What is it about CandyJar and these microdramas that intrigued you?<\/span><\/h2>\nTyson Ritter: <\/b>I just immediately got it. I think, escaping Vine culture into short format digestion, it’s hard not to watch one micro drama episode, and go, \u2018Oh, I get it.\u2019 Then I was, like, \u201cWhat happens if we raise the bar? What if we got a little better production, what if we got a director with a vision to elevate the space?\u201d I think it’s gonna happen regardless, and the result was something I couldn’t be happier with.<\/span><\/p>\nWe’re so visual as a culture now. We’ve always gone above and beyond for our music videos, so it was such an easy transition for us to make a visual story to the birth of this album. Everything I do is visual, even when I write a song, I see it before I hear it.<\/span><\/p>\nWW: <\/b>What is it like to be the first group of musicians in the microdrama space?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n(L-R) Nick Wheeler, Tyson Ritter, Mike Kennerty and Chris Gaylor of The All-American Rejects<\/span>Lester Cohen \/ Contributor<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTyson Ritter: <\/b>That was the whole thing. It’s, like, we gotta be the first because it’s just gonna be a cascade of it, after it’s not. It’s already in the pipeline.<\/span><\/p>\nWW: <\/b>Micro dramas have been everywhere. They pop up all the time now. It’s growing quickly.<\/span><\/h2>\nTyson Ritter: <\/b>I bet when episodic television first came around, people were, like \u201cThis is going to ruin film.\u201d But then it turned into TV, and so many people in Hollywood are so afraid of this space because they think it dilutes the film, but no, this is its own space, and I think a lot of films can be born through this medium. Make way for the future.<\/span><\/p>\nWW: <\/b>What was it like behind the scenes of filming <\/span>Superfan<\/span><\/i>?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\nTyson Ritter: <\/b>Eric [Guilmette], the guy who plays Josh, he’s cut from a different cloth, but he is the funniest guy. Most people in the micro drama space just know him as the smoldering sex symbol, but he is hilarious and\u00a0 watching him cut up the script and make it better [was fun]. Anna Lore, our lead who plays Danica, she is an incredible talent, not only on the screen but off the screen. She saved our production in so many ways when we were in the fourth quarter, shooting 16 pages in a day. The fun translated to the screen, and I’m so excited for people to check out <\/span>Superfan<\/span><\/i> because you can feel it’s powerful. We were laughing the whole way through.<\/span><\/p>\nWW: <\/b>The band is also starring in an upcoming romance series\u2014what can you share about that?<\/span><\/h2>\nTyson Ritter: <\/b>We signed on for two of these with CandyJar, and the second one that I pitched was a romance, so I have to get the light bulbs out of my utility closet and try to find that magical idea. But we’re really excited about this continued partnership with CandyJar, and to really lean into the romance of the micro drama space, because if you watch <\/span>Superfan<\/span><\/i>, the flavor that we bring, we’re going to bring that to the romance space. I really want to be a time traveler, like the show <\/span>Outlander<\/span><\/i>. Like, The All-American Rejects takes on <\/span>Outlander<\/span><\/i>, and puts it on the spin cycle.<\/span><\/p>\nWW: <\/b>Superfan <\/span><\/i>coincides with the release of your new album, <\/span>Sandbox<\/span><\/i>. Was that a coincidence or just good timing?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\nTyson Ritter performs with The All-American Rejects during The All-American Rejects House Party Tour on May 15, 2026<\/span>Astrida Valigorsky \/ Stringer<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTyson Ritter: <\/b>Ever since we started our house parties [secret, mini concerts] last year, we disrupted giant corporate gatekeeping companies that are pushing fans away from their artists. We’re, like, \u2018How else can we be disruptive in the space as an independent artist?\u2019 We’re our own label and we’re pushing up against Warner Brothers and Interscope, and these people who literally have stake ownership in Spotify. We’re screaming into a vacuum, but we are a cat in a bag and we refuse to go quietly into any sunset. We will continue to find the spaces where we don’t belong, and shake our money makers.<\/span><\/p>\nWW: <\/b>It\u2019s been over 14 years since your last album \u2014why did this feel like the right time to make new music and release another album?<\/span><\/h2>\nTyson Ritter: <\/b>I’m sure you have this experience with writing, but sometimes when you leave the canvas, you can see what you need to paint. We took a hiatus to grow. We had been in this band for 15 years non stop, and there were a lot of questions. I was signed when I was 16 and on the radio when I was 17. How do you continue a story with a band and actually evolve and challenge your listeners to grow with you? And that’s what <\/span>Sandbox<\/span><\/i> has become. It’s a collision of a decade away from the canvas and of symbolic expression of pride. I’m super proud of the songs that we made. Sometimes you have to walk away to walk back.<\/span><\/p>\nPerspective is everything. You can’t just do one thing to death.That’s where that phrase comes from, \u2018I worked it to death.\u2019 That means it dies and that’s the last thing we wanted to do.<\/span><\/p>\n