Episode 23: Not Having fun. Anymore: The Rise & Fall Of My Former Favorite Band

   The year is 2008. Nate Ruess, Arizona indie musician, is dealing with the break-up of his band, The Format. He and other member of the duo, Sam Means, have decided to disband The Format so they each can pursue other endeavors. Their friendship remains strong and remains so to this day, but they need to move on. Ruess, still wanting to sing for a band, contacts two people about starting a new project.

     He contacts Jack Antonoff. Antonoff played in a band called Steel Train, which had performed alongside The Format before. Ruess also contacts Andrew Dost of the band Anathallo, which had also performed with The Format before. Fortunately for Ruess, Antonoff and Dost both agree to this new band. The three men meet up and start writing new music, and eventually they come up with the name of Fun. They were originally just going to be Fun, but then a foreign metal band named Fun called and told them to change their name or alter it in some way or be sued. So, they made the F lowercase and added a period on the end. So, when you're referring to the band, you should never write "Fun", you should write "fun.".

     fun. wrote several original songs, like "Benson Hedges" and "At Least I'm Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)". These songs and several others were included on their debut album, Aim & Ignite, released in 2009. The album isn't a mainstream hit but definitely gets them notice in the indie community. Songs like "Walking The Dog" and "All The Pretty Girls" are especially successful. 

    Not long after, they get signed by somewhat-major record label Fueled By Ramen, which gets them more prominence. In 2011, they release a song called "C'mon" with Panic! At The Disco, a band that had already made quite a name for itself. More people are noticing fun. 

    fun. starts working with Jeff Bhasker, a producer who had worked with the likes of Kanye West, Lady Gaga, and Eminem. Big names. fun. releases a song called "We Are Young", featuring Janelle Monáe. The song absolutely takes off. They're famous now. You've probably heard this song several times. "We Are Young" is part of their 2012 sophomore album, Some Nights. The album also includes hits "Some Nights" and "Carry On". They go on to win the Grammy for Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "We Are Young".

    Jump forward to 2014. People are looking forward to new fun. music, wanting that third album. They perform a new song called "Harsh Lights" on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Buzz about their third album skyrockets. But something's not adding up. New music is taking too long. 

    Meanwhile, Jack Antonoff is playing in a new solo project called Bleachers. To this day he insists that Bleachers had no role in the downfall of fun., and that he was perfectly content to do both fun. and Bleachers. I believe him. 

   fun. plays a festival show later and the wait for the third album escalates. They release the song "Sight of the Sun", a love-anthem that was going to be on Some Nights but didn't make it on time. The last thing they release as a band is a cover of Beck's song "Please Leave a Light on When You Go". 

    In 2015, Ruess gathers Antonoff and Dost and breaks some bad news to them. He's breaking fun. up. Ruess has written some new songs and thinks it'll be for the best if he goes solo than continues with the other two. Antonoff and Dost reluctantly agree with the split. So what happened after the split?

Post-fun. Nate Ruess

    Ruess releases a solo album called Grand Romantic. It includes "Harsh Lights" and some other songs that were initially going to be fun. songs, as well as some original stuff. It's a very good album. In the following years, Ruess settles down with his wife and they have two kids, a girl and a boy. He begins to want to just live in peace with his family, and his desire to make music dwindles. He gets to the point where he only comes out with one or two songs a year basically. And that's where we are now with him. A few days ago, someone asked him if he'd ever come back to do fun. again, and Ruess rudely shut him down. Ruess said he's too focused on his family to spend a single night away from them, and that he's made enough money from the songs he made to live comfortably and not have to "be miserable" again.

Post-fun. Jack Antonoff

   fun. may have ended, but Bleachers didn't. Bleachers is still a powerhouse and is still very active. God bless Jack Antonoff for Bleachers. What a chad. His first album, Strange Desire, came in 2014. His second album, Gone Now, came in 2017. His third and most recent album, Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, came in 2021. He has also worked with artists like Taylor Swift, Sia, Grimes, and Bruce Springsteen. Bleachers has had some hits, such as "I Wanna Get Better" and "Don't Take The Money".

Post-fun. Andrew Dost

   Dost has pretty much retired, even moreso than Ruess. Dost is just kinda chilling, which is not a problem. He has a very silly Instagram and Twitter, where he messes around and posts funny pictures and drawings. He even responded to one of my messages once.

In Conclusion

   fun. was my favorite band for a long time. I listened to them pretty much all through middle school and high school, and I still do, though now I call Bastille my favorite band. I never got to see fun., but I did see Nate Ruess do a solo show as part of a festival and Jack Antonoff do a Bleachers show for a different year's version of that same festival. Andrew Dost is the only member of fun. I haven't physically seen, but he's also the only one to notice me, unless you count when Nate Ruess liked one of my tweets.

    So whatever, I don't know, I thought it would be cool to write about all this. 

See you next week!