It’s not every day that you meet a multi-talented sibling band . . . comprised of 18-year-old triplets—who happened to be born “Just Seconds Apart.” Meet Sela, Alex and Ari—your new fave band and summer obsession! From having a girl drummer to their powerful chemistry on stage, this young band is a force to be reckoned with. The Arizona-based group recently performed on their biggest tour yet as openers for Jesse McCartney. Justine got to meet them in Nashville after their high-energy performance to get to know the personalities behind the band a little better! ///by Katherine Leslie (Photographs by Sara Beth Pritchard)
Describing Their Dynamics
ARI: Dynamic wise I think Sela is the steady one and will calm everyone down. If Alex and I are in an argument or disagreement, she will be the one to kind of say ‘Hey guys this isn’t serious.’
I think my dynamic is I am the perfectionist/leader of the group. I’ll kind of get everyone together and just make sure everything is on point. Alex is the quiet one.
SELA: But once you get to know Alex he is like the funniest person ever! I’d say he is super laid back and calms us down when we get worried or nervous. Like when our sound goes out at sound checks or whatever he’s like, ‘Guys it’s going to be okay the show will go on.’
What Success Is for Their Band
ALEX: I’d say being able to do this for the rest of our lives and enjoying it as well as still loving what we are doing.
ARI: I think affecting one person like today in the crowd—that’s success to me. If you can get one person in the crowd to like your music and like you, that makes it worth it.
SELA: Probably one of the best feelings you can have after a show is meeting everyone. When they come up to you and say they are inspired, that’s such an amazing feeling. You know, we look up to people and we know how they make us feel, so to make other people feel that way is just insane!
The Triplet Connection
ARI: I think it’s really just the connection. We know what the other is thinking and it’s such an advantage. It’s like a synergy. It’s a powerful triangle on stage that shoots out to the crowd and that’s what I think is unique about us and what sets us apart.
Who Inspires Them
SELA: Julia Michaels. Before every show on this tour I just put her on. I’ve never had a legit inspiration before her. There is just something about her energy that you can feel. So that’s definitely my number one who I’d perform and collaborate with.
ARI: I think for me it’s probably John Mayer, just because of how great he is on guitar and I play guitar. The emotion he shows on stage is inspiring as well. He’s not afraid to go outside the box so that’s who I’d perform with.
ALEX: I like listening to The 1975 and Coldplay and bands like that. I really like Charlie Puth. He’s another pianist and a great songwriter. He’s just himself all the time and I like that.
The Story Behind Their Instruments
ARI: Our grandma took us to a music store for our 8th birthday and basically said to pick any instrument we wanted. I picked the guitar.
SELA: Funny story, we used to watch the wiggles when we were little. I had a little crush on the blue guy, no big deal I was five! He was the drummer so I picked the drums because of that.
ARI: I just wanted to try guitar out. I saw people performing on TV, jumping around and rocking out. I picked it for the performance part and just the sound itself!
ALEX: We’ve been playing piano since we were three or four so I just really loved it and wanted to stick with it.
Outside of Music
SELA: Before music, we were super into sports! It got to the point where we had to choose and music took over but we loved sports.
ARI: We played basketball, football, baseball, tennis and frisbee.
Sela: We were all on the same teams. Our dad was the coach and my mom was the team mom.
ALEX: Sela was the quarterback!
Their Celeb Crushes
SELA: Marco Sensio, Zac Efron, the Hemsworth brothers, Enrique Iglesias
ARI: Gigi Hadid ALEX: Victoria Justice