In a sea of unlikely hits last year, X Ambassadors‘ “Renegades” distinctly stood tall above the rest.
In a sea of unlikely hits last year, X Ambassadors‘ “Renegades” distinctly stood tall above the rest. Sure, there were bigger hits from newcomers last year like Fetty Wap and Rachel Platten, but each both carry a sound instantly more relatable and current than that of the gentle folk-rock offering. And what of the folk rock sound? Forget the fact that we’re almost three years removed from The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons popping the folk rock bubble; “Renegades” almost flies in the face of the type of alt-rock sound the Ithaca quartet has spent years cultivating around the country.
“It was just a perfect storm on a bunch of different fronts that really elevated Renegades,'” X Ambassador drummer Adam Levin remarked. That perfect storm includes ‘Renegades’ barely making the band’s debut record VHS that was released last June. “It was one of the very last songs written for the album and I remember liking it, but not thinking too much of it,” Levin remembered. “In fact, we thought if we had a hit, it would be the other one, ‘Jungle,’ or something like that. Something more central to our sound.”
Looking past “Jungle,” songs like “Unsteady,” “Naked,” or even “Gorgeous” all were probably thought to have more viability than “Renegades” initially, but there was something just so infectious about the track, whether it was the driving beat or the brazen bonfire singalong. It all worked and it clicked with fans on a larger scale than the any of their blistering rock tracks ever could. It grew steady at first, but as it reached more people and new regions, it’s momentum doubled and then tripled and before the band knew it, they had a bonafide Top 20 hit on their hand.
It had an immediate effect on the group as well. “Our plan for 2015 was to play a bunch of festivals and college shows really,” Levin explained. “We had other things too like supporting Milky Chance on tour, but it was very patchy. When ‘Renegades’ started to really blow up, our next six months and even year just immediately filled up to the point that almost every day was full and we wouldn’t have a day off for weeks.” Most artists today would be overwhelmed by this demand and would instantly begin declining offers left and right and maybe X Ambassadors would too, except for the fact that they’ve been shrewdly preparing for this moment for four years now.
“We’ve been a touring band this whole time,” Levin detailed. “We’ve built a fanbase that was pretty substantial before all this happened and that’s a great thing. You look at the Billboard Top 40 list and there’s a lot of artists who wrote a song with a producer and it got popular except they’ve never played a live show and now they have to figure it out. A lot of those artists, if they went and played a show, it’s not like they would have a big crowd of people because they’re not an established live act. Looking at all of the social media indicators, there are artists with a hundred times our numbers, but they are playing shows the quarter the size of us and they’re not sold out and we’re selling out larger venues.” It’s gratifying to Levin and the rest of the band for sure, especially as he remembered the grind the band put themselves through at times. “Driving twelve hours to just play to ten people,” he grimaced. “It was so hard to do, but it really allowed us to get where we are now.”
As the crowds began to jump from 200 to 2,000, the band settled in for an arduous period travelling that bands on the rise always find themselves in. Luckily, X Ambassadors has years of practice at doing it and at the end of the day, there’s nowhere else they’d rather be. “It’s almost crazy how used to [touring] you get. Just odd. It’s grueling and voices get lost and people get hurt and muscles get pulled, but you find a way to pull through. You’re not sleeping much and it’s very grueling, but you’re doing what you love and you understand that it’s all worth it.” Still, even Levin had to admit that success makes the road a bit easier. “We have a tour bus now and it might not seem like a lot to people hearing it, but those bands driving up and down the road in a tight van about to break down know the difference it can make.”
As the band continues touring the country, the obvious question becomes what next? VHS is barely six months old at this point, but for a band on the rise, it’s all about timing and making sure to keep moving forward with your music. Levin’s not concerned though because even if plans for the next album aren’t concrete yet, the foundation is already being laid for what comes next. “We’re always writing,” Levin discussed. “We were writing the day after VHS came out. Even before it came out, that period between mixing and releasing, we had already written new stuff. We’re always writing, but doing an album is a lot more than just writing songs. You have to have a lot of songs and then have something that makes sense within a collection. There’s no plans to rush the next album though. How it’s always been with our record label is that it will be quiet on all fronts and then they’ll need an EP or record in like three weeks’ time or something crazy like that. The next album will come, but VHS has a lot of singles to really keep us busy and I’m really just enjoying the road and where it takes us right now.”
X Ambassadors play The National Tuesday night for a sold-out show along with Avan Lava. If you grabbed your tickets beforehand or on the secondary market, doors at 6:30 and the show starts at 7:30. For more information on the show, click here.
