“This was a celebration of our evolution personally and how our fans have grown with us throughout all these years,” Ross Lynch tells American Songwriter of The Driver Era‘s new album, Live at The Greek. Ross formed the duo with his brother Rocky in 2018 in the wake of their first family band, R5. The Driver Era’s unique brand of rock has built a legion of fans and become the brothers’ most enticing venture yet.
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Ross kicked off his career with 4 season sitcom, Austin & Ally. While that project gave him name recognition, his musical pursuits outside of the Disney umbrella have given him a footing in the alt-rock scene. Live at The Greek is evidence of Ross’ formidable stage presence (take the crowd’s screams as evidence) and his and Rocky’s catalog of crowd-pleasing anthems.
American Songwriter connected with Ross about the live album–which highlights a career-spanning setlist–and why he thinks the duo is making some of their most “special” music right now.
American Songwriter: Why did you want to release a live album? What about capturing the atmosphere of a live show was important to you?
Ross Lynch: To be honest, it wasn’t my idea initially… The rest of the team was really excited about it and now that it’s happening, I’m excited to see what the fans think.
AS: You’ve talked about “all the years” it’s taken to get where you are today. Does this release feel like a milestone in the group’s career–or a culmination of the ups and downs?
Lynch: More of a culmination. We played the Greek eight years ago with our former family band, R5. This was a celebration of our evolution personally and how our fans have grown with us throughout all these years. We’ve been doing this for about 15 years now and we see fans all the time that have been with us since day one.
AS: Do you have a favorite song on the tracklist?
Lynch: Off the top of my head, not really. I feel like every song has something to offer. There’s a song called “Summertime Baby” that we couldn’t release because I sampled another artist and we couldn’t get a hold of him to get permission to use it. So, I feel like that one is pretty unique. The Live at The Greek version is the only version available as of now.
AS: Do you have a favorite moment from the show?
Lynch: So…everyone likes the whole ‘take my shirt off’ thing currently and we decided to milk it for the concert. “Fantasy” is the perfect song for it. We had a lightning strike and rain sounds and I was going to dump some water on my head for the vibe, but when I went to look for a water, I couldn’t find one. I went over to Riker’s side of the stage and grabbed one of his, but I should’ve known better. Riker is notorious for putting electrolytes in his water. I was sticky for the rest of the show.
AS: What has been the biggest takeaway from 2023, career-wise?
Lynch: Festivals are a blast. Even though we’ve been doing this our whole lives, it still feels like it’s just the beginning. It was a really inspiring year and I feel like we’re making some really special shit right now.
Photo: Hunter Reynolds / The Oriel
