AJR (band)

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AJR
AJR (band) on VOA.png
AJR performing in 2015
Background information
OriginManhattan, New York, U.S.
Genres
Years active2005–present
Labels
Websiteajrbrothers.com
Members
  • Adam Met
  • Jack Met
  • Ryan Met

AJR is an American indie pop trio composed of multi-instrumentalist brothers Adam, Jack, and Ryan Met. Their most successful songs include "I'm Ready", "Sober Up", "Burn the House Down", "Way Less Sad", "100 Bad Days", "Weak", and "Bang!".[2] In 2019, their third album Neotheater debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200,[3] and hit number one on the Top Rock Albums chart.[3] "Bang!" is their highest-charting song and only song to reach the top 10, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 22, 2021.[4]

The name "AJR" comes from the first initials of the three brothers, Adam, Jack, and Ryan. The band writes, produces, and mixes their music in the living room of their apartment in New York City.[5] Their musical style has been described as "eclectic", combining elements of pop, doo-wop, electronic, and dubstep.[6]

History[edit]

2005–2013: Formation and debut album[edit]

The Met brothers (born Metzger) initially began writing, producing, and mixing their own material in the living room of their Chelsea apartment in Manhattan, New York, focusing on DIY indie pop music. They began performing around 2006, busking in Central Park and Washington Square Park. Initially, Jack played the harmonica, Ryan played the piano, and Adam played the bass. They later began playing various instruments. They began by performing covers,[6] and have also put out 2 albums in 2010 and an EP in 2012 (which are now removed from all streaming services.).

In November 2012, AJR's Ryan Met tweeted a link to a video of their song "I'm Ready" to about 80 celebrities, including Australian singer Sia Furler.[6] Furler told her manager about the song, and he contacted Steve Greenberg, former president of Columbia Records and current CEO and Founder of S-Curve Records.[2] He acts as their co-manager.[6] AJR's debut single, "I'm Ready", which features a sample of SpongeBob SquarePants repeatedly singing his catchphrase "I'm ready" from the eponymous animated series' premiere episode, was commercially released on August 22, 2013.[7] The song was placed in regular rotation on Sirius XM Radio's Top 20 on 20 and Hits 1 stations,[2] and they performed the song on Good Day New York and VH1's Big Morning Buzz.[8] The official music video for "I'm Ready" premiered on VEVO on October 15, 2013.[6][9]

AJR released their debut EP, 6foot1 (later renamed I'm Ready after the band signed to Warner Music Group), on December 20, 2013. They were named Clear Channel's "Artist on the Rise" for the month of October 2013. By 2014, the band was already named IHeartRadio's Artist of the Month for Top 40 in January,[10] and a Myspace "One to Watch" in February,[11] while "I'm Ready" officially impacted pop radio in April. There are now almost 38 million YouTube views for "I'm Ready" as of February 2022. Many thousands of singles sold each week, features in Billboard and the New York Post, while climbing the Top 40 chart. "I'm Ready" hit number one on Next Big Sound's chart in May 2014. The band performed the song on Today on July 29, 2014. "I'm Ready" has been certified Platinum, in Canada and Platinum in Australia.

2014–2015: Infinity and Living Room[edit]

Main article: Living Room (AJR album)

The band's second EP, Infinity, was released on September 23, 2014. It contains 5 tracks, including the lead single "Infinity".[12] They released a lyric video for the single. A majority of the work for the video was done by AJR, including directing and producing.[13] The EP was released instead of their debut album, Living Room, which was pushed back to a release date of March 3, 2015. The band expressed the delay in their debut album was because they wanted to add some of their newer music to the project.[citation needed] Around this time, the brothers began to take on distinctive appearances. Adam grew a full beard (later he would grow his hair long), Jack also grew a beard and would wear a bomber hat (which he admits is his mother's),[14] and Ryan wore glasses, was clean shaven, and had a cowlick hairstyle. On October 23, 2015 they released a bonus track from the album called "Let The Games Begin".

2016–2018: The Click[edit]

Main article: The Click (album)

The brothers released their third EP, titled What Everyone's Thinking, on September 16, 2016, which features the lead single "Weak". The lead single was written by the band in a day, within a few hours, without any idea of the future success the single would have.[15] "Weak" had been certified Platinum in the U.S., Canada, Norway, Netherlands and Belgium, and Gold in Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Australia. It has over 500 million streams on Spotify.

