Are You Ready?

"I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready..." The ever so familiar sound of Spongebob flooded the air waves. But why? AJR decided to take a chance and mix that annoying, but catchy, Spongebob Squarepants sample with their own music to create the hit song titled "I'm Ready". It's the one that took the world by storm and turned the attention of the music world on them. They followed up their first single with another hit called "Infinity", which just so happens to be my favorite. They have also produced one full-length album titled "Living Room" along with several EPs.
It seems like these three brothers are on to something with their different and unique sound. It has been described as 'eclectic', which means deriving ideas, styles, and/or taste from a wide and diverse range of sources. Digging deeper in to their musical style you can tell that they have influence from many different genres including: pop, foo-wop, electronic, and dub step. They have said that their musical influences as far as bands go range from The Beach Boys to Vampire Weekend and Fun. I find that interesting and pretty cool for some odd reason.
AJR is composed of three brothers: Adam (24), Jack (17), and Ryan (21). Hopefully you can see where they got their band name from now. They started the band of brothers in 2006, so they're not exactly new to the music industry. They are simply just getting the attention now that they so rightly deserve. They started out as most bands doing, busking and doing covers of popular songs and posting them on Youtube. Since then they have performed on Good Day New York, Live with Kelly and Michael, and VH1's Big Morning Buzz. Both of their singles have been on Sirius XM radios hit stations and placed in their countdowns a number of times.
Other than the fact that these three are brothers and their sound is a little different, what makes this band so special? Well, for starters they are a completely do it yourself band. They write, record, produce, and mix all of their own stuff in their living room. I'm guessing that's where they got the title for their first album. Adam plays bass guitar and sings. Ryan plays the ukulele, keyboard, and vocals. He also does a lot of the producing. He has written and produced two songs with Andy Grammar. The youngest of the three, Jack, seems to be the most well-rounded when it comes to instruments. He plays guitar, melodica, ukulele, percussion, and the sample machine. On top of all of that, they all like to dabble in the making of their music videos. Apparently a majority of their music video for "Infinity" was directed and produced by the brothers.
These three have an endless amount of talent. It makes me so happy to see that the music world is actually recognizing somebody that is doing something different. They aren't following the crowd in any way, shape or form. Their songs aren't about drugs and partying. They don't do everything in a professional studio and have other people do all the hard work for them. They do everything themselves. I actually think that's something that not a whole lot of people know. They're not made of the same material as every other performer and artist. They're different. And I like it. Judging by their fast growing success, a lot of other people do too.