THEY were down for the MTV World Stage and are back again a mere three months later. Is it our water?
Probably not.
Looking tired and a little edgy but still retaining their good-natured and accommodating attitude, Tyson and Nick were busy signing merchandise when this reporter walked into the interview room.
First things first. What was up with that cover of Britney Spears’ Womanizer which the boys did for Pepsi a while back? “We didn’t actually want to do that song, but it had to be a ‘Top 20’ hit so…” explained Tyson, rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, we threw out a couple of ideas… they’re like no, then ‘why don’t you just do Womanizer?’”, said Nick shrugging.
“We asked ‘are you going to put our song on the front-page of Yahoo too?’ They said ‘yes’ so we were like ‘okay whatever’.”
It may not have been their first choice, but it was definitely one to remember, especially the use of beer bottles by drummer Chris Gaylor and Tyson on accordion.
“Yeah that was a last minute addition. The shoot was early in the morning so we had our tour manager drink all the beer,” grinned Nick.
The pair also recently collaborated with Rivers Cuomo for a song in Weezer’s upcoming Raditude album.
“It was great! Surreal,” said Tyson.
“We love to work with whoever comes our way and wants a Rejects song,” Tyson replied.
When it comes to music videos, the band’s had their fair share of crazy antics, but the most recent shoot for I Wanna proved to be their most enjoyable.
“Paul Hunter (the director) was really fun to work with, the whole production was so elaborate and crazy,” recalled Tyson. “Yeah it was a party,” Nick added.
“We just got to hang out and party for two days.” The video also featured some pigs. Knowing the Rejects, they might have done something funny to the animals.
“No… maybe we should have tried to skin them?” said Tyson.
“We had them for breakfast on the third day,” replied Nick with a straight face. More probing revealed that they didn't, really.
So what’s their approach when it comes to making music videos?
“We can be control freaks and we definitely are when it comes to our music. But as far as the videos go, I mean, I’m not a very visual person. I like to see what directors come up with because when I’m thinking about our songs, I’m thinking about how it came about, how to play it, the vibe that was going on when we recorded it,” explained Nick.
“When we worked with Mark Webb (for the Move Along video), we sort of had this visceral relationship where it was back and forth. So it pretty much depends on the director and how much trust there is,” added Tyson.
He picked the video for The Wind Blows as his favourite one to date, because “it was cinematic, beautiful. Had a sort of elegance to it that our other videos didn’t have.
“The funnest one to make though,” interjected Nick, “was It Ends Tonight because we got to shoot off fireworks for 48 hours straight! The only thing that sucked was, it was a night shoot.”
They seem to love going to different locations for their music videos, so it begs to be asked about their experience in Malaysia.
“The fans are very, very loud when it comes to the show or at the meet and greet but then very reserved and polite when you speak to them in person,” said Tyson
“So it’s a good mixture there.” So, fans in Malaysia are fine. So which country holds their craziest fans? That took some time to decide. “Taipei?
They were crazy in their own way that’s for sure,” said Nick, “I’d say overall, we got to play in Jakarta recently and Indonesian fans are very die-hard. Like I’ll post like a Tweet about nothing and 27 people from Indonesia will reply ‘come back here and play here again!’. A good problem to have.”
Travelling all over the world and recording songs whenever possible, The Rejects sure have a full schedule. In fact, according to the boys, they’ve been working for eight years straight. Ouch! Any plans for a vacation?
“Well the problem is the longest time we took off for was six weeks and that happened once and we almost went crazy. It’s weird, we’ll take two weeks off and then we’ll start itching to go do something but then once we start, it’s like ‘get me home’”, said Nick.
The boys also revealed that they’re already starting to think about their next album. “Something a little different it’ll be interesting,” said Nick.
“There’s never really any planning, and we’ve never been a band to force things.” Planning to go experimental with the music? “Oh no, not with the music, but more a different approach to making the album. We’ve always approached each album differently.”
Despite their hectic schedule, the Rejects do find some time during their tours to relax and enjoy the scenery.
“Oh yeah! I’m going sight-seeing. Anything besides seeing the inside of a hotel room,” said Tyson, perking up What about food? Turns out, the last time the boys were down, every dish they sampled had oyster sauce in it.
“Every Malaysian dish we tasted, had oyster sauce in it! Oyster omelette and that ice thing with beans…” said Tyson exasperated (he obviously doesn’t like oyster sauce).
Hang on! They think all Malaysian food has oyster sauce in it? Let’s hope someone introduced them to laksa or nasi lemak before they left.
Rise (and screams) of the A.A.R.MY
THE diehards were there since 9am (with doors opening at 6pm). By 8pm, a 15,000 strong crowd packed
Carpark A of Bukit Jalil in anticipation of the The All-American Reject’s (AAR) second concert in Malaysia since MTV World Stage in August - courtesy of DiGi Music Live.
An interesting fact - this was the band’s biggest concert ever, as the headlining act (previously playing to 40,000 strong crowds but merely as the opening act).
Luckily, the cool weather and slight drizzle eased the wait for fans (who showed their displeasure with screams of “why are we waiting?”) as the opening acts only kicked off at 8.30pm. (...)
However, the wait was soon over as AAR took to the stage at 9.40pm riding on a wave of hysterical screams (that would be from the female teeny-boppers) and roars (from the rest of the crowd).
“Happy Halloween where we’re from!” Tyson yelled out,
dressed for the occasion in body glitter topped with a colourful Native American-Indian chieftain’s headdress. He launched into an impromptu dance (with native beats helpfully supplied by drummer Chris) before beginning the set with Move Along.
Quite a few fans were also in Halloween mode complete with costumes, which delighted Tyson who took a few minutes to check out the crowd.
“Oh I think I see a witch and you there, I don’t know what you are but you’re scaring the sh*t out of me!”.
Naturally, sing-a-longs lagged with the lesser-known songs performed that night, such as Mona Lisa, Real World and Toad In "T" Minor but the crowd was in full voice for the band’s bigger hits such as Dirty Little Secret, Swing, Swing and I Wanna - sung in tune too, one might add.
“You’re the sexiest crowd I’ve ever met!” said Tyson, half-way through the set. Oh shucks, bet you say that to every crowd you meet.
The hour-long set was tight, interspersed with Tyson’s signature antics and the synergy of the band’s on-stage performance, a credit to the long years spent touring together.
The contrast between the audio for the opening acts and AAR really showed. Good thing they brought their own gear?
Returning for an encore with The Wind Blows and Gives You Hell, the band wrapped things up on a high note.
Unfortunately there were no screams for more as by then, a tired and happy crowd were focused on one thing the meet and greet session which took place directly after the concert.
All-in-all, despite the wait, it was a high-octane night full of good head-bopping music. Come back anytime boys, we’ll be waiting.
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