"It just felt like I was reliving just a few highlights. So it was amazing. It was super fun. And then we woke up the next day and kind of just said, 'All right, back to work.' You know what I mean? No celebrating. Back to work," O.A.R.'s Marc Roberge explained to iHeartRadio of celebrating the band's 20th anniversary last year.
O.A.R. did get back to work, because the guys not only released their new single "Just Like Paradise," but will also head out on their "Just Like Paradise Tour" this July, bringing along special guest Matt Nathanson.
Marc explains that O.A.R. aimed to bring back the summer with their new single, which sounds like a breezy summer day. He tells iHeartRadio, "'Just Like Paradise' was created for one reason only, and it was to have a song that we could kick back and have a drink, hang out with our friends. And that's what started the song. It was just a beat, we wanted to marry like Sublime and UB40, O.A.R. all together in this happy track that brought summer a little earlier. So we collaborated with our friends, Cris Cab and PJ, and we produced this song together. And it just really highlights what we all kind of need right now, is an early summer."
"Just Like Paradise" is the tip of the iceberg for O.A.R. fans, as the band has also been working on a new album. The band's last full-length album was 2014's The Rockville LP, and the guys say that on their new record, fans can expect the same vibes from their newly released single. Marc explains, "I think the new album is absolutely combining this island vibe type ... We used to call [it], when we started, island vibe roots rock. That's what O.A.R. was. And it combined jazz and all these different types of music into one. This album is exactly like that. It's shaping up to be an island vibe roots rock album, roots being stories, roots being four chords and the truth, like country music, and the island vibe together. So it's kind of this big combination of sound that we started out doing in the '90s anyway. So now, we're kind of re, re-imagining that."
Guitarist Richard On adds, we don't make a record every year. So when it's time to make a record, and there's songs that are ready to be put together, it's really exciting. Because it's different."
O.A.R.'s "Just Like Paradise Tour" kicks off on July 24th in Ohio, and hits major cities across the U.S. including Austin, Houston, Atlanta, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle & more. See what the guys had to say about touring over the last 20 years, including their pre-show rituals, what's on their tour rider, who their on-stage dream collab is, and more:
Photos: Rachel Kaplan