I was able to catch up with Tom Higgenson, the vocalist of Plain White T’s on Monday before their show at the Orange Peel in Asheville, N.C. &mdash a city the band has never played before.
Widely known for their Grammy-nominated hit "Hey There Delilah," which caused them to explode out of the Chicago music scene in 2007 after playing for 10 years, the Plain White T’s are touring their current album, Wonders of the Younger. The album’s first single, “Rhythm of Love,” has become the band’s fastest-selling single to date.
The Plain White T’s will be headlining a special pool party at The Club at Treasure Island on Saturday, May 14. A limited number of tickets will be available to nonmembers for $35, with a portion of proceeds benefitting All Children’s Hospital. The fun will begin at 7 p.m. with the musical stylings of DJ Fresh. The two national acts that are touring with the T’s, Andy Grammer and Parachute, will perform at 8 p.m. and 8:35 p.m. The T’s are expected to play between 9 and 10:35 p.m.
It looks like you guys haven't played in Florida since June of 2009. Does that sound about right?
That does… yeah. We didn’t tour pretty much all of 2010 because we were busy making Wonders of the Younger. Jeeze, I can’t believe it’s been that long.
Are you excited to come down and soak up some sun?
Of course! We love Florida. We were bummed when we found out that the first routing of our tour wasn’t going to include Florida. Our managers said not to worry and that they’d get us booked.
What are your thoughts about playing a benefit show at a club in a beach town called Treasure Island?
I’m pretty sure we’re wrapping up our tour there and the fact that we’re playing in an area called Treasure Island is just awesome. The album is all about nostalgia and being a kid. There are songs about pirates. I think it’s very fitting for us to find the “treasure” at the end of our tour.
Can you tell me about your new album Wonders of the Younger? How was the recording process?
It was pretty cool. I put a studio in my house. Tim, who lives in Austin, pretty much stayed at my house and our producer, Ian Kirkpatrick, lived there, too. All the other guys in the band live about five minutes away. It was cool to have everyone kind of be home. We’d roll out of bed, have some coffee, start working, have lunch and come back. It was a very relaxed, laid back atmosphere. We were able to focus and didn’t have distractions. The process was different because usually we sit in a room for a week pre-production, figuring out guitar parts and drums. We go in drums, then bass, then vocals. This time, we did the opposite, starting with the bare bones … acoustic guitar, then vocals, then we added everything to that. We built it up backwards using the song, the melody and the lyrics, instead of trying to figure it out all out at once. We had a little more freedom and were able to say, “You know, I’m not really feeling that.” It was a lot easier to change things. There was a total different approach.
How does this album differ from your last, Big Bad World?
We tried to make it sound as live as possible, the opposite of Wonders. It’s a very raw, stripped down kind of sound. We wanted Wonders to have a sick, rich production. Almost gooey-like. Sounds are dripping, oozing… There’s a mood. It’s not like, “Okay, we recorded a bunch of songs and these are the best ones we have.” This one was a lot more thought out. It’s reminiscent of your childhood. It’s about being nostalgic and adventurous. To do that, every sound that we chose had that feeling. Like if we used xylophone, for example, that sound was meant to take you somewhere.
How do you feel about your guitarist Tim singing some of the tracks on the album?
I think it’s pretty cool. He wrote those songs, he had demos. We pretty much recorded them on the album and they were very true to his original demos, we didn’t change too much about them. They just sounded amazing with him singing. It came natural. Plus one of those things, like I said, was that sense of adventure and kind of taking chances, and doing things that the band has never done before, for sure. It seemed that would be the way to get that feeling across.
How has the second portion of the tour been treating you guys?
So far, so good. It’s been great. We played the Bamboozle Festival, which was amazing. We had an incredible crowd and got to hang out and see some of my favorites (Taking Back Sunday, Alkaline Trio). We met Marky Ramone of The Ramone’s. It was great.
What made you guys decide to support the charity Download to Donate: Tsunami Relief?
Obviously, what happened in Japan was a huge tragedy. Management came to us with a couple of ideas and Download to Donate seemed the most relevant since it still had to do with music. What better way to help out than with our music?
Do you know how successful the charity has been so far at providing relief to Japan’s tsunami victims?
I’m not really sure because I haven’t heard much about it. It’s got to be doing great, though. For a fan of the band, it’s an easy way to help and get good tunes meanwhile. It’s a win-win.
Do you see yourself getting involved with more charities in the future?
We love playing for charities. We just did a benefit for Invisible Children. Have you ever seen the movie City of God? Little kids in Africa get recruited to be soldiers and they are forced to be in an army and carry machine guns and shit. It’s crazy ridiculous. They’re forced to do those things by the big shots of the country. This charity is set out to put an end to that. For that day, there was silence for 24 hours. Then a bunch of bands played. It was cool. Anything children-based is kind of the best way as far as charities go to us. Children suffering or being taken advantage of is the worst thing imaginable.
What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment as band that’s been playing since the late 90s?
Through the years, we’ve had so many. Our first time having a sold out show at the Metro in Chicago was huge deal for us… Then to get signed to an indie label (Fearless), tour, and then get signed to major label (Hollywood). To have hits like “Hey There Delilah”, “1,2,3,4”, “Rhythm of Love”, and (hopefully) “Boomerang” is amazing. Oh, and we were nominated for a Grammy. I’m actually kind of glad we didn’t get the award because now we have something to fight for.
Are you working on any projects?
We’re not really thinking about a new album, just doing our thing, trying to take Wonders out on tour. We’re going to be doing some European festivals and we’re trying to get to Japan and Australia. Then we’re going to tour again in America. We’re focused on getting this album out there. “Boomerang” is the next thing. It’s about getting the music to the people.
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 4, 2011.