Just another band from Oklahoma
All-American Rejects cash in a bit after paying some dues
By Chris Nixon
For The Union-Tribune
November 30, 2006
The words “music” and “Oklahoma” don't find their way into one's vocabulary in the same sentence too often. Maybe if you've had musicals drilled into you at a young age, a few refrains from Rodgers and Hammerstein's score float through your head. Or, for the real music geeks, you might recall the band portrayed in Cameron Crowe's “Almost Famous” flick donned the name Stillwater, a town of 40,000 in central Oklahoma.
You might not know that The All-American Rejects, a band sporting a couple of singles in the Billboard Top 20 in the past year, hails from Oklahoma. To be more exact, its members grew out of the town of, that's right, Stillwater.
Nick Wheeler, the band's guitarist, recalls his roots trying to make a living as a working musician in the Midwest.
“Being from Oklahoma, you just have to get lucky,” said Wheeler. “It's not about who you know and it's not about being a part of the scene. There ain't nobody in Oklahoma that can do anything for you. There's no music scene either. You've pretty much got nothing going for you.”
But the trial by fire gave The All-American Rejects an appreciation for the band's current situation.
“We definitely learned a lot being a band at the bottom of the heap and paying dues,” said Wheeler, speaking from a tour stop in Rochester, N.Y. “We've played every hole you can name in the Southwest. There is a still a long way to go for us, but each thing you do is another baby step to the next bigger goal. Hopefully, we can keep it up.”
Wheeler, along with singer-bassist Tyson Ritter, guitarist Mike Kennerty and drummer Chris Gaylor, are doing more than just keeping up.
Driven by the band's brand of emo pop, both 2002's self-titled disc and 2005's “Move Along” have achieved platinum status in sales. The All-American Rejects' catchy choruses and scruffy good looks make this Oklahoma band a surefire moneymaker for its label, Interscope.
But it almost didn't happen. After the relative success of the debut, Wheeler and company fumbled with a collection of songs suitable for the record company's liking. After a few months in Florida to write songs, the band readied to enter the studio to record the sophomore effort. But “the guys who pay the bills” – read, the record company – sent The All-American Rejects back to the drawing board.
Wheeler picks up the story: “Nine months later, we ended up in Atlanta. We were going to work with a producer in Atlanta, but he ended up not doing the record. So, we just hung out there by ourselves for two months or so. That's where (the song and hit single) 'Move Along' came around, written in a little rehearsal space in Atlanta. Everyday, we'd go up there and play for 14 hours.”
After hearing the results from the hard work, the quartet got the go-ahead to start recording the album that became “Move Along.” Working with producer Howard Benson, the disc yielded the singles “Move Along” (topping out at No. 15 on the Billboard charts) and “It Ends Tonight” (currently on the charts at No. 11).
For Wheeler, the recording was painless compared to the long months in Atlanta: “All the trials and tribulations of writing the record happened before we even got into the studio. The studio was the easy part because we'd done our homework.”
The All-American Rejects currently headline the “Tournado” tour with Motion City Soundtrack, The Starting Line, The Format, Gym Class Heroes, and Boys Like Girls, which stops at the ipayOne Center tomorrow. After the tough times leading up to “Move Along,” Wheeler knows his band will be smarter when approaching the next record, leaving a little time to rest before jumping into another song cycle.
“Being on the road, it's a roller coaster,” said Wheeler. “You have to get off the ride and come back to earth for a minute before you can get your head straight and be creative and do it for the right reasons. Right now, we're in a groove and it's 'Move Along.' We're playing these songs every night and we're still loving them.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
