The Cab was discovered after Alex Deleon–one of THREE Alexs in the band!–handed Panic at the Disco's Spencer Smith a demo tape after a PATD show. You'd think tons of bands try to get in the biz this way, but Spencer remembered Alex from Panic's very first show and really did listen to his demo! Now, a couple of years later, the boys are signed to Pete Wentz's Decaydence label, hang out on tours with PATD, Metro Station and Paramore, and even got Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump and PATD's Brendon Urie to collab with them on their super catchy song, "One of Those Nights." Their debut album, Whisper War, is in stores now! Check them out on Myspace, here. J-14 caught up with the guys to give you the 411.
J14: How did you guys come up with the name, The Cab?
Cash: That was straight out of just me and Singer [Alex D.'s nickname]. We were laying in my room. He was on the floor. I believe I was sitting on a Beavis and Butthead beanbag set that I had gotten at a garage sale two weeks prior. Everything that came to my head–some of it was the dumbest stuff. Except for The Cab, I was literally thinking of stuff in Vegas.
Alex D: After things, like you know, The Strip, The Casino–The Cab was the least dumb.
Ian: We want our music to speak for itself. If the band was called "Your Bloody Romance" you're going to expect that.
J-14: How did you guys get involved?
Alex Johnson: I was in another band and I actually kicked him [Alex D.] out of it, so it's kind of weird. He was very crushed I remember. He was sitting on my street and I was like, 'Dude, I'm sorry it's not going to work out man. I just cant have you on the band, dude. He was like OK.'
Alex D: And you know what I did? I started my own band and then I asked him to be in my band and he probably felt like an idiot.
J-14: What is the inspiration behind Whisper War?
Alex D: It's all about balance. In the world there has to be good to offset evil. There has to be the beautiful and the ugly, the ying and the yang, the black and the white, so to have something like a whisper that is very soft, delicate and fragile, and have war, which is extreme and harsh–they kind of balance each other–Kind of like our different genres, like rock and R&B. Whisper War, two very different things coming together to create something else.
J-14: For the song "One of Those Nights" you collaborated with two of your label mates, how did that come to be?
Alex D: Brendon [Urie] was a friend of ours. Ever since he found us, we were just always like, 'When we make a record you're on it?' He sang with us a few times on stage. That was kind of always a given that he was going to work with us. Then, Patrick [Stump] is extremely picky about music and the fact that he wanted to work with us and was excited about our music was super flattering. I went in the studio with him. We worked on a song and there was just a part of the song that was perfect for him. I was like, 'Dude, you have to', and he was like, 'Alright.' He walked in the vocal booth–one take, it took him like 8 seconds. The take on the record is his first and only take. He didn't warm up. He walked in, headphones on, done, walked out. I was like, 'Alright man, sweet.' He made me look like an idiot, like Pavarotti and William Hung. That's what I felt like. It was awesome though. I learned a lot from Patrick, and it was really cool working with like my idols.
J-14: You're on the label with a lot of the big names–Panic, Fall Out Boy–are you guys all friends?
Cash: We developed a relationship with Panic. We got to know the guys pretty well.
Alex D: It's a big family, so when Paramore comes into town, I'll call like Haley and Josh. We'll hang out on their bus or grab dinner after their show. If we play [the concert festival] Bamboozle with all the other bands, we'll hang out with Panic. If Pete [Wentz] is in Vegas for some event, he'll call us and we'll got to lunch. Everyone's a big family. When we're in the same city it's like a big family reunion, a big party.
Alex D: Everyone from Cobra to Paramore, Panic, Fall Out Boy, the Hushsound. We're on tour with The Hushsound–they're some of our best friends, it's so awesome.
J-14: Is it more fun to go on these tours with your friends?
Cash: It definitely helps.
Alex D: It's like summer camp.
Cash: You look forward to going to the venue rather than dreading going to the venue.
J-14: What's your favorite song off the record to perform live?
Cash: Mine is "Can You Keep a Secret" to perform, just because we all seem to interact and come together. Everyone is really into it energy wise.
Alex D: I like "Bounce" because the verses are kind of chill and then the chorus kind of explodes. The bridge is R&B and I get to mess around with my vocals there, and then it kind of hits again at the end, so that's really fun for me to play live.
J-14: Have you had any crazy fan encounters?
Alex D: A fan tried to suck my soul out of me! She looked like the corpse bride [from Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas]. She walked up to me and put her hand on my shoulder. I think tried to seduce me, but I'm not into the whole Dracula-looking chick. I started talking to her and she asked me if she could make out with me because then she could suck my soul. She was an aspiring musician, but she had no talent. So by kissing me she would steal my voice and I wouldn't be able to sing. She was like, 'Please make out with me so I can follow my dreams,' and she was like, 'If you don't want to, anyone in your band can. I just need someone in the band to make out with me so I can get their soul.' After watching The Little Mermaid one too many times, I just kind of ran off, went over to Flounder, told him the story and just kind of stayed far away from that girl the rest of the night.
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