Nick’s musical career was first inspired through his sister’s music collection such as Queen and Def Leppard. He first started playing guitar when he was seven.

When he was a teenager, he was invited to play with his band at a party where Tyson Ritter was the bouncer. Tyson, seeing that Nick’s band didn’t have a bassist, joined them, starting a close relationship with Nick, although Tyson had never played bass in his life. The two then traveled to New York City to record their fist album. Later they added Mike Kennerty and Chris Gaylor to their live show. Their first album, Nick played drums and guitar, released many hits such as Swing, Swing, Time Stands Still and The Last Song. After a year and a half hiatus, they released their second album, called Move Along, this time with Interscope Records instead of Doghouse Records, which released their first self titled album. The CD sold better than the first one, with Top 20 Hit, Move Along and Top 10 Hit It Ends Tonight and Dirty Little Secret.

He took one semester of Oklahoma State University then dropped out.

He has many tattoos including the Queen crest on his upper left arm and a Muppets Tattoo on his upper right arm. He also has the Def Leppard Hysteria album cover triangle on his right shoulder/back and a Bon Jovi Tattoo on his left shoulder/back. He has a Smashing Pumpkins tattoo ad Tournado Logo on his inside upper left arm and a tattoo of the Gibson Firebird logo on his right inner arm. And like his bandmembers and touring crew, Nick has the AAR logo on his upper right breast.

In 2006, Nick and his bandmates embarked on two tours: the Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour with Fall Out Boy and their headlining tour called Tournado.

Though he did not appear in the video, he played guitar for the song Snakes On a Plane (Bring It), which featured frontmen Gabe Saporta (Cobra Starship), William Beckett (The Academy Is…), Travis McCoy (Gym Class Heroes), and Maja Ivarsson (The Sounds).

In 2007, Nick and Tyson played an acoustic version of It’s My Life alongside Bon Jovi on MTV Unplugged Bon Jovi.

On April 5, 2008, Nick and his bandmates along with Paramore headlined Bamboozled Left in Irvine, CA.

He currently resides in Destin, Florida.

Equipment
He owns many guitars, both electric and acoustic. His main guitar is his Vintage Sunburst Gibson Firebird V. He is seen with a Firebird in all the videos except for “Gives You Hell”, in which he uses a green Gibson ES-335 and a blue version in It Ends Tonight. Also in “The Last Song”, he is seen with a Classic White Gibson Firebird. He also owns a cherry Gibson Firebird VII.

Nick’s choice in amps nowadays is a Vox AC30 for his dirty sound and for his clean tone he usually uses a Roland JC-120, but sometimes a Fender Bassman as well.

He uses a Big Muff (New York one) for his distortion. On their Kyte channel it is seen that he has a Lovetone Big Cheese for a song on The All-American Rejects’ 3rd Album, When the World Comes Down

Quotes
“I love my mama and my dog, I’m sorry.”

“If you can speak and understand music it’s a lot easier to play along with people. You can show them parts and learn new things. It just makes it easier trying to communicate that stuff.”

“Those V Drums are amazing!”

“I’m having to eat my salad with a sharpie!”

“Eating is serious! Eat too much, you gonna get delirious. If you eat too little, you gonna disappearious.”

Trivia
» Nick has a tattoo on his right arm and it is a Muppets tattoo.
» Nick has a small obsession with puppets.
» Nick had played not only guitar, but also drums on AAR’s debut record, which he pretty much owed to the school band.
» Nick Wheeler was majoring in Music Theory at Oklahoma State University before the band was officially made.
» Def Leppard and all the bands that Nick listened to greatly influenced him into music.
» The learning of music instruments contributed enormously to helping him play.
» Nick took guitar lessons for the better part of ten years.
» Nick and Tyson’s first record was released on the indie label, Doghouse Records in October of 2002 and later released on Dreamworks Records in February of 2003.
» Nick still looks for rare albums of Def Leopard and Bon Jovi on ebay.
» Nick Wheeler liked to air guitar to Def Leppard when he first started playing the guitar.
» AAR produce some classic songs and it has a lot to do with the influences Nick has from growing up.
» It took Nick year and a half to write most of the songs on AAR’s frist album.
» Nick Wheeler was a member of the marching band in high school.
» Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler have been friends since second grade.
» Nick plays different instruments, which was influenced by his sister’s many different musical albums and music videos.
» Nick’s favorite band is Def Leppard.
» Nick is the guitarist, back-up vocals, keyboardist, and programmer for The All-American Rejects.
» Nick has quite a few tattos, including the AAR symbol.
» Nick provides back-up vocals for the band.
» When the band went to New York City, Nick was able to contribute the most money because his parents owned a flower shop.
» Nick was a guest guitarist on the Snakes On A Plane single by Cobra Starship, but did not appear in the video.

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