The All-American Rejects

The All-American Rejects
AAR, from left to right: Nick Wheeler, Tyson Ritter, Mike Kennerty, Chris Gaylor
Background information
Also known as	AAR
Origin	Stillwater, Oklahoma
Genre(s)	Rock Powerpop
Years active	2001 – present
Label(s)	Universal, Doghouse, Interscope, DreamWorks
Website	AllAmericanRejects.com
Members
Tyson Ritter Nick Wheeler Mike Kennerty Chris Gaylor

The All-American Rejects are an American power pop band from Stillwater, Oklahoma formed by Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler in 2000 when they were in junior high school.^[1] The group cites AC/DC, Def Leppard, and Bon Jovi as major influences.^[1] Their breakthrough 2005 album, Move Along, has been certified Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA.^[1] The All-American Rejects have sold nearly 10 million CDs worldwide.

Biography

2001–2004: Commercial success

In the summer of 2001, the Rejects released the EP Same Girl, New Songs and began to tour the American Midwest. By the tour's end, the band had signed a contract with Doghouse Records — the label of such bands as River City High and The Get Up Kids. Mike Kennerty and Chris Gaylor joined in 2002. That year, with producer Tim O'Heir (who had, in the past, worked with bands like Superdrag, Sebadoh, and Juliana Hatfield), the Rejects recorded their international debut album. From this album came the single "Swing, Swing" for which the Rejects were best-known for several years (so much so, in fact, that some termed the band a one-hit wonder). Their self-titled album hit stores on October 15 of that year.

2005–2006: Move Along

On July 12, 2005, they released Move Along, from which came the single "Dirty Little Secret." The music video for the song was filmed at Dorney Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania in Summer 2006 and featured images from the collective art project PostSecret. The second single, Move Along, was released in January 2006. Some reports indicated the video for Move Along was a tribute to their deceased touring keyboardist Timothy Jordan II. Within the first weeks after premiering their video, it had been on the Total Request Live countdown ever since, hitting number one four days in a a, moving from place to place. Oddly, on the Billboard Hot 100, the single didn't hit peak until almost six months later in June, making it one of the longest-lasting singles by the Rejects. "Move Along" was then nominated for "Best Editing in a Video" and "Best Group Video" at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, the latter of which they won. In addition, the band performed "Move Along" live at the VMAs on Thursday, August 31, 2006. The band was also nominated for Choice Rock Group in the Teen Choice Awards, but lost out to Fall Out Boy. In May 2006, they performed a cover of Def Leppard's "Photograph" on VH1 Rock Honors. a In August 2006, the third single released from Move Along, "It Ends Tonight", was released. The video for "It Ends Tonight" debuted in the UK on August 28, 2006. "It Ends Tonight" debuted at number 10 on the VH1 Top 20 countdown. The video also made its into the top 10 on TRL. The band has toured around the U.S. with Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne Heights, From First to Last, The Hush Sound, and October Fall on the Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour. They have recently finished a headlining tour called "Tournado" with Motion City Soundtrack, The Starting Line, The Format, Gym Class Heroes, and Boys Like Girls. To promote the band, the Rejects released a small EP, The Bite Back EP. It is currently available only on the popular music service, iTunes. The band has agreed to take the year off and rest from their tour. During New Year's Eve, the Rejects played with Fall Out Boy on MTV playing The Cars "Good times Roll"

2007–present: Promotion and future plans

In 2007, The All-American Rejects teamed up with Danny Elfman to create the song "The Future Has Arrived" for the Disney animated film Meet the Robinsons. The band is due to play at the Give it a Name Festival in the UK in early 2007. They also played Quadmania in Baltimore, Maryland on April 20, 2007, at Cornell University on April 22, 2007, and at Art Attack at University of Maryland College Park on May 4, 2007. The band also performed at the Antelope Valley Fair and Alfalfa Festival in Lancaster, California on August 30, 2007. The band also have a new DVD released on July 17, 2007 featuring performances from the "Tournado" tour and other extra content. Ritter and Wheeler have played with Bon Jovi on MTV Unplugged on June 22 and have also aired on VH1 on June 23, and on CMT on June 24. The band recently confirmed that they would spend the summer working on their third studio album. Ritter says that "We definitely are a band that tries to get the biggest-sounding record out there, and we're gonna try again. But I don't anticipate it being as slick as Move Along. I think it's gonna be in-between the first and second records as far as sound goes." On July 13, 2007, the "Dance Inside" music video premiered on Yahoo! Music. On August 5, 2007, they apperared on the TV show "Schooled" where students from New Milford High School in New Milford, New Jersey were pranked and then surprised by a concert by the All-American Rejects.^[2] On August 12, 2007, an ingame concert by the band was going to premiere in the MMORPG Anarchy Online but was postponed to a date yet to be released due to technical difficulties. [1] The band will open for Bon Jovi on November 9, and November 10 as part of Bon Jovi's 10-night stand to open The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The third album is slated for a release during the fourth quarter of 2008. In an interview, Nick Wheeler stated that they currently have 8 songs written for their next record. Tyson Ritter said in an interview with MTV that the title of the album will most likely be Remember Us? But it was said as a joke. On November 16, 2007, the All-American Rejects took stage at the Oklahoma Centennial Spectacular concert at the Ford Center celebrating Oklahoma's 100th Birthday. They played their hit song, "Move Along." At the conclusion of the song, Tyson Ritter did a personalized good bye to the people of Oklahoma, serenading an elderly man in the crowd. The band received a standing ovation. They have appeared in the December 2007 issue of Alternative Press, where the band's third album made the list of the most anticipated albums of 2008 On December 25, 2007, the All-American Rejects had two songs put up for download to play in the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 game, Rock Band. The songs were the singles Move Along and Dirty Little Secret. Normally, songs are downloaded for $1.99, but since these were put on for a Christmas present to the fans, they were put up for download at a lower price of 99 cents.

Members

Current members

• Tyson Ritter – vocals, bass guitar, piano
• Nick Wheeler – guitar, vocals, keyboards
• Mike Kennerty – guitar, vocals
• Chris Gaylor – drums, percussion

Discography

Albums

EPs

DVDs

Singles

* Dirty Little Secret was Re-released in 2006 in the UK and made it to number 18 on the UK singles chart, which was better than its previous peak of 96.

B-Side and Other tracks

• "Happy Endings" (Demo) – on official AAR website
• "Swing, Swing" (DJ Loopy Remix) – on official AAR website
• "The Cigarette Song" – released on non-U.S. versions of The All-American Rejects (2002)
• "Eyelash Wishes" and "Kiss Yourself Goodbye" – released on non-U.S. versions of Move Along (2005)
• "Bite Back" – released on the single of "Dirty Little Secret" and on the iTunes The Bite Back EP (2006)
• "The Future Has Arrived" – released on the original soundtrack to Meet the Robinsons (2007)
• "Mona Lisa" – a track on AAR's upcoming 3rd studio album (2008)
• "Damn, Girl" – a track on AAR's upcoming 3rd studio album (2008)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Biography by MTV.com
2. ^ http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-schooledpremiereallamericanrejects,0,197240.story

External links

• Official website
• AAR On RecCenter.com
• Interview on TruePunk.com
• All-American Rejects Myspace
• Trash the Stage interview with Nick and Mike
• The All-American Rejects Interview at SaintRockNRoll.com
• All American Reject Becomes Big-Screen 'Boy'
• The All-American Rejects at Rolling Stone