long enough.”
But relocating is not the only change the guys are making. For their fourth album, The All-American Rejects are paving a different path. “It’s a huge departure for us—I think we might be burning some bridges and building some new ones on this one,” Ritter says. “I figured instead of doing the Tango; why not try the Pasodoble? I feel like in order to continue on as a band we need to change the music. If you liked where we were going on the last three trips—they were just baby steps. This next one is going to be our daddy-pants step. They’re going to be strides instead of steps from now on.”
Ritter is not quick to reveal just how far these strides are going to take the group’s sound; however, he does drop a few ambiguous hints. “If I could describe our music in terms of fashion it would have to be red Chucks, black suits and spray-on glitter—there’s going to be glitter all over this next record.”
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