the driver era

words by VANESSA SALLES

the driver era

photos by MK SADLER

Since their debut in 2018, The Driver Era never does the same thing twice. Their genre-bending sound, paired with immaculate production, gives brothers Ross and Rocky Lynch what every artist craves: limitless possibilities. Having written and produced every track they’ve released, The Driver Era strive for sonic innovation and do so by avoiding restricting their vision to any specific sound or style. We talked to the pair about how they stay on the same page, cultivating their relationship with their fans, and what’s to come.

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Take us back to the beginning! What can you tell us about the moment where The Driver Era became more than just an idea for the two of you?

R&R: When we were nearing the end of our ‘R5’ journey, we wanted a blank slate to be able to venture into new areas of music that we hadn’t explored before. For awhile, we thought about just changing the band name but after some time and consideration, we decided to form The Driver Era together. It all felt very natural and it felt like it was something that needed to happen in order for each individual to really branch out and explore their own skills and pursue new passions. It definitely feels like everything turned out the way it should have.

Since forming The Driver Era, the two of you have hit many milestones together. What’s the one you’re proudest of?

Ross: I’m really proud of our videos. I’m really proud of the fact that everything

you see from The Driver Era is all in-house. I know it’s not something that would last forever; eventually more people would be involved in the behind-the-scenes of it all but for now, it’s a very special time to be able to do everything ourselves and execute our visions exactly the way we want to. Rocky: I’m proud of our shows and how fortunate we’ve been to be able to sell out venues when we perform live. It’s always hard for pop or alternative artists to stay consistent in ticket sales so it definitely makes me feel like we’re crushing it when we sell out.

When you think of milestones that you’re still hoping to achieve, what are some that come to mind?

R&R: Performing at Red Rocks! We’re from Colorado and Red Rocks is one of the most beautiful venues to play at. That’s definitely been on our bucket list for a long time. Releasing another album is also something we want to do – now feels like the right time to work on that so that’s very exciting.

When it comes to your creative process, does it differ with each project? What’s been inspiring you lately?

R&R: It definitely changes with each track. There are different obstacles to work through with each one. I think it also depends on how life is going, too. The creative process, to me, is just ‘how do we want to approach this?’ which is always a different answer. As for inspiration, it always comes from recent events in life or just other people that we admire. It’s all about whatever gets us to the studio!

How do you make sure the two of you stay on the same page, creatively, when working on new music?

R&R: We think very highly of each other and each other’s opinions. That can be difficult sometimes because we always want the other to like whatever we’re creating. We do our best work when we’re completely honest with each other about how we’re feeling and it’s actually surprising how often we’re going through similar situations and can relate to each other. When there’s open communication, things to tend to flow very easily for us.

How would you describe the evolution of The Driver Era’s sound from “Preacher Man” to now?

R&R: It’s been a natural evolution. We’re constantly exploring music and we just let things go where it takes us. We have unreleased songs from years ago that we still relate to and unreleased songs from months ago that we still relate to so it’s definitely not a linear process. The next single we’re releasing was actually written before ‘Preacher Man’ but it feels like our most recent honest expression of work because it came to the surface when it needed to.

Though a lot of your fans have been around since the early days, do you find that The Driver Era has reached its own audience of new listeners?

Ross: I feel like it’s a mixture. Our demographic of fans has definitely expanded since The Driver Era but I think, overall, we still have a plethora of fans from the R5 days. All these people that come to our shows, we’ve known for years and it’s awesome to see familiar faces because it feels like seeing old friends. The R5 family is definitely a life-long family and that’s so special to us. People tell us all the time that our fans are the most dedicated fans and we agree! We’re definitely grateful that so many of them stuck around to support us in The Driver Era.

When it comes to stage presence, which artist(s) are you most inspired by?

R&R: We have a lot of favorites! Prince, Michael Jackson, and The Stones are just a few.

With your world tour happening next year, what should fans be expecting from your live shows?

R&R: Shredding, stage presence, and a whole bunch of new songs. It’s going to be a fun show, that’s for sure.

On your dream collab list, who are some artists that you’d love to work with?

R&R: Pharrell is definitely high on the list. It would be awesome to do something with Tame Impala; they do a lot of cool remixes. In the future, it would be so cool to have a couple tracks (no vocals) and have a big name like Dua Lipa or Ariana Grande hop on it and we’d just be listed as producers.

What do you see for the future of The Driver Era?

Ross: More music, for sure. I think I have a bit of a weird relationship with fame because I’ve been doing this for so long but my only objective, really, is to continue making art. In any way. Recently, I’ve been thinking that the scale that it’s on now is perfect. I don’t know if I’d need it to be any more mainstream than it is currently. Rocky: I’d say things are great the way they are now. When you’re performing at arenas, they all look the same. When you’re performing at theaters, they’re all different and they all have their own history and it just feels more intimate. We’re definitely in a good place right now.

How important is to you to prioritize mental health? What are some self-care habits that you practice?

R&R: We spend a lot of time on consciousness and figuring out life. We’re very interested in spirituality and just interested in the potential of humans. We read a lot about it and a lot of our mornings are filled with those ideas and that carries into our music and everyday life. It keeps us healthy and keeps our mental health in check, too. More than anything, it keeps our lives entertaining, fun and positive.

What has life in quarantine looked like these past few months?

R&R: I think it’s been really good for us. I’ve been enjoying the downtime and taking

it to learn more about mindfulness. It’s felt good to be on ‘pause’ and just reset. We had been working on our album and it was all starting to feel really rushed and just didn’t feel genuine. Everything was happening really fast and quarantine allowed us to just take a step back and reevaluate what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it. Honestly, I think it’s been good for the whole world because everyone’s always being pushed to move faster and faster. With the world on pause, it gives people the excuse to slow down. We’ve definitely benefited from it.

What’s the best way for fans to get your attention on social media?

R&R: Make your own versions of our art! That always gets our attention. We try not to spend a lot of our time on social media but whenever we do go on, we love interacting with our fans and seeing them be creative. Even though we’re not active everyday, we definitely see everything our fans do and we see all the support and the love. It fuels us, for sure.

With the ups and downs of 2020, what’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned this year?

Ross: I’ve been learning to just trust the process of life. I often feel this pressure that I need to be creating more, even when I’m not feeling inspired, but I’m learning that it’s okay to take a break and it’s okay to slow down. If you don’t feel inspired today, go to the beach, go take some time for yourself and enjoy life. When you come back, you’ll be fueled up and ready to contribute again. That’s definitely a big lesson I’ve learned this year – just trust the process. Rocky: This year, I’ve learned to just sit in the silence. I learned that it’s important to take a moment and just be with yourself, with no distractions. If I do that for a day or even just a few hours, everything just seems a bit clearer to me. I don’t think I’ve really done that until this year and it’s actually really nice.

Outside of music and acting, what’s something you’re passionate about? How do you devote your time to it?

R&R: We LOVE hockey. We play a lot of ice hockey and watch a lot of it, too. Other than that, we’ve been trying to be adventurous – we’ve been trying to get out in nature and wanting to see and experience more of the world. That’s definitely something we’ve become passionate about recently. It helps us contribute, artistically, if we get out and have new experiences.

Any special message to the fans?

R&R: We see you, we love you and we miss you! Stay safe so we can all see each other soon.