It's been a while — like, almost three years — since the All-American Rejects have made a music video, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that, when they got the go-ahead to shoot a clip for "Beekeeper's Daughter" (the first single from their upcoming Kids in the Street album), they decided to go all out.
"This was the first video where, when we got [the treatment], everyone said 'yes' and I said 'yes ... but could we please have some of this?' And I proceeded to sort of expel every fantastic idea I could think of," frontman Tyson Ritter explained. "From, like, a hipster fight — beards versus mustaches, a lot of plaid, had to be like 'West Side Story' — to some she-devils. Everything we could ever sort of think of for a video that was impractical is in this one.
"And the whole thing is floating on a through-line of a man walking through his day, experiencing every random encounter from every random walk of life," he continued. "And at the very end, there's a big parade with Wayne Newton."
And Ritter's not exaggerating either. Because the "Beekeeper's" video — which premiered Friday (February 3) — is most certainly jam-packed with every one of his notions and then some. It's a big, buzzy clip, brimming with dancing she-devils, cheerleaders, cops, ticker tape, a mariachi band and Mr. Newton (to name just a few). And while everything in the video elicits a thrill, it's Newton's cameo that takes the cake.
"Yeah, I think [Tyson's] email ended with, 'Oh, and Wayne Newton.' And I thought that was to sum up that this video needs to have all kinds of outrageousness," guitarist Nick Wheeler laughed. "But two days before, we got this phone call: 'Hey, Wayne Newton's going to be in the video.' I have his business card in my wallet."
Speaking of business, now that the "Beekeeper's Daughter" video has been released, there remains one rather sweet sponsorship deal AAR are very interested in securing — one that's a lot tougher to land than you'd imagine.
"This song was dubbed 'Beekeeper's Daughter' because that was the brand of honey that we had in the cabin in the Sequoia Grove National Forest when we first wrote it," Wheeler said. "It's really just our desperate attempt at a honey sponsorship."
"And those are not easy to get," Ritter laughed. "We still haven't gotten any of that honey."
What do you think of the "Beekeeper's Daughter" video? Share your reviews in the comments!