April the 27th, Conrad and I headed down to The Chameleon Club in Lancaster to catch the All-American Rejects show.  Neither of us had never seen them live before—only on television.  Conrad and I rarely go to shows, we’re both getting pretty old you see--but I was curious to see them, and Conrad was especially curious to see if their lead singer, Tyson, did in fact have some of the most beautiful eyes ever.

It’s been almost 3 years since the release of AAR’s self-titled album.  With a new album coming out this summer, and currently in the middle of a tour, guitarist Mike Kennerty took some time out to sit down with us briefly before their set.  The room was loud with the conversations of fellow Rejects bandmates and some of the guys from the opening bands– it’s funny some of the stuff that came through the recording of the conversation…but anyway, I was able to piece most of it together afterward.

J: So how did you meet up with the rest of the guys?

M: Chris and I have known each other for years.  We played in a band together—and actually played with the Rejects when they were just a 3 piece.  Eventually they asked me to start playing second guitar for them.  And then their drummer went crazy, so that’s when Chris came in.

J: How long have you been playing guitar?

About 10 years now…I had some friends in bands.  I started out on drums, and I wasn’t very good.  When I’d play with them, I’d just pick up the guitar and start to play (with them laughing at me).  I’ve never taken lessons, so I’m not near as good as I could be for playing as long as I have.

J: What did you do before you did music full time?

I worked at the Guitar Center, for a couple of years in the accessories department.  Then I worked at Taco Bell as well.  I went to college for a couple of years, then I quit.  I was majoring in communications, then decided I just didn’t want to do it.  Then, I couldn’t figure out what else to major in, so I decided to just not go to college any more—then I came on with the Rejects, so it all worked out.

J: So how is the tour going? 

M:  It’s amazing—we’re about a month in, and the shows just keep getting better every day.  We have about another month with this tour, then later this summer we’ll start touring with the first leg of Warped Tour on the West Coast.

J: How many days are you guys usually on the road?

M: We toured on the last album for almost 2 years solid.  I wouldn’t say we were burnt out, but we were definitely ready for something different.  We ended up taking a year off to write—only played like 9 shows last year or so.  Right now we’re in a van, the bus is definitely nicer.  I don’t think we’ve ever gotten sick in the bus—but every time we’re in the van all of us get sick.
 
J: So when does the album come out?  How does it compare with the last one?

M: July 12-- I like it a lot, it’s a lot more rock, more guitar heavy, and less reliant on keyboards and drum machines.  There’s still some of it, it’s still very ‘us’, it just sounds more like a band and not 2 guys.  The first album was all written before Chris and I came on, this time around they were written on an acoustic guitar, skeletons of —then we all got together and worked them out for a couple of months.  It’s a lot more guitar influenced.  Before, they would just sit there with a keyboard.  It works, because we always got compliments that people liked us better live because it was more rock.  There’s a little bit of darkness to it, but everything is still melodic.  There’s definitely stuff that’s not as happy sounding as the last.  I’m super happy with the album.  It turned out better than I had hoped.  I stepped away from it for a while, and was able to start ignoring little things that had bothered me.  With fresh ears, I really like it. The first single will be the title track—‘Move Along’.  We haven’t shot the video yet…but I think in a few weeks we are.  The song goes to radio in a month or so.

That pretty much wrapped up the interview.  So, Conrad and I then walked upstairs to catch the first band of the night, ‘Number One Fan’.  While I’m much more the rock n roll gal, I enjoyed their set—mostly because the band themselves were enjoying the show.  They were totally into their performance, and all the teenage girls were screaming.

Next up was ‘Action Action’.  I remembered listening to their album one time through before I sent it out to a writer for the review.  Seeing them live was so much better than listening to the album.  Their vocalist has an incredible live voice.  But the best thing about them was their bassist.  He was so much fun to watch—he didn’t stop moving the entire time.  Tyson of AAR even showed up to play a cameo bass part for one of their songs—and once again all the girls went crazy.

All the girls went crazy yet again when the lights dimmed before AAR took the stage. I can’t remember the last time I heard so much screaming before a concert—especially for such a small venue. 

I was quite impressed with the Rejects live.  Unlike the opening bands, the sound was perfect.  Tyson’s vocals were perfect.  I couldn’t believe his falcetto voice was that good live.  Musically they were really tight.  They went on playing stuff from their s/t album which the crowd loved.  Conrad and I had to get back so we left a bit early--we didn’t get to hear any of the new stuff.  But I guess we’ll have the chance this summer when the album comes out. 

And by the way, Tyson does have some of the most beautiful eyes Conrad has ever seen.