American Aquarium

Fear of Standing Still American Aquarium

"Ultimately, “The Fear of Standing Still” is a record about growing up and growing older. I am not the wild partying 21-year-old rock n roll frontman that I used to be. I’m a husband. I’m a father. I’ve been sober for a decade now. It’s a record that proves you don’t have to always be going 100mph to find success in this business. It’s a record that says it’s okay to take a minute to reflect on how far you’ve come, not worry about how much further you have to go. For the longest time, I thought that if I took my foot off the gas for even a second, I would lose all the ground that I had gained. Fatherhood changed that. I’ve found a really beautiful balance between rock n roll and family, and I wanted a record that showcased that freedom.

In the studio, I’ve always strived to find the perfect balance between showcasing the songwriting and the fact that I have a really great rock n roll band. This record is the closest we’ve ever come to that intersection. These songs are big, anthemic rock songs but also stand on their own two feet when they are played on an acoustic guitar. We have always taken a lot of pride in that fact. Thematically, I cover a lot of ground on this record: nostalgia, death, regional identity, marriage, fatherhood, redemption, mental health. My records have always been a snapshot of the person I was when I wrote them, and this record really finds the band and my songwriting both really hitting a stride. I feel extremely confident that this batch of songs will be in the set for years to come."