TEN Gossip

The All-American Rejects & I: The Interview

Posted: 06 Mar 2012 01:13 PM PST

The All-American Rejects are gearing up for the release of their new album, Kids In The Street, March 27th. This album is being said that it is more personal than before and taking them places they have never been before. The band didn’t need a magic carpet for this…they just needed to write a new album. They have already released the song, Beekeeper’s Daughter, which reminds everyone things are never as they seem. It also reminded me of why I’m such a big fan. Also, face it. I enjoy seeing Tyson Ritter back.

I got a chance to interview Mike Kennerty, the guitarist of the band, and probing in-depth about the writing process, how this album is different and how they came up with their band name. Here is the interview, unedited and raw (I’ve just always wanted to say that once in my life).

If you could have dinner with anyone dead or alive, who would you choose? I don't know… As long as they're not vegan, I'm easy. I'm not forgoing my cheese enchiladas!

Who are your biggest influences? Musicians, comedians, artists, writers. Not dancers. I just can't give a shit about dancing.

What was the first instrument you played? Drums. I suck, but I can play some mean air drums these days.

How did The All-American Rejects get their name? It's actually an acronym. It's a sentence we really liked from a 50's romance novel, and at some point someone noticed that the first letters of all the words spelled out The All-American Rejects. Hyphen and all!

What is your writing process like? Do you write the lyrics or melody first? The melodies come first with our songs. Those hooks are the most important thing, so we make sure they're there before we proceed to anything else. You can go anywhere with a song when it's got a strong core.

The song, ‘Gives You Hell’ is one of my favorites. Could you tell me what inspired that song? That song is about hating somebody and letting the world know that you do. It's a punch in the face with the violence.

Where was your favorite venue to perform at? The venue is secondary to the crowd. We've played some of the nicest places in the world only to have the weakest audience, which makes for a bad show. Conversely, we've played some of the scummiest, rickety spots you could imagine, but the crowd went off and it was incredible.

What song by another artist would you like to have written? There are at least a dozen Queen songs that come to mind.

How does your new album differ from the first? I think all of our records have had a different sound. "Kids In The Street" follows suit. With it I think we've made our most diverse record, but at the same time it's our most cohesive. I'm really proud of how well it flows from beginning to end. But comparing it to the first record?… Tyson's voice sounds strange to me when I hear the first record now. His voice has matured so much, and it's never sounded as good it does on "Kids In The Street."

What was it like being back in the recording studio? It's always fun. We tend to tour until we're burned out as it gets, which makes it exciting to get in the studio. Then we kill ourselves to make the best record we have in us, which makes us dream of being back out on the road, which we're getting ready to do in a couple weeks with our "Kids In The Street" tour.

How did you get the name for your new album, Kids In The Street? There's a time when you're a kid and you have no responsibilities or care to be responsible, and it feels like no action will have a consequence. That was a feeling we became really nostalgic for while making this record, and it kind of bled its way into a lot of the themes on the record. Growing up can be great, but loosing the innocence you were oblivious to at the time is a shame. The title "Kids In The Street" reflects those times for us. When that's exactly what we were, before real life set in.

You can also catch the band on their official site, Twitter, and Facebook.