Emmy nominee William Lipton, lead singer and guitarist of The Runarounds, chatted about their “Minivan” Tour, as well as his music and songwriting inspirations.
Lipton also recalled his experiences in the teen drama TV series “The Runarounds,” which was created and directed by Jonas Pate (“Outer Banks”), which streams on Amazon Prime Video.
Throughout his career, Lipton is a three-time Emmy-nominated performer for his acting and singing work on “General Hospital.”
‘Minivan’ Tour
The band just performed two sold-out shows at Irving Plaza in New York City. “This tour has been a dream come true,” he admitted. “I’ve been doing music for a long time now, and it has always been a dream of mine to do a full nationwide tour.”
“So, to be playing at iconic venues such as Irving Plaza has been really special,” he said. “We’ve had a great time!”
“It has been very cool to grow up and reflect on my career thus far. I am very grateful for the position I’m in, and I’m very excited to see what the future holds,” he added.
Favorite songs to play live
From the “Minivan” set, he noted that he has a different favorite song each night. “My two favorites to perform are ‘Arrhythmia’ and ‘Downtown’,” he said.
Music and songwriting inspirations
Regarding his music and songwriting inspirations, he shared, “Well, I think what inspires my music and songwriting are all the musicians and songwriters that came before me.
“Growing up as a kid, just really enjoying bands and falling in love with different albums and things like that, is what keeps me going,” he acknowledged.
“Last night, we played in Athens, Georgia. I was looking at all the writing on the walls, and it reminded me of all the bands that have played there before, and how many people have walked the same path I’m on… so, that’s what inspires me. Just keeping the tradition going,” he elaborated.
Lessons learned from this musical journey
On the lessons learned from his musical journey, Lipton reflected, “I think patience has been a big virtue that I’ve gained. I was cast when I was 17 for this project, and now at 22, we’re doing our full nationwide tour.”
“So, patience is a big one,” he admitted. “Also, flexibility and openness. I feel that everything I envisioned in my brain turned out way better, and that’s because I had the open mindedness to stick with it.”
Lipton revealed that he also has a solo album that is in the works.
‘The Runarounds’ series on Prime Video
The synopsis is: “The Runarounds” follows a group of recent high school graduates who form a band in the hopes of escaping the mundane futures that are laid out before them.
As the band pursues their big break and near impossible dream over the course of a summer, they fall in love and encounter trouble along the way.
On filming “The Runarounds” series, Lipton remarked, “It was great, and it was so much fun to film. It was easily the best 5.5 months of my life, for sure. We were all in this super cute town in Wilmington, North Carolina.”
“I love the film history there… ‘Dawson’s Creek’ and ‘One Tree Hill’ were filmed there. I watched a few different shows during my stay in Wilmington, just to be reminded of that, and it was cool,” he elaborated.
“I would be watching those shows, and I would be reminded that I just filmed there as well… so that was crazy,” Lipton exclaimed.
Eden McCoy
Lipton had great words about Emmy winner Eden McCoy, his “General Hospital” co-star Josslyn Jacks (Lipton played Cameron Webber). “Eden and I are still close friends. We still hang out a ton in Los Angeles,” he said.
“Eden came to the Los Angeles show tour stop, and I also brought her to ‘The Runarounds’ premiere. Eden is my earliest friend in Los Angeles,” he added.
Remembering Johnny Wactor
Lipton remembered his late “General Hospital” co-star Johnny Wactor, who was murdered on May 25th, 2024, in Downtown Los Angeles, due to an attempted catalytic converter theft.
“Johnny Wactor was such an incredible man,” Lipton said. “It was a privilege to have worked with him on ‘General Hospital’ and he was an incredible light that was lost. I think about him from time to time, and he will be remembered as an incredible actor and human being.”
Message for his fans and followers
For his fans and followers, Lipton expressed, “First and foremost, thank you! This has always been my dream, and that dream doesn’t happen without the fans coming and supporting the band like they have been the last couple of months.”
“It has truly been a dream come true,” he reiterated. “We’ve written a lot of these songs over the years, and during the majority of this project, they were just our songs.”
“Now, to have the experience of hearing those songs being sung back at us on stage is really beautiful,” he admitted.
“So, a huge ‘thank you’ to the fans. I would also like to tell them to ‘stay tuned’ because we have some more music coming out and we’re very excited to take some of the new songs and play them for the remainder of the tour in the spring and the summer,” he elaborated.
Closing thoughts on the ‘Minivan’ Tour
Regarding the “Minivan Tour,” he stated, “I feel that in music history, there has been so many cool acts that have come through popular music culture. I think I resonate the most with band culture, which is making a huge upswing back.
“I want to encourage people to go to as many live shows as they can, and experience the joy of a communal live show experience,” Lipton concluded.
To learn more about William Lipton, follow him on Instagram.
For more information on The Runarounds, follow them on Instagram and visit their official homepage.
Read More: The Runarounds concert review at Irving Plaza in New York City.
