INTERVIEW: American Authors On Their Beginning As A Band | Artist Stories
July 14, 2016
American Authors' 2014 "Best Day Of My Life" was undoubtedly on your playlist that year, not to mention taking over the radio waves and hitting the No. 1 spot on the US Billboard Adult Top 40 chart. Fast forward two years later and on July 1st, 2016, and the band released their sophomore studio album What We Live For. But the guys to way back than just a few years -- they have actually been writing, recording, and performing music together for about ten years. So what has their journey as a band been like? The guys shared their story with iHeartRadio through our Artist Stories series, where we got a first hand look.
The band, comprised of Zac Barnett, James Adam Shelley, Dave Rublin, and Matt Sanchez, come from all over the country, but met while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. And it was there in that city where everything began for them. The band says:
"This was really the birth place of where we all learned to be in the music business, and I think that's what really helped get our feet wet. Boston was where we really learned our craft."
Boston may have a special place in their hearts, but the band moved to New York City to continue their music career. They lived in an apartment together where they often wrote songs and even performed (just ask their neighbors). In fact, it was in their apartment where they wrote "Best Day of My Life."
"We truly were the struggling artist, who moved to the big city with no money. And we all worked these dead-end jobs that none of us were passionate about. We couldn't afford a practice room, so we used to go into Matt's room, and he would set up these drums agains the wall, and Zac would stand on Matt's bed and play guitar, and Dave would stand in the corner of Matt's room, and I [James] would have stand out in the hallway, and play guitar outside. That's how we used to practice."
Little did the band know that in 2016, they'd be releasing their second album together. What We Live For is the follow-up to 2014's Oh, What a Life, which reached No. 3 on the US Billboard Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums charts. American Authors' new album features 12 new songs, including singles "Go Big Or Go Home," "Pride," the title track "What We Live For," and "I'm Born To Run."