The All American Rejects Interview
How long have you been on the Warped Tour now?
Today would be day 13 I believe.
What’s next for the Rejects after this tour?
We have a couple of days off, but nothing that constitutes a break. Then we go to Europe to do some festivals. Then we come back to the U.S. for some dates. After that we go back to the U.K. for a headlining tour with Motion City Soundtrack, then Japan and Australia and back for Christmas.
Did you ever expect the response to the album you have been getting?
I always knew it was going to get huge. No. You always hope for it and we believe in what we do. We don’t know how to do anything else. We were banking on this album, but we didn’t think it was going to happen.
What was the story behind your album deal?
With Doghouse, there was a story. We sent out a bunch of unsolicited demos, and the girl who was the president’s sister in law had a summer job there going through all of the demos. She liked it and she passed it on to Dirk, the president of Doghouse. He listened to the first 30 seconds of it then said no. Then she came back and said “you really have to listen to this.” So they listened to the whole thing and they liked it and they came to us.
What festivals are you doing?
Reading and Leeds for sure. And a regular date in Spain. One in Belgium and Berlin maybe. One in Portugal too I think. Crazy places.
Where did you come up with the concept for the artwork on the album?
If you have seen the Doghouse cover, you know we needed a new concept. The deadline was coming up so we got one of our friends from high school and took her out to Tyson’s grandparents house which has a random junkyard in the background. We just took pictures of shit. That was Tyson’s go-kart from when he was little that his dad made.
When you went into the studio, did you have the material down already?
Yeah. We went in after having laid down some demos and racks. We just went into the studio to recreate it in a better more professional atmosphere. We just played the songs. We wrote the songs one at a time until we had enough for an album. There was a place for every song.
How did you begin to play guitar?
My mom wouldn’t let me have a Nintendo, she got me a guitar instead. I actually use it on the album. The acoustic guitar all over the album is the one I got when I was six or seven. It sounds great even though it’s a cheap Martin knock-off.
What equipment do you use?
Me (Nick) and Mikey both play out of Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier Heads. Tyson plays out of an Ampeg SVT classic. I use a Mesa cabinet and Mikey uses a Marshall cabinet. Tyson uses Ampeg cabs. Mikey plays SG’s. Tyson plays Epiphone V basses. I’ve got a bunch of Fenders strats and teles. I’ve got a Les Paul. Each one is in a different tuning. I did it to myself (laughs).
Have there been any dates of the tour that have really stood out?
Florida was bad-ass because of the beach. For two dates we were right on the beach. We just played and skipped out on everything else and went to the beach. Another place we played right on the ocean, you would look out into the ocean and see sharks and stingrays. I saw a dolphin and a manta ray. The show was good too. Show-wise Milwaukee (yesterday) was kick-ass. There was a lot of people out there.
What pre-Rejects jobs have you had?
I (Chris) delivered pizza right before. Before that I was a home theater TV technician/outside distribution manager, which is a cool name for delivery guy. I made that up. I delivered big screens and refrigerators and stuff by myself 60 hours a week. It sucked. Everyone who worked there was nice, but it was a bad job. Me (Nick) and Mikey worked in guitar stores. Tyson washed golf carts.
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