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Having Fun,
Period

The first time Jack Antonoff, right (with
bandmates Andrew Dost, left, and Nate
Ruess, center), performed live was at his
school's Purim carnival: He played Gary
Glitter's "Rock and Roll."

These are awesome times

for Fun. guitarist Jack Antonoff.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

"I grew up listening to the punk rock
`That's really theatrical, and it's hip-hop
of the late '90s, Smashing Pumpkins and
music ... why can't I add a hip-hop ele-
Green Day, and small shows in legion halls ment? I wanted to take my '70s songwriting
and firehouses — that's the moment I
style but modernize it a little bit more ...
really fell in love with music:' says the New reinvent it'
Jersey-bred Antonoff, who started taking
The result, produced by Bhasker with
guitar and bass lessons and became more
heavier rhythmic undertones and rich, syn-
serious about the idea of music as a career. thetic drum tracks, is Fun's break-out Some
When he was 15, he and friends formed Nights album, featuring the heavy-hitting
a punk band called Outline, which landed
"We Are Young" with Janelle Monae and
gigs as far away as Texas and Florida, but
the title track, a big-voiced, high-energy,
the band broke up when several members
anthem-like song that combines the band's
left for college. Antonoff then became lead wit and dark side.
singer and lyricist for Steel Train — they
The album, which recently reached plati-
were signed to a label, released several
num status for sales in excess of 1 million,
records, toured with the likes of Ben Folds, "was definitely about what's happening now
the Fray and Barenaked Ladies, and made
and the possibilities that might not have
their TV debut on
been available when
Late Night with Conan
a lot of our favorite
O'Brien.
albums from the past
"In the beginning,
were being made'
there would be lots of
Dost told an Alabama
bands playing on one
blogger. "We wanted
bill, and we got to meet
to take that retro
lots of other [musi-
sound and rocket it
cians]:' says Antonoff.
into the future a bit.
Over the years, he would
And working with
cross paths with Ruess
a producer like Jeff
and Dost. When Ruess'
[Bhasker] forces you
band, the Format, broke
to innovate at all
up, the first call he
times, which is very
made was to Antonoff,
inspiring to try to
live up to. But we also
then to Dost, who was
IP&
playing with Anathallo
' 411 wanted to dig deeper
at Central Michigan
into our songs and
Jack Antonoff: Following in his rabbi
University in Mount
find out the heart and
grandfather's footsteps, the Fun.
Pleasant.
guitarist is devoted to human rights. core of them:'
Together, in 2008,
the trio formed the band Fun. (the period
Jewish Day School
was added for legal reasons but grew on the For Antonoff, grammar school meant the
members who liked its irony and finality).
Solomon Schechter Day School in Bergen
They headed to New York and jumped right County, N.J., which he attended from
into recording their first album, Aim and
pre-K through 8th grade before moving on
Ignite, with the label Fueled by Ramen.
to public school and then commuting to
Although that album never climbed
the Professional Children's School in New
York City for his junior and senior years.
above No. 71 on the Billboard charts, Reuss
scored a meeting with Jeff Bhasker, the pro-
"I was really happy at Schechter, and
ducer and hit maker behind Beyonce and
met many of my closest friends there, even
Kanye West, among others.
today," says Antonoff, who grew up in a
"I started falling in love with Drake's
Conservative Jewish household. "I'm not
`Thank Me Later' and Kanye West's My
really observant now, but I will always iden-
Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy albums:'
tify culturally as a Jew, and I think that's
Ruess told the New York Times. "I thought,
a very important connection. I take great

pride in my Jewish history and culture'
He also possesses an unwavering devo-
tion to social justice that has been ingrained
in his Jewish upbringing — largely due to
the legacy of his maternal grandfather, who
was a Conservative rabbi in Vermont. The
late Rabbi Max Wall enlisted in the Army
Chaplain Corps during World War II and
served with the Ninth Infantry Division
during the Battle of the Bulge and the liber-
ation of the Nazi death camps. He traveled
to Washington, D.C., to hear Martin Luther
King Jr. give his "I Have a Dream" speech
and was deeply committed to the ecumeni-
cal promotion of unity between faiths.
Following in his grandfather's footsteps,
Antonoff also is devoted to all things hav-
ing to do with human rights. To that end,
he has formed the nonprofit Ally Coalition
(theallycoalition.org), along with band-
mates Ruess and Dost, as well as his sister,
fashion designer Rachel Antonoff, to fight
for gay rights in the music, fashion and
entertainment communities.
"It's no different from any other form
of oppression throughout history," says
Antonoff, who is dating Lena Dunham, 27,
the creator and star of the HBO series Girls
and No. 18 on the Jerusalem Post's recent
list of 50 Most Influential Jews in the
World. "It doesn't matter if you are gay or
straight — it's a human rights issue:'
Adds his mother, Shira, in New Jersey's
Jewish Standard: "There are American citi-
zens being treated as second class. I could
not be prouder of my children, and as a
parent, it's really thrilling to see your chil-
dren working together on something:'

On Tour
Although just 29, Antonoff has been
on tour with various bands for 12 years
straight. But touring with the Some Nights
album has been "life-changing in many
ways:' he says — and not just because it
has brought the band's members enor-
mous success and fame.
"We've been touring for so long that
what we do has not changed. We still are
passionate about music, we are still con-
nected to one another and to the person
who went out to buy tickets, put gas in
his car, made his way to the show:' says
Antonoff.
"But before, we were playing for 500
people. Now it's for 15,000 people. We've
learned to value every person who comes
to the show. We are living in the same
world we've lived in for years, but in a dif-
ferent way. This whole experience would
be unimaginable if we were not on tour:'
The culmination of this experience
began on July 6, when the band launched
its "Most Nights" summer tour.
"We've been working on this tour for
two years:' says Antonoff. "We've worked
out all the stage stuff. It's our biggest tour
ever. And it's the last time we are touring
with this album before we start work on
our new album, so it's extremely poignant
for us:'

❑

Fun. will bring its Most Nights" tour
to Meadow Brook Music Festival at
8 p.m. Tuesday, July 16. Tickets are
$40 pavilion/$29.50 lawn. (800)
745-3000; www.palacenet.com .

July 11 • 2013 45