Ross Lynch has revealed growing up on the Disney Channel was a “unique experience.” The actor and singer made his debut as Austin Moon in the series Austin & Ally back in 2011 and instantly became a hit with viewers.
Since then, the 29-year-old has gone on to carve out a successful career in both acting and music, having been the lead singer of pop rock band R5, before branching out with The Driver Era. Nowadays though, he’s touring the world with the latter alongside his brother Rocky Lynch and has amassed a staggering 10.8 million followers on Instagram alone.
“It’s interesting,” Ross exclusively told the Mirror about growing up in the spotlight. The singer, who is back with their latest album, Obsession, went on to add: “I’ve definitely had a unique experience. It’s definitely different than probably anyone you’ve been friends with, unless you have any other friends who have been on TV since they were 15. It’s interesting, I developed in certain ways quicker than other people and then I didn’t develop in other ways quicker.
“For instance, romantic relationships came later in life for me, because I wasn’t really in high school. I was just on set working.” Ross adds that “setting boundaries” came later in life for him as he was “so used to being a worker.” He explained that his working life made him “used” to sending over his schedule to other people. But he admits that while his childhood was very different to most, he wouldn’t change it for the world.
“I think my life is pretty cool,” he said while grinning. Ross added: “I’ve enjoyed it up to this point, for instance, being able to travel the world with my family making music, I think it’s a pretty unique experience and I’m grateful for it and I wouldn’t change. Even now, being on tour.
“I think the plus side of it is I have all this experience.” It’s been 14 years since Ross found fame but the lesson he’s taken away from his career so far is to “try and enjoy it.” He commented: “Even with Obsession coming out, I feel like Obsession is arguably some of the best songs that I’ve ever put out. That feeling of more, I want to write more songs, there’s always going to be that feeling and I think it’s just important to feel a sense of accomplishment and enjoy it and also that sense of desire that is going to push you to continue to create.”
Speaking about the record, Ross admits it’s a “relief” for it to be released. The Driver Era work independently, without the backing of a major label which he feels a lot of people don’t realise.
“We kind of like the idea of owning our masters and we have this great fan base,” he said of their decision to work independently. But while there’s no label behind them, he reveals there’s dozens of people working behind the scenes to make things happen for the band. “It takes a lot of concentration, love and effort,” he said. But the musician admits he’s proud of the people he works with and the songs they have managed to create.
Now, while he admits its a relief for the record to be out, he jokes it feels “heavy” to wait and find out what people think of the album. “I’m proud of the work we’ve all done, I feel good about the record, what it represents and I’m thinking that a lot of people can relate and enjoy this body of work,” Ross explained.
The album is perhaps their most personal, documenting the lives of young guys in their 20s running around town trying to figure life out, making mistakes and falling in love. Ross said: “A lot of the songs are about those experiences directly.”
Creating such a personal album was important for the duo as Ross himself has grown up and connected with songs from other artists, admitting they helped him through dark periods in his life. He explained: “People come to our shows and say that same thing to me and it means a lot. Honestly, that’s a big part of why art is important. I have those experiences so for anyone to have those experiences with something that we’re making, I feel is incredible and it’s a big part of why anyone should do art is to further. Storytelling in general has that capacity to enlighten and inspire people in beautiful ways, really.”
For Ross, connecting with his millions of fans allows him to remain attached to humanity. But some of his closest friends still have no concept of his levels of fame. The star racks up millions of views on TikTok, has social media accounts dedicated purely to photographs of himself by his adoring fans. “Some of my peers don’t realise how famous I am,” he shyly said. Ross added: “Not in a weird way but everywhere I go, I’m taking pictures with people.”
He understands why some people in his position often wear sunglasses and hide themselves as a “coping mechanism”. He explained: “I don’t even think it’s an ego, people develop a defence mechanism to try and have a normal experience.
“Everybody is human at the end of the day, we’re all just trying to get through this thing [life] with enjoyment. I think that’s one of the tricks to continuing to make things is you have to stay street level.”
The band have carved out their own unique sound which has worked in their favour, attracting thousands of fans to their sold out gig but this wasn’t on purpose. “I like that we have this distinguishable sound and this like unique, eclectic body of work now,” he said.
Ross added: “I think it’s cool and it’s nothing that we ever try to do on purpose. Whenever we’re making things, we’re never really referencing other people’s work. We just like to make what sounds good to us or what we think is unique and original.”
That resonated on their latest UK tour with the band playing in cities up and down the country. “We loved Bristol, we ended up having an amazing show and we went to this bar down the street and they kept it open for us, it was just great vibes,” he said. But London was perhaps one of their “best shows” of the whole tour, which is still ongoing across America.
Ross has no plans to slow down any time soon though, with their tour lasting for another three months. There’s also some exciting filming projects in the pipeline for him though, although he wasn’t able to disclose too much information.
He said: “There’s some films in the works, there’s a film that I would really like to make that we’re trying to put on its feet with a really amazing true story of an athlete, which is really exciting. And then music is going to be a thing for me forever. There’ll always be more music coming down the pipeline to some capacity.”
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