The Boys Are Back! Big Time Rush Release First Single in 8 Years for 'New Chapter' as a 'Family'

Jordan Knight Big Time Rush

It's the only life you got, so you gotta live it big time, right? Well, Big Time Rush — the boy band comprised of four of the 2010s' biggest teen heartthrobs — is back and better than ever.

Big Time Rush marked their return to the music scene on Monday with the release of their first single in eight years, titled "Call It Like I See It."

The band, which consists of members Kendall Schmidt, 31, James Maslow, 31, Logan Henderson, 32, and Carlos PenaVega, 32, dates back to 2009 with the debut of their Nickelodeon show Big Time Rush, where they played characters in a teenage band.

Thanks to the show's success, the group then went on to release three albums, which included the hits we all know and love such as "Worldwide" and "Boyfriend" — and performed across the globe.

In 2013, the band decided to go their separate ways but notably remained close friends through the years. Fast forward to March of this year, all four seasons of the show were added to Netflix and the band's fanbase felt the rush reviving once again.

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Talking to PEOPLE, the band describes this moment as "serendipitous," considering the fact that they were already plotting to get back together for a year and half. Over the years, the band hinted at the idea of getting back together, but never gave a solid answer as to when.

"A blessing in disguise was that the music was good when it started, but after a year of revising, revisiting, figuring out what we want to do, our music now is so much better. So everything happens for a reason. And we're super pumped for the fans," Maslow tells PEOPLE.

"[The] universe was telling us, 'Big Time Rush get back together,' " Henderson adds.

Returning to the recording studio together again wasn't easy, but in the band's true fashion, they found a way to make it a blast.

"We definitely had some rough patches, had some issues kind of finding our sound and knowing the vision for the music. But the best part was whenever we all came together, at James's house in Vegas, we just went in with open hearts, open minds about the music and a little bit of tequila," Henderson says. (They all hilariously agreed that the tequila helped.)

After all of these years working together, however, the band says their relationship is less like bandmates/co-stars and more like family.

"We're family a hundred percent," PenaVega says. "Family that you can go two months without speaking and then you pick right back up or you can go six months or a year."

"You know, it's like brothers, you don't always get along with your siblings. But you always love them," Maslow adds.

Oftentimes, musical groups start with a strong rise, but end with a hard fall. For the boys of Big Time Rush, however, their return is about having fun — and less about who's in the spotlight.

"Listen, most bands that get back together, I always hear like, 'Oh, so and so, they hate each other,'" Schmidt says. "We're just excited."

He continues, "[What's different] from 10 years ago is that we all have grown individually. We all have different strengths. And now I think that we're much more open to playing off each other's strengths and it's really kind of helped our relationship."

Schmidt adds, "For lack of a better word there used to be a lot of jockeying for position or ego involved. And I think after time has gone by, we're just like, 'I don't care. Just do you, [and] have fun.' It's all about the good times. It's all about low stress. We just want to have fun. And the fans, I think when they see that we've had our experience building this low stress, I think they'll see, man, these guys have a great time."

Jordan Knight Big Time Rush

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The band's loyal fanbase has certainly grown over the years and even reached the band members' younger relatives.

"Now we have a whole new group of fans. My niece is 7, 8 years old at this point. She's become a huge fan over the last year because she just started watching the series," Maslow says.

PenaVega adds, "Her favorite is Logan, though." He also admits that his kids, whom he shares with Alexa PenaVega, are big fans of the group.

In honor of the release of the new track, the band will be performing at iHeartRadio's Jingle Ball tour in Philadelphia on Monday night, marking their return to the stage since 2014's Live World Tour.

Though they're excited, they note that they will be "getting thrown in the mix with some of the greatest artists of today. The world's most current artists."

"Hey man, let's see how we do. I think it's going to be great," Schmidt says. Unfortunately, the band did reveal they will not be performing any of their iconic Christmas singles, but, "Maybe on the red carpet we'll give a little jingle."

"Call It Like I See It" is out now, with new music and performances to come in 2022 — and as the band put it, it's going to be "big time."