Formed in 1999, The All-American Rejects are currently celebrating their 25th year as a band by embarking on another tour. Despite AAR’s lengthy catalog of timeless albums and hit singles like the Platinum-selling “Gives You Hell” and “Move Along” to their credit, the band is still actively performing and releasing new music. Their most recent release is a cover of Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta.”
On December 12, The All-American Rejects will headline a night of FM 102/1’s “Big Snow Show 18” at The Rave / Eagles Club with opening support by Andrew McMahon (performing solo), Mod Sun, and Dexter And The Moonrocks. Prior to the band’s second Milwaukee stop of 2024, Milwaukee Record asked Rejects guitarist and co-founding member Nick Wheeler about this tour, learning to embrace social media and streaming, and his thoughts on the new wave of pop-punk and emo bands.
Milwaukee Record: With the music industry changing rapidly due to social media and streaming platforms since the band’s inception in ’99, what is the band’s overall opinion on this?
Nick Wheeler: It’s crazy to think that when the band started in the late 1900’s, there was no MySpace, Facebook, iTunes, YouTube, or social media of any kind. For a while there, it felt like we were playing catch-up and learning as we went—along with the rest of the music industry. But it’s an exciting time for us right now because we have the means to record and release our own music without any gatekeepers like a label or anything like that. Starting with our recent cover of “Flagpole Sitta,” and hopefully more original music to follow soon.
MR: What do you think about this new wave of pop punk and emo, the new resurgence of this genre in line with AMR’s music, and younger generations gravitating towards music like yours?
NW: I think the nostalgia of emo and pop-punk is great for bands like ours, and we have festivals like When We Were Young to thank for reinvigorating our fans, as well as us as a band. We’ve always felt a little on the fringe being from a non-scene town in Oklahoma, so it’s always fun to be embraced in those circles. But it’s also great to get to play with other alternative bands like we are at The Rave this week!
MR: Having played many, many shows and being seasoned tourers, what’s the most exciting thing about this tour for you guys?
NW: Having primarily done fly dates for the last several years, any chance we have to get on a bus and be around each other for an extended period of time is always a blast. That’s actually how we came up with the idea to cover “Flagpole Sitta”—on a bus, late one night. I’m also pretty excited to be somewhere cold and to feel a little extra Christmas-y this year.
The All-American Rejects will headline the Thursday, December 12 installment of FM 102/1’s “Big Snow Show 18” at The Rave / Eagles Club. Tickets are available HERE.
Want more Milwaukee Record? Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and/or support us on Patreon.