Aaron West & the Roaring Twenties is the first solo project from singer/songwriter Dan Campbell, who is best known as the frontman for pop-punk act the Wonder Years.
Looking to improve his guitar chops and expand his lyrical style, Campbell began writing songs on acoustic guitar that blended the passion and aggression of pop punk with more of an Americana and roots aesthetic. The new music didn’t fit the Wonder Years’ style and, while never intended for release, Campbell had casually played a few songs for Early Novembers singer Ace Enders during a stint their bands’ shared on the Vans Warped Tour in 2013. Enders loved the new songs and offered to produce them if Campbell wanted to make a solo album. Campbell agreed, and since most of the material was written more from the point of view of a semi-fictional character, he chose to use a fictional moniker rather than his own name. Following the Wonder Years’ tour, Campbell and Enders completed the new album which was now billed to Aaron West & the Roaring Twenties. The resulting We Don’t Have Each Other, which was released by Hopeless Records in July 2014, was a concept record that detailed the worst year of Aaron’s life from beginning to end. An EP, Bittersweet arrived in 2016, followed by the group’s sophomore full-length effort, Routine Maintenance, in 2019.
