Ryan Beatty vs. Darling Parade. Who is the Artist of the Year?

Action Item

Hear it Now

Songs

Video

Action Item has been an "item" for a quite a while. The five of them grew up together, more or less, in Bergen County, New Jersey. They became a band there, and that's also where they got their name. As Brian Cag recently shared in a phone interview, done while he was folding laundry on the road, "we were watching the movie Fight Club, and that was something that came up in the movie. When we looked it up, we read that it meant 'something you want to change in the world,' and that sounded like what we wanted to do."

They work towards changing the world by writing songs and playing music. "Anthony is one of the best songwriters I've ever met, so when he brings an idea we work on it together. But we're very collaborative -- everyone brings ideas and we work them out." Also, through touring, "this is the biggest tour we've been on, we meet new people every day." So much travel isn't always the best "it's stable, and not stable," but in general they're "living the dream."

Though it's a bit hard to ask this wildly popular band what's next (what could get better?!) for them, Cag had a ready answer. "We're far from where we want to be. We're trying to grow musically but also personally. If this isn't making us happy, we'll stop." That philosophy carries over into the advice he'd give to another band. "When you stop having fun, stop doing it."