It’s funny how the universe works.
Not only is that an incredibly true statement, but it’s also the title, and the opening line, of a song by The Runarounds, the poppy young rock band that’s the focus of a new TV series on Amazon Prime Video. The line could also refer to how the band got together in the first place, and found themselves starring in a TV show and headlining a national tour.
For clarity’s sake, the band is real, even though it was formed for the show. And the “The Runarounds” show is fictional, even though it’s based in part on the band members’ real-life stories.
Let’s back up bit, to 2020, when singer/guitarists Axel Ellis, William Lipton and Jeremy Yun; drummer Zende Murdock; and bassist Jesse Golliher responded to a casting call for musicians put out on the social media accounts of actors in Netflix’s mega-popular series “Outer Banks.”
Jonas Pate, the co-creator of “Outer Banks” who’s also the creator, co-writer and director of “The Runarounds,” chose the five out of some 5,000 submissions and brought them to Charleston, South Carolina, where “Outer Banks” is shot. There, he had them rehearse songs by Iggy Pop, Coldplay and other artists, even a few classics like “Twist and Shout,” the song by The Top Notes famously covered by the likes of The Isley Brothers and The Beatles.
In short order, the quintet, whose members were still in high school at the time, played a house band on “Outer Banks” and picked up a few club dates. By 2022 they were shooting the show’s pilot in Wilmington, Delaware, where none of them had ever been before.
“It’s been a fun little thing,” says band member Yun, not only playing in the band and appearing on the show, but becoming close with his bandmates.
Yun and Lipton grew up together near San Francisco, Lipton said, but the other band members met each other for the first time when they began rehearsing in Charleston.
“We tried to play like we’d lived there our whole lives,” Ellis tells the Wilmington Star News Online, part of the USA TODAY Network, about gigging at local venues, playing house shows and sharing the stage with local bands. (This year, in the course of the promoting the show, the band has played the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, and the Lovin’ Life Music Fest in Charlotte.)
“There’s no better town we could’ve imagined filming the show,” Lipton says. “It feels like the band’s hometown. We made so many memories there, so many friends. Hung out all around. Loved going to Wrightsville Beach.”
They also learned how to play as a band, and wrote the songs that will appear on “The Runarounds,” including their first two singles: the poppy, dynamic “Funny How the Universe Works,” and the mellow, jangly “Senior Year.”
More of the band’s songs appear on the show, with full versions on the soundtrack out Sept. 1.
With three singer-guitarists in the band, “It’s a team effort, and there are times when it’s best to take a bit of a back seat,” Ellis says, with each member taking on slightly different roles, sometimes even within the course of a song.
“We all play different roles at different times,” Yun says. “This project is so unique, there’s no one clear-cut person. It’s all hands on deck at all times.”
In terms of influences, band members say they take inspiration from such legends as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones as well as from contemporary artists like R&B singer Dijon and folk singer Kate Bollinger.
As for the two band members who weren’t on the call for this interview, drummer Murdock is known as “the organized one” to his bandmates, while bassist Jesse Golliher serves as “class clown.”
All five band members were practiced musicians before joining The Runarounds, while only Lipton had much acting experience beyond school plays, having appeared on soap opera “General Hospital” as a kid.
That was partly by design, as Pate wanted the band members to be musicians first. But it also meant acting lessons were needed in order for the young men to be able to carry a show, so coaching was provided by actor Russell Blackwell.
“We had to learn to truly listen to your scene partner, even when you know what they’re going to say,” Ellis says. “It’s so hard, but so amazing when you do find it.”
Pate has likened the tone of “The Runarounds” to a modern-day version of “The Monkees” (another “real” TV band) mixed with the “emotional realism” of “Friday Night Lights.”
“We’re playing exaggerated versions of ourselves,” Ellis says, with real-life back stories used to ground their characters.
Lipton then chimes in to say, “These boys claim they had no acting experience, but if you watch the show you won’t see that.”
Ultimately, of course, the audience will be the judge of that. The future of the band, and of the show, is yet to be written, even if preparations are already being made for a possible Season 2.
Then again, it’s funny how the universe works, and if you believe that – and you should – then anything could happen.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usatoday.com ’