The band released its second studio album, The Click, on June 9, 2017, featuring the singles "Weak", "Drama" and "Sober Up", which features frontman Rivers Cuomo from Weezer, who co-wrote the track. This song reached number one on the Mediabase Alternative Singles chart in 2018. The band's 2018 tour in support of the album, The Click Tour, featured Hundred Handed, Grizfolk, Ocean Park Standoff, and MAX as openers.[16]

In 2017, AJR released "It's On Us", a single written in collaboration with the It's On Us campaign, which was launched by Barack Obama in 2014 to combat sexual assault on college campuses across the United States.[17]

An extended version of The Click was released on September 21, 2018. The Click (Deluxe Edition) included new tracks such as "Role Models", "Normal" and "Burn the House Down", the latter which the band released in March 2018 as a single and reached number two on the Mediabase Alternative Singles chart. Also included was "Pretender – Acoustic", an acoustic version of "Pretender", which was a collaboration between AJR, EDM artist Steve Aoki and American rapper Lil Yachty.

2019: Neotheater[edit]

Main article: Neotheater

On January 30, 2019, AJR released "100 Bad Days", the first single for their then-unannounced album: Neotheater.[18] A music video was released on March 8. The song was included on Taylor Swift's Apple Music playlist, "Playlist by ME!" in May 2019. The lyrics, "maybe a hundred bad days made a hundred good stories, a hundred good stories make me interesting at parties," are used in Taylor's description of this playlist of songs she loves and appreciates. On March 5, the band teased the second single, "Birthday Party".[19] On March 11, the band announced their third studio album, Neotheater, which was to be released on April 26.[20] "100 Bad Days", was performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 11.[21] On March 11, the promotional single, "Birthday Party" was released.[22] The second single, "Dear Winter", was teased on April 1,[23] and released on April 5, with a music video being released later that same day.[24] The album debuted on April 26 at number one on Billboard's Top Alternative Albums, number one on Billboard's Top Rock Albums, and number eight on Billboard's Top 200 Albums. On October 25, the group released "Dear Winter 2.0", re-imagining the song by "changing the production and upping the emotion".[25]

2020–present: OK Orchestra[edit]

Main article: OK Orchestra

On February 12, 2020, the single "Bang!" was released, with a music video following the next day.[26] The single at its release was intended to be part of the deluxe version of their album Neotheater, but was scrapped and made the lead single for OK Orchestra.[27] A follow-up single was released on August 31, 2020, titled "Bummerland". On December 22, 2020, AJR released "My Play". AJR then took to their Twitter account and other social media accounts to announce OK Orchestra, on December 20, 2020. On February 17, 2021, the band released "Way Less Sad" with a music video on the same day. OK Orchestra was then released on March 26, 2021. The album has 13 tracks, including "Ordinaryish People" with the Blue Man Group.[28] On March 21, 2021, AJR released OKO World, an interactive game on AJR's website. The new merchandise for the album was released on March 23. Their success with the song "Bang!" lead them to win a Billboard Music Award for "Top Rock Song" In 2021. On August 30, they released a remix of "Record Player" with Daisy The Great in which they added their own verses and production.[29]

On November 24, 2021, the band released a music video for their song “The Good Part” from their 2017 album The Click. [30]

The band released a music video for "Ordinaryish People" on February 9, 2022.

On April 22, 2022, the band announced that a new song would be releasing before the OK Orchestra Tour resumed, they shared a snippet of the song along with a presave link that showed that the song was titled "???", with numerous outlets calling the song "I Won't", though it is unknown if this is the official name.

Harold and The Purple Crayon[edit]

On March 11, 2022 the band announced that they will be working in collaboration with theatre producer Vivek J. Tiwary in a Broadway adaptation of the children's book Harold and The Purple Crayon.[31] The show will be produced by Tiwary's TEG+, with original songs by the band. This adaptation will feature Harold in a later stage of life compared to the books, with the band releasing a statement saying, "“We adored Harold and The Purple Crayon growing up, and we thought: what if we saw Harold as a young adult, realizing that his problems are too profound to simply draw away,”[32][33] As of yet, no release date for the show has been announced.

