EXCLUSIVE: Rocky Lynch – The Cover Story

“Once I have a studio, I’m in there all day, every day, by myself just making music”

Rocky Lynch is not a follower – at least not on social media. “I don’t follow anybody,” he says. “So I don’t ever check my timeline. If you think about it, people start scrolling for hours. I’m just gonna take that time and read a book, you know?”

For someone who celebrated his 21^st birthday just over a month ago, Rocky is remarkably mature. At the time of our phone conversation, he’d recently completed Bram Stoker’s Dracula and was in the midst of The Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. “I’ve been reading those around the house when I have free time,” he says. “They’re so awesome.”

A Jimi Hendrix biography that Rocky picked up in Europe was awesome, too, and inspired him to bring his musicianship to the next level. “Within the first couple of chapters, I got obsessed with him,” he shares. “I already play guitar a lot, and when we’re touring, I’m playing every night. But I just started playing every day for hours on end. And within those two months, I got so much better.”

Whether he’s studying literature or shredding on guitar, getting better is a constant theme in Rocky’s life. Even though R5’s sophomore album was released not four months ago, he’s already thinking about album number three. “We’re always trying to get better,” he says. “We’ve started jamming during our soundchecks and meet and greets. All of our gear is set up on stage, so we just go up there and someone will start playing a riff and we just kind of let it go. I’ll record it on my phone and hopefully use it as inspiration for a song later. I have so many voice memos and a notepad in my phone that’s called ‘Album 3.’ The plan after we finish our winter tour would be to get the studio set back up. Once I have a studio, I’m in there all day, every day, by myself just making music and then showing it to the rest of the band.”

Rocky has come a long way since he was first inspired to learn guitar nearly a decade ago. “Riker and I watched Fall Out Boy’s live DVD and I was like, ‘I want to get good at this,’” he says. The brothers decided that Rocky would play electric guitar and Riker would pick up the bass. “We took one of our guitars, loosened the strings a bunch and tried to make him a bass guitar. That was not a good idea!”

A few months later, they invited their friend, drummer Ellington Ratliff, to come by and jam with them. Not long after that, Ross and Rydel entered the fold. Rocky will never forget the band’s first concert. “We finally played a show and it wasn’t in our living room,” he laughs. “That was a big moment for us. Looking back on it, we were just young kids playing in a little bar, but from then on, we started playing shows anywhere they would let us play.”

Now, almost seven years later, they’re selling out shows all over the world. “When I was 12 and watching Fall Out Boy, and going, ‘hey, I want to play guitar,’ now there’s 12-year-old dudes doing that with us,” he says. “Honestly, I don’t really think about it that much, but when I think about it in this moment, it shocks me. We definitely have a very loyal fan base.”

And even though he plays for thousands of them a night, Rocky remains humble. “We’re still very small fish in the pond,” he says. “And I’m a pretty normal dude. Sometimes when I meet people in the beginning, I might be a little more quiet than most, but once you get to know me, I tend to be the most rowdy. People will be telling me to shut up when it’s just us five hanging out!”

One night in Europe, the band was hanging out at an Air concert. “After the show, I was talking to this girl and she acted like she knew who I was,” he remembers. “So I asked if she knew of R5 and she said yeah. Then I asked if she liked any of our music and she said, ‘Well, I don’t really listen to Disney bands.’”

While most artists would likely be offended, Rocky simply took it in stride. “In that moment, I realized we have this huge element of surprise. Someone seeing us live who isn’t already a fan is going, ‘Okay, one of them is on Disney Channel, so they’re gonna be like every other young teen act out there.’ Then, when we start playing, people are like, ‘Damn!’ If you’re not ready for rock and roll, it’s a much bigger impact when it happens.”

MORE R5:

Rydel’s Cover Story
Riker’s Cover Story
Ellington’s Cover Story

CREDITS:

Photographer: Joe Magnani

Story by: Colleen Broomall

Hair: Matilde Campos

Styling: Robiat Balogun

Grooming: Joseph Adivari 

MORE R5:

Rydel’s Cover Story
Riker’s Cover Story
Ellington’s Cover Story

R5 COVERAGE SCHEDULE:

Saturday 12/5 – 5 PM EST – Ross

Wednesday – 12/9 – 5 PM EST – Rydellington

Saturday 12/12 – 5 PM EST – R5