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Catching UP with the Rejects' Mike Kennerty
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by Courtney Campbell
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The All-American Rejects' third album, When the World Comes Down, was released in late 2008. The band has hit big with their first single "Gives You Hell" as it peaked at Number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Number 2 on Pop 100 charts, as well as in the top twenty of the UK Singles chart and number three on the Australian ARIA Singles chart. Currently out on the road with Shiny Toy Guns, Ace Enders and Vedera in tow, guitarist Mike Kennerty took some time to answer some questions for us. The band will be in our area for two shows. The first is Tigerfest at Towson University on the 25th of April and then on the 28th of April at the 9:30 club.
ER: There was a large gap of time between this album and the last. In an industry where a band is judged by their last hit single, what pressure did you feel in getting this album written and recorded?
Mike:As far as the timeliness goes, we didn't really feel that pressure. Well, the label was bugging us pretty early on, but we just ignored them. We proved with "Move Along" that we could go away for awhile and people would still come back to us as long as we put together quality songs. We definitely aren't a band that shits out records in order to capitalize on a current momentum or to placate anybody. At the end of the day, we have to be the most happy with what we do, 
and there's no compromising on how that is achieved. The pressure we did feel came from trying to grasp that happiness with our own work. We had a lot of people very confident in "When the World Comes Down" far before it was truly realized. People who had questioned "Move Along" up to the final moments of its completion. So it really made us question those people's intentions and whether we really were making a good record. There was a lot of self-doubt and harsh criticism on ourselves, and it took a lot of hair-pulling to get through it, but by the time we finally finished the last mix, we had finally come to really appreciate what we'd done. We're really happy with it.
ER:With the road trips/bus trips, etc it sounded like you guys were taking things back to basic. What would you say you learned about yourself in the process that surprised you?
Mike:If anything, we learned that we cannot be in a comfortable place to make music. We have to be taken out of our element, and that discomfort brings about the motivation and torment it takes to write a song. We also learned that you can't expect to do things the same way twice. Just cause we had luck with the process we fell into making "Move Along" did not mean it was going to work again. We learned that one the hard way.
ER: Went with a different producer for this album. Why the change?
Mike: Howard (Benson) has his way of making a record. It can be sorta like an assembly line. I'm not saying its a bad way of doing things, but just not what was right for us this time around. We needed to work with someone who was going to put in the time with us to let the songs develop, cause we didn't have the final products going in like we did when we worked with Howard. Eric (Valentine) was perfect for that. He had the patience and attitude that matched us perfectly. His processes are more time consuming, but in the end it made for the best record possible, and that's all that matters. It really was a blast.
ER: You guys did a cover of Britney Spear's "Womanizer" and made it your own. Who would you like to see cover an AAR song and what song?
Mike: I wanna see Britney do our version of "Womanizer." All her costumes lately would make a lot more sense with our version.
ER: Quite a few bands have announced they were getting back together and touring - limp bizkit, no doubt, blink 182, Jane's Addiction, rumours of Creed, Who would you like to see get back together and tour?
Mike:A lot of my favorite bands growing up are doing the same thing: ALL, Screeching Weasel, etc... But I would love to get the chance to see Discount again. I know it probably won't happen, but it would be great.
ER: Hit songs, platinum records - what goals do you have still that you want to accomplish?
Mike:Honestly, at this point it's all about just continuing on. We've had every dream and then some fulfilled, so if we can just keep doing what we do and be a band, that's all I care about. I have the best job I could ever ask for.
ER: So what do you want to be doing when the world comes down?
Mike:Sitting with my lady and my friends, eating food from my favorite mexican joint, drinking some Dr. Pepper, listening to punk rock tunes me and said lady and friends grew up listening to, and watch the shit go down.
AAR photo by Danny Clinch
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