Tours and concerts[edit]

  • I'm Ready Tour (2014)
  • The Infinity Tour (2014)[34]
  • Living Room Tour (2015)
  • What Everyone's Thinking Tour (2017)
  • What Everyone's Thinking Tour Part 2 (2017)[35]
  • The Click Tour (2018)[36]
  • The Click Tour Part 2 (2018)[37]
  • Neotheater World Tour (2019)[38]
  • Neotheater World Tour Part II (2020)[39] (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
  • Everything Everywhere Tour (2020)[40] (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
  • A Night in Your Car with AJR (2020)[41]
  • One Spectacular Night (2020)[42]
  • OK Orchestra Tour (ongoing, 2021-2022)
  • One More Spectacular Night (2021) (replaying of "One Spectacular Night")

AJR has opened for Fifth Harmony, Lindsey Stirling, Hoodie Allen,[43] Train, Fitz and the Tantrums, Andy Grammer, We the Kings, Demi Lovato, Ingrid Michaelson,[44] Sammy Adams, American Authors, and Melanie Martinez.

Their Neotheater World Tour took the band to Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands, Ireland, and Poland in November 2019.[38] On November 13, 2019, the group announced the Neotheater World Tour Part 2. Dates were released on November 15.

The OK Orchestra Tour also saw AJR perform in Oceania for the first time in their history.

COVID-19 alternate concerts[edit]

On May 14, 2020, the band announced the cancellation of their upcoming tours due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stating via Twitter that "it’s more important to us that [our fans] are safe".[45]

On July 21, 2020, AJR announced their drive-in show "A night in your car with AJR" which took place on August 19, 2020 in Philadelphia.[41] Two days later after the first show had sold out entirely, they announced a second show for Philadelphia which took place on August 20, 2020. This is also where they first sang their song Bummerland.[46]

On November 19, 2020, AJR announced their first virtual concert, AJR's One Spectacular Night, which took place on December 26, 2020. It was interactive, with features such as allowing you to clap after songs, change the camera you're viewing through, along with other interactive features to both simulate a typical live concert and experiment with the benefits of livestreaming.[42]

Band members[edit]

Core members[edit]

  • Adam Met – vocals, bass guitar, programming, samples, percussion
  • Jack Met – lead vocals, guitar, melodica, ukulele, drums, percussion, keyboards, synthesizers, samples, programming, cowbell
  • Ryan Met – vocals, programming, keyboards, ukulele, producing, samples

Auxiliary members[edit]

The following instrumentalists have toured[38] and recorded[47] with AJR:

Current[edit]

  • Chris Berry – drums, percussion
  • Arnetta Johnson – trumpet, keyboards[48]

Former[edit]

  • JJ Kirkpatrick – trumpet, keyboards, percussion

Personal lives[edit]

The brothers have described themselves as "culturally Jewish". Their parents, Gary Metzger and Laurie Marvald are architects. They grew up in Bayside, Queens until moving to Chelsea, Manhattan in 2002.[49] They attended the Professional Children's School in Manhattan.[6][50] Jack was a child actor, appearing in The Pink Panther 2 as well as an episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent.[51] Adam received a BA from Columbia University, majoring in business and philosophy,[52] an MA from New York University,[53] and PhD in International Human Rights Law from the University of Birmingham, while Ryan and Jack studied film at Columbia University.[54][55][56]

Ryan has synesthesia and has said it helps him with his music production process, stating in a YouTube video: "I see visuals when I'm hearing the music, and that very much helps when I'm building … and choosing the right drums."[57]

Ryan and Jack live in the same apartment and have a Bouvier dog named Shay.[54]

Discography[edit]

Main article: AJR discography

Awards and nominations[edit]

American Music Awards

Year Nominee Award Result
2021 AJR Favorite Pop Duo or Group Nominated
Favorite Rock Artist

Billboard Music Awards

Year Nominee Award Result
2021 AJR Top Duo/Group Nominated
Top Rock Artist
"Bang!" Top Rock Song Won
2022 "OK Orchestra" Top Rock Album Pending

iHeartRadio Music Awards

Year Nominee Award Result
2019 AJR Best New Rock/Alternative Rock Artist Nominated
2021 Alternative Rock Artist of the Year
"Bang!" Alternative Rock Song of the Year
2022 AJR Duo/Group of the Year
"All My Favorite Songs" (with Weezer) Alternative Rock Song of the Year

