Left to right: **PRADA** coat, shorts, and shoes and talent’s own socks and jewelry. **ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA COUTURE** suit and shoes and **LONGCHAMP BY SHANE OLIVER** t-shirt.
Don’t let the sweltering, all-American dreamboat status of Ross and Rocky Lynch fool you—these multi-talented siblings have already garnered a strong grip in the worlds of acting and music. Ross has traversed the young-adult acting world from the Disney Channel to acclaimed indie projects like _My Friend Dammer._ Rocky is a masterful self-taught guitarist and a key producer for their family band, R5. Along with their siblings, Riker & Rydel Lynch, along with childhood friend Ellington Ratliff, R5 saw the boys growing up before the public's eyes as they bridged the gap from tween sensations to fully-fledged idols. After a decade together, the brothers are taking a moment for themselves with a new musical project, The Driver Era. This new outlet explores and experiments with varied sonic soundscapes; combining alt-rock with EDM and hints of trap produced beats, their multifaceted take on pop music is sending them up the charts. _Flaunt_ jumped at the chance to chat with the boys, who just released their latest single and our new summer favorite: "Afterglow."
**ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA COUTURE** suit and shoes and **LONGCHAMP BY SHANE OLIVER** t-shirt.
**Where are you guys originally from?**
**Ross**: We are from Colorado. Middleton, Colorado is a little city off of Denver. We came to LA about 11 years ago and I’ve just been doing the whole music thing since then.
**What is the dynamic like, working together with all your siblings?**
**Ross**: It was always really natural working with siblings. It's very comfortable because we've been doing it forever. It was more of a hobby than anything. We never started making music to make money. It’s always been like a fun collaboration and it's really about having a good time.
**Rocky**: We just grew up doing it, so it's kind of second nature to us. It’s never been something we’ve had to force or think about. We’re doing it and we still are doing it and it's easy its fun.
Left to right: **DIOR HOMME** suit, **ROSE IN GOOD FAITH** t-shirt, **VON DRENIK** bolo tie, and talent’s own rings. **DIOR HOMME** suit, **ROSE IN GOOD FAITH** t-shirt, and **VON DRENIK** bolo tie.
**I love the name The Driver Era, what's the origin story there?**
**Ross**: Near the end of our last tour (with R5), we decided to make a new project which was in talks for a while. We knew we wanted to do it. We didn’t know when to do it and we had a few names here and there but nothing was really sticking and we had finally settled on a name. We brainstormed again and came up with the Driver Era because to us it feels sort of all-encompassing. It feels like it could exist in both the past and present.
**Rocky**: The driver era to me feels like you’re in the future, it feels like you're present and it also kind of feels like your mark in the past. So to me, it feels timeless and I love that.
**HUDSON JEANS** shirt and jeans and talent’s own jewelry.
**What is the inspiration for the Driver Era’s production and songwriting?**
**Ross**: Recently we’ve been influenced by the alternative stuff because that's where we started to accumulate a good amount of success. With that happening, it kind of peaked our interest at doing alternative style songs for the Driver Era. So we’ve been working on some songs with that in the back of our heads just to kind of continue that alt-pop sort of thing.
**Rocky**: There’s another song that flows a little more like a pop-trap in the indie realm.
**Ross**: We did this song in the early stages of the Driver Era. So it's actually probably the furthest out from what people would classify as the Driver Era sound but I also think there are no limitations to the sound you know. If we decide one day we're going to drop an album that's entirely acoustic. We don’t really like limits on any kind of creativity.
**Rocky**: Ross and I are also the types of people that kinda just get bored so once we do a couple acoustic little strip down sets weather we are at a radio station or at a Coachella party. It's like the next step was done we want to do something different. Were just bored of it and we were ready for something new. It's kind of nice to have that ability to diversify the set up at any moment.
Left to right: O**VADIA & SONS** coat and **HUDSON JEANS** t-shirt. **MSGM** shirt
**The song “Afterglow” just dropped and is surely gonna be a summer hit, what is about?**
**Ross**: The story behind “Afterglow” is kind of awesome because we went to Cabo. We went to Cabo at an all-inclusive resort and it was so much fun. Our buddy was there. We had family friends there and they rented a small yacht for us to go out on. I don’t think they meant to do it on my birthday but it was on my birthday. So we were just having so much fun in Cabo. Drinking you know having a good time and of course, there was a girl but it’s from Rocky’s perspective.
**Rocky**: There’s not much more to say than we had a quick romance while on vacation in Cabo and it was really quick and the feelings were there really quickly but the time was gone even faster. So that's kind of where afterglow came from. Immediately after that trip I just kind of… the song happened. There wasn’t really much writing you know. Ross was actually in Milan modeling and he came back and I had a little start to the song. I was like, here's this vibe, and he immediately said this is something special. I love the song actually, I think it turned out great.
Left to right: Ross wears **PRADA** jacket, shirt, and tie and **CALVIN KLEIN JEANS** jeans and boots. Rocky wears **OVADIA & SONS** sweater and pants, **LINDER** shirt, and **ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA COUTURE** shoes.
**Are you guys going to be working with your siblings again anytime soon?**
**Ross**: We’ll see it's all up in the air right now. Were trying to find some new grounds some new footings. There a lot of things coming up in the future and like I said I'm living up in Vancouver; there are lots of disconnects going on. Rocky and I used to spend every day together writing songs and just doing anything. It all came so rapidly so quickly.
**MSGM** shirt, **DIOR HOMME** pants, and vintage cowboy boots available at Palace Costume, LA.
**Is there anything you people to know?**
**Ross**: There’s a lot coming in the future if you guys wanna come see us live. Actually for the first time in this format, then definitely go check that out on our website and what not. Like Made in America and a bunch of other festivals. That will be really fun.
**PRADA** coat, shorts, and shoes and talent’s own socks and jewelry.
**How is your acting different than your music career in the way you approach it?**
**Ross**: It's very different. There almost completely different. The only thing that's’ kind of the same is they're both technically an artform. But with music it's very, you know, you sit by yourself for hours on end and you just play chords and come up with funny phrases and with acting, you're sitting down and you're kind of psychoanalyzing the person that your playing. They're both equally satisfying in their own way.
**HUDSON JEANS** shirt and pants and talent’s own rings.
**Are there any other art forms you want to get into?**
**Ross**: Yea. I kind of like everything. I like every art form. Even painting and drawing, obviously the music is really big for us. Acting I really love. Lately, I’ve been feeling like I need to focus on one of them and I don’t know what that’s going to lead to, but I’ve been feeling like I need to pick something and run with it for a second.
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Photographed by Parker Woods
Styled by Britton Litow
Groomer: Mikayla
Production Assistant: Sara Durst
Flaunt film directed by Ira Chernova
Written by BJ Panda Bear
