Exclusive Interview: Riker Lynch Chats American Song Contest, His Single “Feel the Love”, Filmmaking, and More

Whether he’s writing, directing, or starring in projects like Aliens on Halloween or performing in sold-out venues around the world, Riker Lynch has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most dynamic talents.

This spring, he’s representing his home state of Colorado with his single “Feel the Love” on American Song Contest. It’s the perfect anthem for Riker who is known for his larger-than-life personality, good energy, and positive vibes.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Riker about his single “Feel the Love”, making the semifinals of American Song Contest, his multifaceted career, and his plans for the rest of 2022.

PC: Congratulations on making it to the semifinals. How did you end up celebrating the news?
Riker: We went back to the hotel. My wife and I had dinner with Grant [Knoche] and Ni/Co. Brittany [Pfantz] actually came with us as well. We all celebrated each other and had some good food. That was pretty much it.

PC: You’ve done so much throughout your career. What made you want to be a part of American Song Contest?
Riker: Just to entertain and perform on a larger scale. NBC is a huge network and American Song Contest is a huge new show. I feel like my purpose in life is to entertain as many people as I possibly can. Hopefully, I can brighten up their day a little bit and help them forget what’s going on. To do that on a large scale like American Song Contest? Sign me up. I love it. I live for this stuff.

PC: Your single, “Feel the Love”, is a song that the world needs right now. Tell us about the inspiration behind it. Why do you think it represents your home state?
Riker: It represents my home state because Colorado is about spreading good energy and getting outdoors and back to nature. When you do that, you feel grounded again. You feel that fresh air. You see the sunshine. You’re out with nature, and that brings back life into people. That’s what I’ve tried to do with “Feel the Love”. I’m trying to bring back that love and that positive energy and those positive emotions. I don’t think we get enough of that nowadays. You know the show Ted Lasso? I always say the world needs more Ted Lasso. That’s what we need. We don’t need any more Squid Game. I tried to do that with “Feel the Love”.

A larger part of the inspiration was what makes me feel good to be alive, which is traveling and going on these adventures in these tropical destinations with my wife. A lot of this comes through in the music video, which we’ll be putting out in a couple of weeks. It’s basically just vacation footage of us. We went to Greece. We went to Cannes in France. We went to Belize. Those things light me up, and those adventures make me feel good to be alive. I wanted to share that message and hopefully spread some love while doing it.

PC: You definitely did. Family has been a running theme throughout your career, and you got to share the stage with your siblings and close friends. How much more special is that performance because of that? How much comfort does that bring you knowing that you’re on the stage with people you know, love, and trust?
Riker: It’s amazing. I only want to work with people that I think very highly of and that I love to be around. I want to be around that good energy. My family is a large part of that, but I also have amazing friends. My producers are the Fund. They were on guitars and bass. They were there with me. My brother-in-law was on the drums, so it was very special to have them. It definitely brings me comfort knowing that I’ve got that strong support back there. But at the end of the day, it’s all about going through life with people that I genuinely love to be around and keeping that negative energy far away. I surround myself with people that are similar-minded in spreading love and that good energy. My family is definitely part of that.

PC: Something that I love about this show is it highlights these fantastic songwriters from across the country. Of all the songs that you’ve heard in the competition thus far, if you could choose one that you wish you wrote, which would it be and why?
Riker: Tyler Braden’s song “Seventeen”. He represents Tennessee. That’s probably one of the best ones. I’m also a huge fan of Christian [Pagán] from Puerto Rico. I love “Loko”. I would love to go on tour with that guy and get out there and jam with him on that song. It’s amazing.

PC: During the pandemic, you’ve been busy writing and directing screenplays. How have those experiences made you a stronger musical artist and vice versa?
Riker: It’s really about the collaboration between the two. With music, when I was part of R5, we held on tight to what we wanted and what we wanted to sound like. We really wanted it a certain way. I think making things on my own and being the head of the ship, for a lack of a better term, has made me more collaborative. I realize I love that part of the entertainment industry—filmmaking specifically. It takes 500 people to make a huge motion picture.

That’s so cool that everyone’s coming together and trying to be the best they can be at the same time to make an amazing shot, scene, and film happen. I’ve really learned to appreciate that collaboration over the years. I really tried to implement that while working with the creative team on this show with the staging, lighting, and the whole concept of the performance. It was such a collaborative process. We really worked well together. I’m so happy with how it turned out.

PC: You delivered such a showstopping performance that included dancing. We saw you dive into the crowd. Can you tell us a bit about the vision for this performance and bringing it to life?
Riker: I talked with the creative team over Zoom for about thirty minutes. I basically told them what I’m all about as a person and what I wanted to represent as an artist and what I wanted to bring to the world, which is love, positivity, and good vibes. I want people to leave the performance feeling better than they did before. We are really focused on that energy—bright colors, high energy, and full of entertainment.

As far as the dancing went, I knew that the song has such a strong dance groove and it’s so fun. It’s so high energy. I knew I wanted to dance. I knew I didn’t want to be stuck behind an instrument. Coming from Dancing with the Stars and Glee where I’ve learned and done a fair amount of dancing, I really wanted to bring that to my performance because I felt like most of these artists are probably going to just be playing their music and singing.

PC: How early on did you know that you were closing this show, and did that bring any added pressure?
Riker: It brought a little bit of pressure. All week long, I was like, “Gosh, I hope I’m not last,” because I didn’t want to have to sit around and wait to go on stage. After the first rehearsal, one of the producers was like, “I think we’re going to close with that.” I was like, “No.” [laughs] In retrospect, It was a huge honor because I really feel like the guys, my sister, and I really brought the house down with our performance. For the producers and NBC to be like, “This is what we want to finish the show on because we want to go out with a bang,” I’m very grateful that they thought of me for that. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had so much fun. It was definitely worth it in the end.

PC: You’ve set the bar so high for yourself. Have you started thinking about how you’re going to top your last performance? Is there anything that you can tease? What can fans expect from your semifinal performance?
Riker: I don’t know what’s going to happen! We really went out with a bang. We threw everything into it. We had confetti. We had huge lights. We had an amazing stage. We had pyro lasers. We’re definitely going to try to raise that bar. I don’t know how we’re going to do it yet, but we’re going to figure out a way. Maybe I’ll be in a harness and I’ll go flying around the room or something.

PC: There are so many different facets to your talent. As we look ahead to the rest of 2022, what can fans expect from you?
Riker: For the rest of the year, I’m doing the show. I’m going to go as far as I possibly can. When the show’s done, we’ll have new music out as well as a music video for “Feel the Love”. Last year, like we were talking about earlier, I made the film Aliens on Halloween. I wrote and directed that short. That’s been on the festival circuit. We’ve received a lot of recognition for that. After that, I’m going to do my first feature film, which I wrote and which I’ll be directing. We’re in the beginning stages of talking with producers and a couple of actors to play the lead role. I’m going to play the best friend. That’ll be happening in the next twelve months. I’ll also be out with the Driver Era playing bass and hopefully getting a tour of my own this summer. We’ll see what happens with that, but that’s what’s on the horizon.

To keep up with Riker, follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, and Apple Music.