Ravinia 2019, Issue 7, Week 15

To By Tricia Despres A FTER 12 YEARS, TWO ALBUMS, AND A SLEW OF HITS, Brooklyn-based multiplatinum group American Authors decided as a band of brothers that they needed a change of pace. ey needed some new inspiration and a new outlook and a new scene to stare at outside their window. So, in , they found themselves a little mountainside studio in the woods, just minutes outside of Nashville. And they walked. And they waited. And eventually, they created. “We would take a break and take in the nature if we needed to,” says American Authors’ Zac Barnett of the experience he shared with fellow band members James Adam Shelley, Dave Rublin, and Matt Sanchez. “I think we all took the time to be alone a little bit there. When you don’t have distractions, it’s amazing what can come out of your head. “We were in a zone where no one knew us,” Barnett con- tinues about the escape to Tennessee. “In New York, there always seems to be people around that know you and want to know what you are doing, and it o en feels like everything you do has a timeline. And then in Los Angeles, there is a party for everything, you know? [ Laughs .] Nashville was a mutual, uncharted territory for all of us and I think it helped us create something amazing.” at something amazing was in fact one of the band’s most shining examples of pure and beautifully lyrical honesty, a mix of songs that would eventually make up their third album, Sea- sons , released in February. e title honors the extended period they spent at that little house in the woods and the four seasons of Tennessee weather that the band experienced while recording alongside veteran producers Cason Cooley and Trent Dabbs. But then it went so much deeper. “We wanted to make sure and block out all of the noise and pressures of the outside world,” explained drummer Sanchez in an interview earlier this year about the new album. “But the louder it got, we realized that it was impossible. So instead we embraced it, turned it upside down on itself, and made it into the anti-fuel that helped us create our most passionate body of work yet. Seasons re ects our struggles with mental health and mortality, and somehow nds hope in all of it.” Not only does the new album hit on some tender parts of our universal psyche, but it also served as a reality check for the band away from the stage. “So much of what was on that rst album was us looking forward and what we wanted for ourselves,” says Barnett of Oh, What a Life , which was just a couple months old at the time of American Authors’ Ravinia debut in , and where ’ s in- uences like Weezer and Nirvana shaped the worthy backbone. “And then the second album was a bit of a re ection. is third album is much more about our own personal storytelling and about our own self growth in our lives. We have based a career on being honest and open. e fans have always allowed us to do that.” Indeed, the career of American Authors has long let hon- esty and authenticity serve as the cornerstone to its success, 26 RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 26, 2019 – MAY 9, 2020