Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties: A Storytelling Project Turned Full Band
Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties isn’t your average side project — it’s an emotional storytelling universe wrapped in folk-punk, heart-on-sleeve songwriting, and a dash of theatricality. Created by Dan Campbell, best known as the frontman of pop-punk heavyweights The Wonder Years, Aaron West began as a conceptual solo project in 2014 with the debut album We Don’t Have Each Other. But instead of just writing under his own name, Campbell built an entire fictional character — Aaron West — and used him as the narrator to tell deeply vulnerable stories of grief, loss, resilience, and personal growth.
The result is something between a rock opera and a diary entry. Aaron West isn’t Dan Campbell — but the lines blur, because Campbell pours so much lived emotion into the songs that audiences find themselves believing every word.
The Story So Far
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2014: We Don’t Have Each Other
The debut introduced Aaron as a man reeling from the loss of his wife and the unraveling of his life. It set the tone for the project — raw acoustic-driven storytelling that felt more like a novel in song form than a standard album. -
2016: Bittersweet EP
Expanded on Aaron’s journey, further fleshing out his character and struggles. -
2019: Routine Maintenance
A full-band effort that pushed the project into richer, more expansive folk-rock territory. The story followed Aaron as he tried to rebuild, traveling through grief and into a fragile but hopeful place. -
2024: In Lieu of Flowers
The latest installment finds Aaron older, still marked by hardship but learning how to find beauty in the aftermath. It cements the project as more than just a side experiment — it’s a living narrative that grows with every release.
Sound and Style
Musically, Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties blends folk, Americana, indie rock, and punk grit. Acoustic guitars and brass sections often back Campbell’s storytelling, giving songs both intimacy and cinematic sweep. Live, the project has grown from Campbell solo with an acoustic guitar into a rotating full band lineup — the “Roaring Twenties” — who help bring the story to life with energy that borders on theatrical performance.
Why It Resonates
What makes Aaron West so compelling is the immersion. Fans aren’t just listening to an album — they’re following the life of a character, much like reading chapters in a book. And while Aaron’s story is fictional, the themes of grief, love, loss, healing, and redemption resonate deeply, especially with listeners who grew up with The Wonder Years’ brand of brutally honest songwriting.
For Campbell, it’s also an outlet: where The Wonder Years is often tied to his own perspective and scene, Aaron West allows him to explore storytelling, character work, and a different musical palette, making it both a creative challenge and a cathartic release.
👉 In short, Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties is more than a side project — it’s a living, breathing story set to music, blurring the lines between fiction and personal confession, and standing out as one of the most unique folk-punk acts of the last decade.