Teen Choice Awards

Year Nominee Award Result
2019 AJR Choice Rock Artist Nominated
"100 Bad Days" Choice Rock Song

See also[edit]

References[edit]

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ajr-mn0003243113/biography[58]

  1. ^ "The Click by AJR on Apple Music". Apple Music Canada. Archived from the original on January 6, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Hyman, Dan (September 24, 2013). "NYC Brother Trio AJR 'Ready' for Stardom". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  3. ^ a b AJR Scores First Top Rock Albums No. 1 With 'Neotheater' Archived December 11, 2021, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 13 June 2019
  4. ^ "AJR". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  5. ^ "5 things to know about indie-pop band AJR". ABC News. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Miller, Gregory E. (October 15, 2013). "Could AJR be the next Jonas Brothers?". New York Post. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  7. ^ ""I'm Ready" on iTunes". iTunes. Archived from the original on May 16, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  8. ^ "AJR brothers perform 'I'm Ready'". MYFOXNY.COM. October 17, 2013. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013.
  9. ^ AJR (2013). I'm Ready (Music video). VEVO.
  10. ^ "AJR: Pop Artist of the Month". iHeartRadio. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  11. ^ "AJR Video by ONETWOWATCH on Myspace". February 5, 2014. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  12. ^ Frometa, RJ. "AJR move release of debut album "Living Room" to Feb. 2105, "Infinity" EP due 9/23". Vents. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  13. ^ Wass, Mike (September 11, 2014). "AJR Return With Nostalgic New Single "Infinity": Watch The DIY Lyric Video (Idolator Premiere)". Idolator. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  14. ^ "Jack from ajr talks about his hat". YouTube. Madison Mcdanel. March 12, 2018. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  15. ^ "5 things to know about indie-pop band AJR". ABC News. April 14, 2017. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  16. ^ "AJR - The Click Tour, with Ocean Park Standoff, Hundred Handed," Archived 2018-02-07 at the Wayback Machine etix.com. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  17. ^ Kaplan, Rebecca. "Civic Nation BrandVoice: It's On Us And AJR Partner On Charity Single To Change the Conversation Around Sexual Assault". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 27, 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  18. ^ AJR [@AJRBrothers] (January 30, 2019). "Our new single 100 Bad Days is now available for you. Definitely don't tag your friends in the comments. We don't want them to know about it. t.co/C0duza7YOl t.co/1TQq1td5DL" (Tweet). Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ AJR [@AJRBrothers] (March 4, 2019). "🕓🕒🕑🕐 t.co/wb00BCdNEX" (Tweet). Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ AJR [@AJRBrothers] (March 10, 2019). "NEOTHEATER - 4/26 (ALBUM TRAILER) t.co/Ntx3cjzGmY" (Tweet). Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ "AJR - 100 Bad Days" Archived March 20, 2019, at the Wayback Machine YouTube. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  22. ^ @AJRBrothers (March 11, 2019). "NEW SONG 'BIRTHDAY PARTY' AND NEOTHEATER ALBUM PREORDER IS AVAILABLE NOW. ajr.ffm.to/neotheater pic.twitter.com/ORl5mj18Q9" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ^ @AJRBrothers (April 1, 2019). "DEAR WINTER. Thursday Night. (It's not about the season.)pic.twitter.com/cuB0quxoyg" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ @AJRBrothers (April 4, 2019). "'DEAR WINTER' OUT NOW. Hope it means as much to you as it does to us. ajr.ffm.to/neotheater pic.twitter.com/stm3jQWPlh" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ^ AJR [@AJRBrothers] (October 24, 2019). "We reimagined Dear Winter, changing the production and upping the emotion. Dear Winter 2.0 comes out tomorrow ❄️" (Tweet). Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via Twitter.
  26. ^ Mamo, Heran. "AJR Truly Go Out With a 'Bang!' in New Video: Watch". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  27. ^ Breaking down the production of Three-Thirty, Next Up Forever and Bang!, archived from the original on April 29, 2020, retrieved March 13, 2021
  28. ^ "OK ORCHESTRA by AJR". Genius. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  29. ^ Daisy The Great x AJR - Record Player (Animated Video), archived from the original on September 10, 2021, retrieved September 10, 2021
  30. ^ AJR - The Good Part (Official Video), archived from the original on November 29, 2021, retrieved November 29, 2021
