The last two years have been a whirlwind for OneRepublic. The single “Apologize” became one of the biggest hits in recent memory, selling over four million digital downloads, and the band became an instant sensation. Well, sort of.
“When ‘Apologize’ came out, everybody thought, ‘Oh, you’re a one-hit wonder, overnight success kind of band,’ but we struggled in L.A.,” drummer Eddie Fisher recalls. “We did the L.A. scene. We did San Francisco, San Diego, even a little Nevada, so it wasn’t by any means an overnight success. We definitely paid our dues.”
Gearing up to release its second album, Waking Up, the group is determined to avoid the sophomore slump or people’s preconceived notions of what is expected.
“We clearly said from the get-go to our label and our management, ‘You guys are not going to get another ‘Apologize.’ Just know that,’” Fisher says. “If you chase something that massive, you have a high percentage of it completely failing.”
Besides the fact the song was written seven years ago, Fisher and his band mates are different people now. They don’t experience pubescent heartache over girls anymore and several are happily married, even thinking about having kids.
“It’s like with Dreaming Out Loud we went through puberty, you know, musical puberty, and this album has made us into men. That’s exactly how I feel about it,” Fisher explains. “Writing this album was a completely different turn for us. We are very excited about it because it’s more rhythmic with big vocals, big choruses, big sing-alongs, a lot of strings and we even threw in a children’s choir.”
“We definitely have a lot of songs in our future,” he continues. “If they become hits, great. It they become part of people’s lives, so be it. We are just grateful to be able to play our music.”
Originally appeared in Campus Circle
Jonathan Bautts 