On Tuesday, Feb. 25, Seton Hall students were face-to-face with their newest obsession: Ross Lynch.
The Student Activities Board (SAB) announced on Feb. 11 on Instagram that Lynch would be participating in SHU Speaks, a Q&A event. The post gained over 1,400 likes.
SAB announcing Ross Lynch will be attending SHU Speaks | Photo via @shu_sab
Lynch is best known for his time on Disney Channel, with his most popular roles as Austin Moon in “Austin & Ally,” and Brady in “Teen Beach Movie.” Later in his acting career, Lynch shifted from starring in children’s programs to complex roles, like Dahmer in the film, “My Friend Dahmer” and Harvey in the Netflix series, “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.”
Apart from acting, Lynch is also a singer. Lynch’s vocal career launched in his own home where he, his siblings, and a friend formed the band R5 in 2009. After R5’s hiatus, Lynch formed a new band in 2018 with his brother, Rocky Lynch, called The Driver Era.
The Setonian, SHU TV, and Student Services had a chance to sit down with Lynch for a 10-minute interview before the show, where he discussed why he wanted to visit SHU, his upcoming “Obsession” tour, his career, and what inspires him in songwriting.
Lynch said he never attended college; however, he enjoys the energy surrounding different universities that he has visited. When he got the opportunity to come to SHU, he said “hell yeah.”
“I think there's a lot of excitement [in visiting universities], which is always fun to interact with in any capacity,” Lynch said.
A day after Lynch visited SHU, The Driver Era released a new song, “Don’t Take the Night.” The event coordinators told The Setonian that Lynch would be releasing new music shortly after the event, per his management team.
In light of his new song, Lynch reflected on the inspiration behind his music: life.
“When you're in love and you get your heart broken, there's some challenges to get back to that place where you want to be in a committed relationship again,” Lynch said. “So, there's some layers of that in the album that I was going through, for sure.”
Building off of the album title, “Obsession,” Lynch highlighted inspirations for his music other than love.
“But it's also about other things that are inherently obsessive, you know, staying up too late, or like trying to form good habits, obviously, from having bad habits,” Lynch said. “There's some real things that I think everybody goes through that I wanted to write about.”
With an album on the horizon, Lynch is on tour. This production, Lynch said, is the biggest he’s ever done, as The Driver Era is adding new elements to their concerts.
“We have a big stage and video walls and stuff, all sorts of fun ways to play because typically we're kind of like rock and roll,” Lynch said. “It's just like us [him and Rocky] and our instruments, and we just have at it, which has worked for us for a really long time.”
Before the show, some students were lined up outside of Bethany Hall since 1 p.m.
Lynch said he thought it was nice for people to show up for his event, and he noticed the line of students awaiting his arrival.
“When we pulled up they were like ‘Ross, Ross, Ross’...I was in disbelief that they were doing that,” Lynch said.
Throughout the show, Lynch emphasized his strong family dynamic and how he has not gone “full send” on the “fame game.”
“I’ve always gone home,” Lynch said. “[Fame] always remained some surprise to me.”
The event room was filled with screams as Lynch entered, prompting him to smile and cover his ears from the volume. After he took a seat, his first words to SHU were about the energy in the room.
“I think you guys win ‘loudest school’ for sure,” Lynch said.
Lynch was interactive and engaged with the crowd. One student who caught his attention, and who he acknowledged shared the same first name as his father, was Marc Manapat, a junior visual sound media major.
When Lynch spoke, Manapat replied with positive commentary.
“So I'm a very energetic person, very lively person, and I love bringing that to events so everybody can get hyped up and so like me, just like being myself, and like saying ‘period’ in the beginning, and he noticed it, and he said, ‘Shout out Marc,’” Manapat said.
Manapat added that he was shocked by his shoutout from Lynch. He said that Lynch noticed him three times and continued to point him out in the crowd.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, he's shouting out me,’ and I just kept continuing doing what I was doing, just praising him for not only coming here but being such a wonderful human being and being so real with us,” Manapat said.
Fernanda Prestes, a senior social behavioral sciences major, and Marjorie Campos, a sophomore psychology major, were also engaged in Lynch’s interaction with Manapat.
Prestes and Campos led the line for Lynch and were part of the group that awaited him since 1 p.m.
“We ended up ordering pizza halfway through because we were all really hungry, and especially since we were holding up the line for our friends,” Campos said.
Prestes said that people were kind and she made friends along the way.
“If we had to step away, it was like, ‘Hey, do you mind if we walk away for a second?’ And they were like, ‘Yeah, we'll honor your spot,’” Prestes said.
The long hours Prestes and Campos endured led them to score a second-row seat.
“Today we were able to see a deeper side of him, especially when we were talking about his passion and what motivates him and what kind of keeps him down to earth,” Campos said.
The show was moderated by SAB event coordinators Deborah Medina and Shalom Abu. They asked Lynch a series of personal and professional questions.
Throughout the show, Lynch also offered advice to college students. Lynch spoke about stress and how preoccupying it can be, as well as how there are times when you just have to go after something you want.
“I’m always trying to learn but I find momentum is your friend,” Lynch said.
He also said he’s on a current and we live in an interesting time and culture. It is easy to get overwhelmed with our phones as things move fast and can be easily taken out of context, according to Lynch.
With hesitation, he said we live in a capitalist society that’s built upon overconsumption.
“I’m not here to please everybody and I’m not going to do that anyway,” Lynch said.
Lynch closed the show with an acoustic set, first leading the crowd in a synchronized clap before performing “Can’t Do It Without You,” the “Austin & Ally” theme song. He then took requests, playing “Not a Love Song” from “Austin & Ally,” followed by “Rumors” from The Driver Era. He ended the set with a fan favorite, “On My Own” from “Teen Beach Movie 2.”
Sofia Kasbo is the assistant news editor for The Setonian’s News section. She can be reached at sofia.kasbo@student.shu.edu.
Dominique Mercadante is the head editor for The Setonian’s Campus Life section. She can be reached at dominique.mercadante@student.shu.edu.
