With The All-American Rejects‘ comeback continuing into 2026 with AAR’s first album since 2012, Sandbox, which arrives in May, band members Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler stopped by the Billboard House @ SXSW on Friday (March 13).
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In a conversation with Billboard co-chief content officer Jason Lipshutz, the band members discussed a range of topics, including shifting to an independent model in the current landscape after dominating the mainstream, their viral backyard tour, and making their first album nearly 14 years ago.
Clips from performances on the backyard tour took over social media and packed on a heavy dose of nostalgia and brought the band closer together.
“While we were in the belly of that beast, when we were a week in and it was popping off, it felt like we were holding the tail of the dragon, man,” Ritter raved. “Those shows were the greatest things I’ve ever been a part of, let alone been to, let alone performed in.”
The idea for the backyard tour across America came from their manager, Meghan Kraemer. “That created something — especially being from Oklahoma — it felt like the shows we were playing when we were kids,” Ritter added.
After dominating the 2000s with Interscope Records, the band chose to pursue an independent route for its new music out of necessity.
“Nobody wanted to touch us,” Ritter revealed. “Nobody wanted to really roll the dice on us as far as new music is concerned, including the management we had at the time… Independence was what we had to do to continue the story of this band.”
With their first album in 13 years, Ritter and Wheeler focused on ensuring the band could grow its artistry through new music, rather than attempting to recreate the magic of decades past.
“My fear for this band was can we grow together musically? The last thing we wanted to do was reach into some bag and be like, ‘Cool, this looks just like it used to and sounds like it used to, let’s go make a transactional experience for our fans of the lackluster watered-down concentrate of the juice they were drinking 20 years ago,” Ritter continued. “I’m happy I believe in what we’re doing.”
Wheeler echoed a similar sentiment. “That’s the only reason we’re doing it. We would’ve been happy to ride off into the sunset and play state fairs and casinos,” the guitarist said. “We always said we wouldn’t even attempt this again unless we really wanted to and we were excited about it and wanted to challenge ourselves again.”
In addition to panel conversations all weekend, Billboard House is also hosting daily performers, with Dizzy Fae, Alicia Creti, Kairo Keyz and Babyfxce E taking the stage on Friday’s day 1. DJ Cortez also provided daytime sounds for the space.
Look for Sandbox to arrive on May 15. Watch the full interview with The All-American Rejects here.
