5 things to know about indie-pop band AJR
The Met brothers have the hit single "Weak."
— -- Ten years ago the Met brothers, Adam, Jack and Ryan, formed the band AJR and started out busking in New York City's Washington Square Park. Since then, the indie-pop trio has found mainstream success with hit singles like “Weak,” opened up for artists like Demi Lovato and sold out their own U.S. headline tour.
Now the group is gearing up for the second leg of their “What Everyone’s Thinking” tour and the release of their new full length album, “The Click.”
Here are five things you need to know about AJR:
1. The band’s musical influences include Frankie Valli, The Beach Boys and Kanye WestMuch of the group’s close dynamic and musical chemistry comes from the fact that the brothers share the same influences. In addition to drawing inspiration from artists of the 1960s, including Frankie Valli, The Beach Boys, and Simon & Garfunkel, the brothers say that they are also influenced by modern hip hop and the sounds of Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar.
2. The group writes, records and produces all of their own music from their living roomUsing the money they made from busking, the AJR brothers bought a bass, a ukulele and a sampler to bring back to the living room of their New York City apartment, where they have been making their music ever since. The group says that their ability to have free reign over their music allows them to be as honest as possible with their fans.
“There’s no facade anymore between us and our fans...Nobody’s telling us you have to make this kind of music, or you have to use this kind of imaging. It’s been a really interesting process trying to find our own voice, but we feel like fans are responding to that because they got to go on that journey of us figuring out who we are with us,” bassist and vocalist Adam Met said.
3. They wrote their hit song “Weak” in a dayWhen the group wrote their single “Weak” in just a few hours in their living room, they had no idea how successful the song would become. AJR says that they wanted to make more songs about topics not usually covered in music, leading them to write about the human tendency to give into temptation in “Weak.” Since its release the song has garnered over 150 million Spotify streams and made Top 30 charts in over 25 countries worldwide.
4. They weren’t always successfulThough AJR recently sold out the first leg of their headline tour, the brothers say that they slowly built up their fan base and were not always successful.
“Our very first show that we played I think there were 3 people in the room. And because we actually played that show for them they became lifelong fans...I think we grew because we paid attention to every single person who cared,” said Adam.
Throughout their career, there were at least 100 times where they wanted to give up. But they learned to take every rejection and failure and turn it into a learning opportunity. The brothers say that it was this kind of mindset that allowed to them to keep going and create better music for their fans.
5. The brothers serve as ambassadors for the It’s On Us campaign to fight sexual assault on campusThe Met brothers have been vocal about their support for the campaign, which was first launched by President Obama and Vice President Biden in 2014 to end sexual assault on college campuses. AJR performed at the final It’s On Us Summit at the White House in January and released the song “It’s On Us” for the campaign in March. All proceeds from the single will directly support the campaign’s efforts to bring more sexual assault prevention education initiatives to college campuses across the country.
For more on AJR, check out the full episode of "Live From the Couch" above.
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