Plain White T's - Desperately Seeking Delilah

With their album an unexpected success and on the crest of their appearance at Soundwave, The Dwarf took the time to chat to The Plain White T's guitarist Dave Tirio.

Congratulations on all of the success Plain White T’s has had recently! Did you guys ever have any idea that the song was going to blow up as huge as it did?

No, never like this! I mean, we were always hoping for the best with the album, cos naturally you have to maintain a sense of optimism. But no, we could never gauge something as big as this.

How does it feel to have a number one song in a whole bunch of countries?

Pretty crazy! When we went to number one in America, we were going against Rihanna, who is just huge. To compete against someone in a pop realm and get a number one single, it just leaves you there shaking your head! As for the rest of the world, it was just awesome to hear good news all over the world. Hopefully now we can use this platform to create an identity for ourselves as a band internationally, that’s the goal.

Who is Delilah? Is she an actual person, a character, etc?

No, she’s a real person! She was a friend of a friend, and Tom [Higgenson, the band’s singer] was enamoured, so he wrote the song ['Hey There Delilah'] as this huge romantic gesture for her. You can probably find her on the internet, she’s actually a runner and she’s trying to get to the Olympics.

Has there been an increase on pressure on you guys to continue to crack the mainstream market after 'Hey There Delilah'?

I don’t know if we ever felt pressure as such. I mean, it’s an obvious progression, you want the next record to be better than the last. So I suppose in that sense we put pressure on ourselves, but that’s good pressure, the kind of pressure you want. We’ve been a band for so long, and to be in a position where we can challenge ourselves is definitely a good thing.

Can you tell us a bit about your new record, if any work on it has been completed so far?

Yeah, we’ve started working on it! So far we’ve just sort of been writing and making acoustic demos, because we’ve been touring too. With this record we’re trying to broaden our musical prowess, although I suppose we’re always gonna have that problem of sounding like Plain White T’s, which isn’t a bad thing necessarily. We’ve started to work on like a more pian-driven song, and bring that whole spectrum into the mix. I suppose this time around we’re not as scared of taking risks, it’s a wide open playing field and if something feels right, then we’ll definitely keep it.

When you start to become more noticed, you’re also subject to an increase in criticism – how do you deal with that?

You know, there are always gonna be people with criticism. I find that a lot of American punk websites are very gossipy, almost like tabloids at times, so I suppose that’s inevitable. I just try to make myself oblivious to it, I don’t visit those websites and just sort of block it out. We know who we are and we’re loving what we do. You just have to try to be laid back, and if people are negative, just laugh it off. Plus when you get to travel, and see the world as part of your work, all the criticism amounts to nothing.

Has there been a certain moment in the history of Plain White T’s when you felt as if you’d made it?

Yeah, we have had that, we still do I think. It’s weird, we’ve been a band for so long now, and when you start off and you’re struggling, any accomplishment feels like a massive achievement. The first time we played with Jimmy Eat World was a huge thing. Instead of playing crowds of maybe like a few hundred people, we were playing crowds over a thousand. And over the years, things happen that just make you feel really good. KROQ [massive Los Angeles radio station] was one of the first who supported our new record, and played our songs was a pretty big deal. And then of course this year with 'Delilah', and being able play festival shows to over 10,000 people… It’s constantly happening!

You’ve been playing together for a decade now and your latest album Every Second Counts was your fourth. How would you say you’ve progressed as musicians?

I’d say there are a lot of differences. On our first record, I actually played drums, and we had a different bassist. Tom was both the guitarist and the singer. When we made our second record we really began to feel like a band. We brought in De’Mar, who is much better at drums than I am (laughs), and together with Mike and Tom, we just developed this core we hadn’t had before, and we felt like we could really do anything.

Was there a certain outcome you were hoping for during the making of Every Second Counts?

I don’t know, to be honest. This was our biggest record yet in the sense that we were on a major label, so I guess we wanted to take advantage of that. We made our demos and then it was just business as usual. We’ve never been the kind of band to sit around the studio for three or four months, we normally do about a month of solid recording. We also had a really good producer, Johnny K who was from Chicago like us, who kept everything moving.

You’re from Chicago, which has recently established quite a reputation for nurturing great acts. Does the Chicago “scene” bear as much as an impact on a band’s craft as people believe?

Yeah, absolutely. That’s all you can really base yourself on when you’re starting out. Plus some really great bands from Chicago, like the Smashing Pumpkins and Alkaline Trio were starting to make it big, and that really inspires you to want to achieve the same. I think there’s a certain “Chicago” vibe that comes through in our music, much like there’s a distinct New York sound and an L.A. sound, the whole mid-west sound.

You’re part of the line-up for Soundwave 2008, which will see you hit our shores with a whole bunch of other great bands. Are you looking forward to coming down under?

Oh my God, yes! Festivals are so much bigger overseas than here in America, so it’s really exciting. We played the Reading and Leeds festivals in England recently, as well as played shows in Japan before, and it really opened our eyes to that whole thing, so it’s really exciting. We’ve had tours booked, but they’ve fallen through at the last minute, so to finally get to Australia will be awesome.

Aside from Australia, you’re also set to play shows in Europe and the rest of the world. Is there anywhere you’re especially keen to visit?

Yeah, there’s a couple. I’m fairly open-minded when it comes to travel, and I research where I’m going so I know what’s around me. When you’re playing shows in Australia and Japan and in mainland Europe, there’s a lot to see there. I also really want to visit places like Singapore and Dubai, they both seem really fascinating.

What can fans expect from a Plain White T’s live set?

We like to keep it pretty straightforward – less talk, more rock! Tom and I Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live and that sort of set out a blueprint for how we would like our live sets to pan out. We try to play with confidence, and focus on the music, which is what people come to see. I don’t see the point in preaching.

Are there any bands on the Soundwave line-up that you personally are looking forward to seeing?

Incubus – now there’s an exciting band to see right there! I was at some radio festival in L.A., and Brandon and Mike from Incubus performed an acoustic set with a choir and everything, it was awesome. They’d definitely be worth seeing.

Is touring still an important aspect of your musicianship?

Yeah, definitely. I mean obviously it was the only thing when we started out, we had no label, no radio, no videos to get ourselves out there. And now that we have that, touring is still so integral because as a band you have to try and solidify relationships with your audience all around the world. Aside from all that, you still have to make a living too! It’s funny, you think that life would be easier from one or two songs getting success, but you still got to keep working constantly. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s all fun!

How do Plain White T’s go about making their records?

There’s definitely a process. We start of with acoustic demos of songs, or ideas for songs, and then we decide on them. Sometimes you just know when a song works, sometimes there’s debate. We often just jam and if we come out with something good than we make note of it. We generally just sort of screw around with the demos and try to come out with the best possible song, it’s very natural, there’s no ego or image. Then when we’re ready to record we just go to the studio and try to knock it out.

Are there any songs that you personally enjoy playing live?

Yeah, there’s a couple. At the moment I’m really enjoying playing 'Write You a Song', I think it’s really dynamic when played live and has a really good vibe. I also really like playing 'Let Me Take You There' and 'Hate', they’re both a lot of fun.

If you could shape the future of Plain White T’s now, how would you have things play out?

If I could have things play out perfectly, I would have our next record go platinum in America, much like this one went gold. I’d have us as a band still get along really well. A handful, ten or fifteen impacting singles too would be awesome. Then obviously settle down and raise families. All in all, to be able to get through a handful of records with the same drive, that would be the ultimate accomplishment.

Plain White T's play Soundwave Festival February - March 2008

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