The recent U.S. tour by rock band The All-American Rejects saw tour manager and front of house engineer Brendan Goers deploying his collection of TELEFUNKEN microphones, including M80 and M81 dynamic mics for all vocals.
“Tyson on lead vocals had been married to a common stage mic for 15-plus years, but during rehearsals for this tour, I stuck an M80 in front of him without asking and told him to give it a shot,” Goers explains. “The rest is history as they say. He has incredible mic technique, and it really lets the rich body of the M80 come through. That mic just sounds so damn good. He’s also a roamer, loves getting down into the crowd and interacting. I never once had a feedback issue, even when he’s climbing across the barricade directly in front of our front fills.”
The All-American Rejects started in Stillwater, OK in 1999 and consists of lead vocalist and bassist Tyson Ritter, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Nick Wheeler, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Mike Kennerty, and drummer Chris Gaylor. Wheeler and Ritter serve as the band’s songwriters; Wheeler is the primary composer and Ritter is the primary lyricist. Although Kennerty and Gaylor are not founding members, they have appeared in all of the band’s music videos and on all studio releases except for the band’s self-titled debut.
Goers also captures the sound of Gaylor’s kit with an M82 on kick, M80-SH and M81-SH mics on the shells, M60 FETs on hi-hat and ride, and a pair of large-diaphragm TF11 FETs on overheads. “The M80-SH on snare was the first TELEFUNKEN mic I ever heard and I was hooked from the beginning. Nothing compares to it. Chris’ tom work on the song ‘Move Along’ is pretty iconic and has to be nailed every night. The M81-SHs on rack and two floor toms delivers the punchy, tight sound we love. The TF11s are the newest addition to my arsenal and I’ll never use anything else on overheads. They give an incredible, full body representation of the entire kit that really adds to the overall drum mix, not just catching the cymbals.”
The All-American Rejects have sold over 10 million albums worldwide. They were ranked No. 73 on the “Hot 100 Artists of the 2000s” and No. 183 on the “Billboard 200 Artists of the Decade” list.
“We hit huge amphitheaters, arenas, and even a few clubs on this tour. Room and stage sizes were all over the place,” he concludes. “Regardless of the circumstances, I knew what my guys were giving every night was properly translated thanks to TELEFUNKEN. There’s no other tool I rely more on than those mics night in and night out.”
