The All-American Rejects: ‘We need to hold artists responsible for ticket prices’

‘Putting this album out felt like a necessity,’ Tyson Ritter tells us.

‘The thought of going back to one of those ivory towers to take some money from them and do it the way they wanted to…that was the biggest recoil for us.’

The All-American Rejects are revisiting the scene that shaped them, independently releasing Sandbox, their first album in 14 years, and pulling in thousands of fans through wild house party concerts. You know, the ones with the swimming pools and red cups full of cheap beer that you see in movies.

But what’s taken so long? The band that brought us classic emo anthems like Swing, Swing, Dirty Little Secret, and Move Along, are doing things differently this time around.

Speaking to Metro from a ‘f*****g freezing’ Coldwater, Michigan, guitarist Nick Wheeler, 44, and singer Tyson, 42, explain why they’re more than happy to be considered a ‘band of the people’.

‘In the last couple of years, we really found ourselves as we are, which is a blue-collar rock band. We’ve been the Rejects for 20 or some years,’ Tyson reminisces.

And despite pressure within the industry to switch things up and go in a different direction, the band have remained defiantly loyal to their roots by sticking it to the man.

‘When Interscope was bought out by some foreign trust company, they were like, “You know, we’d love for you to go into the studio with these writers and make a modern sound for the band,”’ Tyson tells us.

‘Like, f**k you. No. Well, it was more like, “No, thank you, goodbye!”’ I don’t feel like we ever succumbed to any of the pressures or expectations of the “market”. We’re talking about art here. The fact you can commodify your fans, that’s the game now.

‘We’ve taken three years to make Sandbox. It’ll probably take us another three to make another record, and we’ll be proud of that one too. It won’t be because we’ve succumbed to the pressure of doing a record with Benny Blanco (laughs).’

Of course the landscape has dramatically changed from when I saw the rock quartet on the 2003 Vans Warped Tour, where they said they cut their teeth and watched their crowds grow organically thanks to radio shoutouts and $20 ticket prices.

It’s one of the reasons the band, made up of Tyson, Nick, Chris Gaylor and Mike Kennerty, say they’re keen to reimagine intimate gigs.

‘We started doing house parties because we wanted to get back at eye level with our audience in the spaces that we started playing. We had very little capital to make any noise within the avenues and current landscape of marketing for music. We’re self-funded, we’re self-produced. It turned into something we didn’t expect.

‘And that surprise empowered another thought which was… “Oh, why is this happening?” This realisation that people need intimacy again, people are tired of having their bank accounts run dry,’ Tyson remarks.

The band knows all too well how the likes of Taylor Swift and Oasis have faced backlash for astronomical ticket pricing, but have very little sympathy.

Dynamic pricing – where ticket prices rise and fall depending on demand – has long been adopted by hotel companies and airlines among others, but has recently been used for major sport and entertainment events.

‘How has it become less expensive to go overseas to see your favourite band than just see them in your own city?,’ Nick questions, before Tyson interjects: ‘We’re at a point with this conversation where the responsibility, especially in the headliner, falls on the artists.

‘It’s on the fans to say, well, does my favourite artist need to make $75, 000,000 this summer? Or could they make $30,000,000? Is that enough money for you?’

The singer adds: ‘It’s become a one-percenter’s experience, and I think that’s f****d up, because the people who love music the most, the people who need music the most, are the people that are hand-to-mouth, the people that come from where we’re from.

‘It shouldn’t just be a District 1 Hunger Games kind of luxury to go to concerts.

‘That type of artist, their audience will pay whatever, because they set that lifestyle of extravagance. We need to hold artists responsible.’

The band are now tapping into uncharted territory by allowing fans to summon them to their city to play backyards, bowling alleys, and beyond, and reckon their house parties can fix a broken industry.

‘I actually saw something on the news the other day about the death of the house party – kids just don’t do them anymore, so they aren’t getting to experience this thing that we grew up seeing on TV and in movies,’ Nick explains.

‘The cops have been called a few times but otherwise neighbours have generally been cool. Some of them have gotten so big that we couldn’t get everybody in, and the other night there were some tussles out in the street.’

Tyson has even gone as far as launching Playhouse, a platform he hopes can redefine touring for up-and-coming talent.

‘We’re having to gatekeep it like (celebrity dating app) Raya right now,’ he laughs.

‘We’ve had over 6,000 artists sign up and 15,000 venues. We all crave intimacy and unique experiences instead of the same nosebleed experience. I’m hopeful we can at least scream into the vacuum of this problem and maybe make some noise.’

With upcoming UK tour dates on the horizon (their first in over 10 years) and a performance at Download Festival, the band know they don’t need to worry about a lack of energy across the pond.

‘There’s a couple of muddy fields on the agenda,’ Nick says. ‘But there’s never a crowd like the UK. Concerts are almost religious experiences out there.’

‘There’s a lot of talk about doing a house party when we’re in London. We’ll make sure to bring our own red cups.’

The All-American Rejects’ new album, Sandbox, is out now. They head out on their European and UK tour in June.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.