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o many view this as an American dream. Who wouldn’t want countless beautiful women throwing themselves at you, screaming your name, partying until the break of dawn and trashing hotel rooms? It’s all part of the rock star lifestyle and persona that most men would kill to have. However, not all rock stars have to kill themselves (or their careers) to be badass. Sometimes it just happens naturally. For the All-American Rejects’ front man, Tyson Ritter, being a badass musician comes with every breath inhaled and every note sung. “It takes ten years to figure it out,” Ritter divulged some words of wisdom his tattoo artist friend gave him once about life and anything creative. It just so happens that 2012 marks All-American Rejects’ ten-year anniversary. “This is our ten year mark. I think we finally figured out how to speak as a band for people to remember us.” All American Rejects have been garnering fans since the debut of their selftitled record in 2003 with hits over the years like “Dirty Little Secret,” “Move Along,” “I Wanna” and “Gives You Hell.” Their music has satisfied every guy’s craving to live like a rock star with a soundtrack to their lives. The All-American Rejects have been a rock staple for the past decade, and they are back and better than ever, with a new album set to tentatively drop at the end of March. Kids In The Street will be the fourth full-length studio album for the band, and after a three year writing and soul searching hiatus, they are back to take the reigns once more with a more mature, grownup and experienced sound. Ritter put a magnifying glass over the very foundation of the new record: “I went to a really dark place for a while. It was sort of living in that darkness and realizing that I had not grown up in nine years of being on the road, and it all hit me at once. I completely cleaned house with my entire house. I started at the ground floor and stood up at the end of it, and now this record, Kids In The Street, is this autobiographical journey through falling down and realizing you have to do so to stand up.” He has been through a lot in 10 years with the band he started before he even graduated high school. But, with a new record, a new attitude, and a new outlook on life, the All-American Rejects are ready for the next ten. Being a musician and citizen of the
world can be hard work, even if you’re a member of All-American Rejects. For Ritter, it was certainly that. He remarked that, “The best (and worst) part of the rock star lifestyle - punching no clocks - a gift and a curse.” But in the end, it helped produce what will be some amazingly powerful songs for Kids In The Street. “So ‘Beekeeper’s Daughter’ is the first single, and that’s sort of the moment we started to write… and I was not myself. I was out of my mind. I was cocky. I was bulletproof…Nothing could stop me. So that song, I sort of think
ALL AMERICAN REJECTS Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. B Y D O M I N C J A N I DA S P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y M I C H A E L S C H WA RT Z
of it as the asshole of the record.” Tyson shared, “The band had three years to write a record that had to prove itself in a totally different way than we have before. I think we have done that.” Much anticipation for Kids In The Street hovers around maturity of sound and overall progression of the band after three years. On that progression, Tyson commented, “We challenge ourselves with writing now.” One of the standout tracks from the new album, and coincidentally Tyson’s favorite off Kids, is a ballad called “Heartbeat Slowing Down.” “It’s this crazy trip. It’s pretty much a big apology of a song. The song itself is so powerful…I got a lot of my demons exercised on this album. We songwriters are self-deprecating dickheads. We wallow. If you’re an artist and you’re happy all the time, you’re probably full of shit,” explained Tyson. AAR is hitting the road on a tour coming up as well with the release and promotion of the fourth album. Tyson explained that it’s going to be an intimate club run, but the fans are really going to dig the new material. Like
most true musicians, performing passionate and personal songs on stage is home to the band, especially Tyson who said, “There’s nothing in my life that I don’t think about, or don’t over think. When I’m on stage I don’t think. Being on stage is the only place I feel like I have purpose sometimes.” He and the band love to connect with a crowd and when he spoke of performing, the passion translated immensely. “Concerts are my church,” he proclaimed. Amongst all the craziness of the music business and developing into a much more honed and mature artist, and even acting (as seen in “House Bunny” among many other smaller roles) Tyson still finds time to give back to charity movements like Don’t Hate on Haiti (http://donthateonhaiti.org/), a charitable organization that he started to help raise money for the Haitian relief efforts. It’s things like that that make his hardened, rocker image look matured, wise, and gracious. Expect continued greatness from the All-American Rejects in 2012. Their new album, Kids In The Street, is sure to impress, marking a whole new age for the decade-old band. Lead singer and bass player, Tyson Ritter, joked about the new album’s style, “It’s full-bodied. It has some age to it!” And so begins another chapter in the life and times of a rock star who rises and falls in life’s journey can be experienced through song…and maybe a trashed hotel room or two.
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