AJR Brothers

Q) How did you piece together and create the song “I’m Ready?”

A) It was about four or five months before we put together the song and Jack came to me with the idea to sample “SpongeBob.” He was saying, “Maybe Skrillex or David Guetta should use SpongeBob as kind of the moment before the big drop and kind of do an ironic throwback to the days of SpongeBob.” At the time, I was like, “Oh, that sounds good.” Then, it was actually during Hurricane Sandy last year our power was out. So, I grabbed my computer and my keyboard and I went up to my Columbia University dorm room. I started composing the song there and then I brought it back to our living room and we recorded everything. The goal with that song was to do something that sounded so weird and bizarre that people knew it couldn’t have been made in a conventional studio. So, we decided to throw in all of our influences, which is doo-wop, The Beach Boys and stuff like that. We love Dubstep, SpongeBob, there are tempo changes. We just wanted to make something so bizarre and weird that it would catch peoples’ attention.

Q) It seems like all of you are really hands-on with the production of the music. What is it like getting to work together?

A) We’ve been doing this so long. We actually started out as street performers eight or nine years ago. Since then, we have been just writing and producing out of our living room. I think we always kind of imagined that those would be demo tracks that we would eventually (when we got signed) give to some big shot producer who would do it better than we did it. Our manager discovered us on Twitter and introduced us to this guy Steve Greenberg. He said, “These songs you are making sound like they are finished songs. They sound like charming, weird little finished songs.” We realized at that point that we could make the record and the entire album in our living room, using only our hands that have touched it. It’s really a collaboration. I do the writing and the production, but it really is a collaboration. We all have kind of the same vision for the band and it comes together like that.

Q) Why was now the right time to release “I’m Ready?”

A) We released the song last summer and it’s actually taken this long growing it. We released the song without a label. We were able to sell one hundred thousand singles without a label. Then, at some point, a whole bunch of labels came to us. We decided to go with Warner Brothers because we have this incredible deal where we continue do the creative stuff on our side. It’s a joint venture with them and we’re able to do all the creative stuff on our side and then Warner Brothers will do the marketing. So, we actually released the song last year and it took a while for it to boil up come into the culture. Now, it’s very cool timing because it is rising just as summer is about to begin. We didn’t write it as a summer song, but it seems to have really become that.

Q) How has social media played a role in gaining the group a following?

A) We realized from the beginning that the fact we were doing this without a label for so long, we knew how important social media was going to be – Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. So, we based our music video around it. We kind of did a song going viral in the world and the youth as the backdrop of that. It’s been incredibly important to maintain a close connection with each fan. Even as we get bigger and bigger, it is important for us to respond to every fan that writes to us and really establish that connection because that’s the kind of thing you can only do now. When The Beach Boys were around they couldn’t communicate with each fan separately. So, that’s a good way to connect with people.

Q) How can fans help with the promotion of your music?

A) Follow us and all our social media is @TheAJRBrothers. Tell friends about us and come to our live shows We’re actually going on tour with Lindsey Stirling this summer and you can check our website for details on that at http://www.AJRBrothers.com.

Q) What’s it like getting to tour with other bands? You have some new celebrity fans.

A) We did a tour with rapper Hoodie Allen in the UK for a couple of dates. We were just talking to some artists who say they really like our music. It’s incredible, like, “You guys know us, let alone like us?!” It’s very cool and we’re looking forward to meeting other artists and having discussions about music.

Q) What do you hope take away from your music?

A) We were a very small band for a very long time so I think it is just really important for fans to keep supporting the bands that they love, no matter how small they are. You have the power to change these guys’ lives and, hopefully, the music industry. Being original is really important to us, as is coming up with sounds and ideas that have not been done before that are not on the radio right now. So, it just means the world to us that you guys are on board with us and care about what we are doing.

Q) Is there anything about you that your fans may not be aware of about the band or may surprise them?

A) I know Jack really loves pingpong. Adam is an avid reader. I’m really into filmmaking.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your music?

A) Keep supporting bands you love and thank you so much for all you’ve done for us. In 2014, the only way for bands to rise is if bands really care. There is no way to fake that anymore. So, it really means a lot that you guys care about what we’re doing.

*ALL QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY RYAN MET*