  31. ^ "https://twitter.com/ajrbrothers/status/1502380986935484416". Twitter. Retrieved March 14, 2022. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  32. ^ "Harold and the Purple Crayon in Development as a Stage Musical". Playbill. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  33. ^ "Harold and the Purple Crayon to Become Broadway Musical; Band AJR to Write Original Music". Broadway.com. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  34. ^ "AJR Announce "The Infinity Tour" For The Fall • Digital Tour Bus". Digital Tour Bus. September 24, 2014. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  35. ^ "AJR Announces "What Everyone's Thinking Tour Part II" • Digital Tour Bus". Digital Tour Bus. April 15, 2017. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  36. ^ "AJR Plot 2018 'The Click Tour' Dates: Ticket Presale Code & On-Sale Info | Zumic | Music News, Tour Dates, Ticket Presale Info, and More". Zumic. November 14, 2017. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  37. ^ "AJR Announce 'The Click Tour: Part 2' with Robert Delong". Shameless SF. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  38. ^ a b c Emma Gallagher (September 28, 2019). "Review: AJR erupts with energy for tour start". The Creightonian. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  39. ^ "AJR". AJR. Archived from the original on October 13, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  40. ^ "Cancelled - AJR with Quinn XCII – Everything Everywhere Tour". targetcenter.com. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  41. ^ a b @ajrbrothers (July 21, 2020). "A NIGHT IN YOUR CAR WITH AJR. A very special one night Drive-In show. On sale Friday. Can't wait to be back out playing live again. pbs.twimg.com/media/EddEHD2XYAIB2_u?format=jpg&name=orig" (Tweet). Retrieved August 20, 2020 – via Twitter.
  42. ^ a b AJR [@AJRBrothers] (November 19, 2020). "AJR's ONE SPECTACULAR NIGHT. New songs, new effects, new live event. On sale Monday. t.co/HksVKc5wXB t.co/CR0rRMcMKm" (Tweet). Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via Twitter.
  43. ^ "AJR on Tour with Lindsey Stirling!". Giraffic Themes. April 2014. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  44. ^ "Ingrid Michaelson Announces the "Hell No Tour" • Digital Tour Bus". Digital Tour Bus. June 29, 2016. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  45. ^ @AJRBrothers (May 14, 2020). "Due to everything going on, we aren't able to move forward with the upcoming tours. We're bummed, but it's more important to us that you guys are safe. If you bought tickets or VIP, you'll be emailed about refunds or you can go to livenation.com/refund.pic.twitter.com/auFCAEaN3b" (Tweet). Retrieved May 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
  46. ^ @ajrbrothers (July 23, 2020). "This sold out in pre-sale. Woah. We're adding another Philly date on sale tomorrow, and thinking we should add more of these. Where should we come?" (Tweet). Retrieved August 20, 2020 – via Twitter.
  47. ^ "How We Made 'NEOTHEATER'". youtube.com. February 24, 2020. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  48. ^ "Arnetta Johnson". Whyy. November 3, 2020. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  49. ^ Hall, Trish (May 5, 2002). "Habitats/Chelsea; Moving to Manhattan, for the Children's Sake". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 5, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  50. ^ Raspe, Becky (January 28, 2019). "Hozier, Sheryl Crow, AJR on tap for LaurelLive". Cleveland Jewish News. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  51. ^ Met, Jack [@JackAJRbrothers] (October 4, 2017). "This is Oscar worthy right? t.co/xk0cifGOlK" (Tweet). Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via Twitter.
  52. ^ "7 PM TONIGHT | A Conversation with Adam Met | Sustainability Summit 2021". cornell.campusgroups.com. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  53. ^ "Adam Met | The Harry Walker Agency". Harry Walker Agency. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  54. ^ a b La Gorce, Tammy (May 17, 2019). "How the members of the band AJR spend their Sundays". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 16, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  55. ^ Tracy, Brianne (April 22, 2020). "Adam Met of AJR Opens Up About How He and His Brothers Stay Sustainable on Tour". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  56. ^ "AJR Interview: Meet The Brothers Behind The Hit Single "Weak"". PopBuzz. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  57. ^ Breaking down the production of Three-Thirty, Next Up Forever and Bang!. March 20, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020 – via YouTube.
  58. ^ "AJR | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved December 22, 2020.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AJR_(band)&oldid=1087470088"