YAB Interview: Mike Kennerty, All-American Rejects

Note from Meredith: Today’s Youth Advisory Board post is especially exciting for a couple of reasons. For one, it kicks off the first in a series of interviews we’ve arranged with the help of Interscope Records between some pretty big name artists and members of the board. And two, it marks the board’s official foray into music coverage—we have also been working with the publicists at EMI to get YAB members CDs to review (Watch out for fellow YAB member Michael Hayball’s review of the new Hot Chip album later this week). On both counts, I’d say we’re off to a great start!

If you are a publicist and would like to arrange an artist interview with our Youth Advisory Board and/or send CDs to review, please email me. To give our board feedback on reviews, leave a comment or write to them directly via email: youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com.

YAB Interview: Mike Kennerty, All-American Rejects

Ypulse Youth Advisory Board: What is the origin of your band name?

Mike Kennerty: You think of any story out of the blue and it would outdo the real version of where the name came from.  Let’s just say, bored kids come up with long names that stick!

YAB: Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?

MK: I hope still doing exactly what I’m doing right now.  That would be nice!

YAB: Have you considered diversifying into a new genre of music, or even another language?

MK: A different language would be tough.  None of us are well versed in any other languages, but it would probably be funny to hear us try. But with our new record “When the World Comes Down” I do feel like we’ve explored some sounds outside of what people might expect from us.  We didn’t set out to make a different style record or anything, but we’ve also never limited ourselves with our writing.  This new record is the result.  It still fits into the cannon of our band, but is definitely a good step forward in our evolution.

YAB: Who were you in high school (If you did fit any stereotype)?

MK: I was an unpopular, punk kid.  But I liked being that.  I was always fairly confident in who I was.  You gotta be.

YAB: If you could go to anyone’s concert, dead or alive, who would it be?

MK:
There were so many bands I grew up listening to that had broken up years before I got into them, so to pick one is hard.  Maybe Misfits with Danzig.

Newsletter readers: Visit Ypulse.com to read the entire interview.

YAB: What are you trying to communicate with your new album?

MK: Our goals with our albums are always first and foremost to please ourselves.  That being said, in the same way this record accidentally ended up being our most diverse record, it also unintentionally ended up being our most centrally themed.  Or at least that’s how others are interpreting it, so who are we to argue.  It’s an album that highlights hope in often dark times.  What “dark times” means is different for every person, but as long as someone can find meaning in our songs, then that makes us happy.

YAB: What have you noticed about how your fan base has evolved from 2002-2008?

MK: It has become very diverse.  We really have every type of person coming out to our shows now.  There was a middle-aged couple who came out the other night on a date.  We love to see stuff like that.

YAB: What is your favorite song on your newest album, When the World Comes Down?

MK: That’s a tough one… I think right now I’m digging a song called “Breakin’.”  Its got a groove we’ve never had in a song before.  Makes me happy when I listen to it

* The first three questions were asked by Akanksha Aurora, the second three are from Caroline Marques, and the last two are from Nina L.

P.S. Photo of All-American Rejects courtesy of Rhino. Check out their official site here.

About Akanksha
By the time she got to the much-dreaded, self-esteem destroying wasteland also known as high-school, Akanksha began to develop an interest in writing. Suddenly, all the words she ever knew began to creep into her dreams, and discover all her darkest thoughts and feelings, before silently but permanently immersing themselves within her soul and transforming themselves into fiction. In addition to that, the French language is her drug and acne is her worst enemy. She laughs a little too much and is a romantic in the extreme sense.

About Caroline

Caroline is a high school student in Geneva, Switzerland. While Caroline lists sports, music and travelling as her hobbies, she also very much enjoys writing and reading. After being a teen adviser for NickMag, she thought Ypulse would be the perfect opportunity for a new start. While trying to keep up with the trends (or setting some of her own), dance classes, working on long papers and trying to master three new languages, she rarely has time to write the novel she wishes she could finish, though she is certain one day she will. Writing is never far from her thoughts.

About Nina L.
Nina is a freshman in high school in Washington state. She plays the flute in the school band. Even though she’s not as writing inclined as the other board members, Nina is the youngest of the group and may share an opinion with a younger audience. Nina is very interested in fashion, new technology and teen culture. Having three and a half sisters (an exchange sister for the year) she knows a lot about how teenage girls interact with each other and their parents. Nina ‘s biggest love is music, either classical or contemporary, it doesn’t matter. She cares about all of it.