Like They Used To: Behind the breakup of A Rocket To The Moon

When AP spoke with A Rocket To The Moon frontman Nick Santino in February for the band’s feature in AP 298, the singer was excited about the future. After more than a year in limbo, the group’s second full-length for Fueled By Ramen, Wild & Free, was finally set for release, and Santino was looking forward to bringing the band’s new country-flecked brand of pop to masses beyond the Warped Tour universe.

So it was at somewhat surprising when, just six weeks after Wild & Free dropped, ARTTM announced they were calling it quits—a move made even more puzzling, considering the group are set to join the Maine on the road this summer. To get to the bottom of things, we caught up with Santino while he ran errands in and around Braintree, Massachusetts to discuss the past, present and future of Rocket and why the band’s seven-year run had to end now.

We talked not more than two months ago. I didn’t expect to be having this conversation with you right now.
[Laughs.] I know, I know. I wasn’t either, honestly.

The announcement was very out-of-the-blue, especially after you just released Wild & Free. What happened?
The last year has been a real headache; the last eight months have been kind of weird. Just to start off, the four of us are still best friends. Justin [Richards, guitarist] and I actually went off to do a little charity show last weekend in Florida. Usually, bands break up and there are stories about the singer being a douche and the other guys starting a new band. That’s not us; there was no big blowup.

It was something we’d been talking about for a few months, honestly. The music business isn’t really that fun a place. It’s a lot of sit around and wait for answers from the powers that be. You’ll get told a different answer every time you ask something. It got to a point where we were just ready to try something different. We wanted to keep progressing and for our record to do well, but whoever is in charge of that wasn’t really helping us out too much.

There was also a lot of personnel turnover at the label, which made Wild & Free sit on the shelf for a while.
Yeah, it took us forever to get a release date. I still don’t know why it took so long. It was a real bummer and kind of embarrassing. We were just sitting around at home doing nothing. It really took a toll on us, and we were bummed out. We had a great record, and then it didn’t really do anything when it did come out. You kinda go, “Well it’s not us! What happened?” Plus, we had been sitting at home for so long that our management couldn’t really work with us anymore. It was kind of expected; we hadn’t done much over the last year. We’re still great friends with our manager. We’re lucky he stuck around as long as he did. Once that decision was made, it made us think about doing other things.

Was there a point when the record kept getting pushed back that you said, “If you don’t want to put it out, give it to us and we’ll do it ourselves”?
It almost kinda came down to that. We finished the record last February, and we went off to do some international stuff. We ended up getting a phone call in Australia telling us we needed to go back and put another song on the record: “Write a single.” We did that, and then there was a little radio campaign that disappeared really quick. The record got pushed to August, then September, then October, then January. We were like, “Come on, give us a date,” and almost to make us happy they gave us March 26.

Did you fulfill your contract with Fueled By Ramen, or do you still owe them albums?
We’re working through all that stuff right now. The label has been a family for the past five years. It’s nothing personal; it’s just the business and sometimes business isn’t very friendly.

I read that you’re going to be on a new NBC show, The Winner Is. How did that come about?
Yeah, I’m not singing; just judging the season finale. I had a publicist out in L.A. who was helping work the record for the few months it was out. She was also working with Joey Lawrence and he got an offer to do this TV show. He was doing something else, so she said, “Hey, I’ve got this kid who’s in a band and they have a new album coming out.” She was really hyping it up and they thought it would be awesome. I flew out to L.A. and sat on this soundstage. It was really cool because all the judges were from different jobs like A&R guys and music bloggers. Actually, Tay Zonday—the “Chocolate Rain” dude, he was one of the judges and was sitting next to me. [Laughs.]

Given how singers in this scene have a propensity for making a post-band beeline to The Voice, did you consider running next door and auditioning?
See, I don’t think I could. I don’t think I have a voice for it at all. Secondly, I’m really down for the whole DIY thing and being successful for yourself. I don’t think the idea of cashing it all in and getting people behind you for winning a competition… I don’t know. I feel the same way about people posting YouTube videos in their bedrooms and getting famous off of that. I’m really stoked for Cassadee [Pope] though. She’s really into that Nashville scene that I want to break into now.

You announced that the summer tour with the Maine will be your last Stateside trek. Was it important to let kids know upfront?
Yeah, that was why [the announcement] was all so rushed. We didn’t want to play the last show and then go, “Okay, we’re broken up now!” We want everyone who wants to see us to get that chance. Usually bands do a final headliner, but we think this is the perfect way to end things. When I started out doing solo stuff as Rocket, I would always play shows with the Maine and Brighten. Now, we’re going out with the Maine and Brighten for our last shows. It makes sense. We’re also going over to the Philippines to do a big festival in August. The demand from fans was just overwhelming, and we just needed to sit down and figure out how we could make it work. I’m really excited about that.

What are you most proud over the band’s career?
Man, everything. We got to see the world and go to Jakarta, Indonesia, the Philippines and Australia. We changed from this thing I did in my bedroom to a real rock ’n’ roll band. I was just stoked to play Jersey—let alone the Philippines. This is what I wanted when I was 12, and now I’m 24. This was my dream. And yeah, things are changing, but I think it might be for the better. I’ll cross my fingers and wish everyone good luck.

Do you have any regrets?
No, I don’t think so. I think we gave it our all. I think there are things we definitely wish had been done differently, but it’s out of our hands. I don’t think we could have tried any harder. It comes to a point when it’s not up to you, and the people in charge have to make the decisions they think are best.

What do you guys have lined up for post-Rocket plans?
Everyone’s doing different stuff. I’m going to be working on some solo stuff; Justin is going to go off and write in Nashville. I hope people stick around and stay on our side. People are writing to me on Twitter all scared going, “I hope you’re still going to do music after Rocket.” Of course I am; I can’t do anything else. [Laughs.] I’m not going anywhere. Andrew [Cook] is going to keep managing bands and he’s an amazing drummer, and the same thing with [Eric Halvorsen] on bass. It’s in all of our hearts, and I don’t think any of us are calling it quits. You never know, you might see us back around in a year or two or three. It might feel right.

Maybe Andrew can call up the Receiving End of Sirens guys and do another album.
Yeah, you know, that’s something Andrew and I talked about [regarding the breakup]. He said that TREOS were [playing to] 300 or 400 kids a night back in their height. Then they took a break, came back and did a reunion, and 2,000 or 3,000 people showed up for the reunion shows. That could be us in a couple years. At least I know a couple thousand kids in the Philippines would be there. [Laughs.] ALT