Plain White T’s

Hi Tom , how are you doing ?
Hi, I’m doing great.

Can you tell us a story of how you met, got together as a band and started playing music ?
We all met in high school. Me, Ken and Dave played together in various bands through high school, and after we graduated, we decided to get serious and formed Plain White T’s. After about a year, we started practicing with Steve, and it’s been the four of us ever since.

You’re very young guys - how old are you ? Do you play in the band 100% of your time or do you have some other jobs/or go to school ?

I, am 23. Ken is 23. Dave is 22, and Steve is 20. The band is our lives.Wwe do nothing else but hang out with friends and go see other bands.

How did you get in touch with Fearless Records ?
They loved our record, so we went out to dinner with Bob Becker, the owner of the label. We thought he was a great guy with a great work ethic. He had tremendous faith in us, so we put our faith in him.

How was the recording process of your new album “Stop”?
We actually recorded the record in our friend wes’ basement studio. Wes engineered the record at the ripe old age of 16. That kid’s gonna be good.

Have you ever recorded some other stuff before this record ?
We’ve put out various little releases on our own, but we consider “Stop” to be our debut record. I think with “Stop” we finally came together and realized the direction we wanted to take this band.

Your sound is quite poppy, melodic, someone would say “emo” or similar to Saves The Day and the likes - what’s your opinion, how would you describe your sound ? Which are your influences?
People are gonna try to classify you no matter what you sound like. Which is fine, we’re not too worried about it. We love the bands like Saves The Day, but we also are into a lot of older stuff. One of my biggest inspirations is  Bruce Springsteen. We listen to a very wide range of music, and I think that’s a good thing.

“Stop” is filled with sentimental and emotional songs about friendship, love, and basically relashionships - why did you chose to sing about these things ?
Every lyric on “Stop” is true. I’m just telling the story of my life; what I think is important, and hopefully people will be able to connect with the music.

Do you consider yourself involved in some kind of scene (punk-hardcore-emo?) or you just do not care ?
We’re not really too worried about being involved in some scene. We’re just trying to make the best music we can, and hope that people understand and appreciate what we’re doing.

What do you think of the underground music movement of nowadays ? Is it strong ?
I think the underground scene is where you find the bands are are actually playing music to try to make a difference, and I think that’s why it is getting so strong. Mainstream music is so saturated with bullshit. Nobody’s saying anything that matters, nobody’s trying to be different or original, and people are getting sick of it.

Dashboard Confessional just won an Mtv Award : he is considered one of the most important “emo” artist and someone see his winning as proof that underdround music is becoming popular: how do you see it ?

Underground music is getting popular because it is better! It does matter! The world needs music that matters, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all.

Have you got some plans for the near future ?
We are getting our asses on the road to support “Stop.”

Are you going to start touring soon and where are you going to tour ? Will you tour with other bands, if so, which ones?
By the end of the year,we will have gone through all the big cities at least once. That’s our goal at least.

Can you mention some bands that you are listening to right now ? Is there some band/album that really impressed you in the last few months ?
We love The Exit. The new Stereo record rocks. And the new Springsteen CD.

Is there some album you are waiting to come out ?
We can’t wait for the new Junction 18 CD. Their song on the Fearless sampler is unbelievable.

Fearless Records has got a lot of cool bands, and some of them are also “different”: see Big Wig, Jucntion18, Dynamite Boy, Glasseater, Near Miss, Keepsake and has a catalog with bands like Strung Out, Straight Faced and Jughead’s Revenge, so, it’s a label with some bands that plays various music. What do you think of labels that have 20 bands and all of these 20 bands play the exact same thing ?

 
You know, everybody’s got their own taste when it comes to music. Some people only listen to one kind, but i thinks it’s cool that Fearless has a variety of tastes.

Final Comments ?

Thanks for this interview. If you want to know more about us, checl www.plainwhitets.com. Later!