Brightest Young Things

The Whigs have had a helluva two years.

When they’re not opening for newly minted stadium rockers Kings of Leon or their legendary Athens neighbors the Drive-By Truckers, they’ve released two quality rock records that explode with a third on the way early next year.

Since they're playing a show tonight @ The Black cat, BYT sat down with Whigs’ drummer Julian Dorio (who was given an “Esky” by Esquire magazine in 2007 for his stick skills by the way) and talked about current tour, their new album, the upcoming holidays and the gratuitous amount of $5 footlongs he’s had on the road.

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BYT: Where are you guys?

Julian Dorio: We’re in Athens. We had a chance to come home with our day off. I’m at my house. We came home to find our heater is broken so I’m surrounded by space heaters.

BYT: That sucks.

JD: I know. You can’t really move. The bed’s an icebox. Hopefully, it’ll be fixed soon.

BYT: So, how’s the tour been so far?

JD: Great. Everything’s been really good. We’re trying out a lot of new material. We’ve been having a really great time out there. But it’s nice not to have to be anywhere.

BYT: There’s a new album In the Dark is coming out next year. Can you tell me a little bit about it?

JD: Before we sat down to record, we toured endlessly. We came home December of ’08 and we got to work. We produced a lot of music and had fun. Then we went back on the road. Touring put us out there and played great shows where we were exposed to great stuff and used it in this new record.

By the time we had a chance to come home for an extended period of time it definitely helped the creative process. We recorded this summer and early fall. We did most of the recordings in Athens. The studio is down the street from the house, which is nice. After we were done recording, it was too late in the year to release the record, so the label [ATO] is putting it out early next year.

BYT: What’s the biggest difference between this record and the previous two releases?

JD: We did the first record we did ourselves. What we lacked in sonic fidelity, we’re trying to make up with charm. With Mission Control, our second one, we’re lucky to go to LA and work in some incredible facilities. The approach was a little more live. Mission Control is more a straight dry rock record and serves a good starting point for us. This record we didn’t spend more time in the studio, we spent more time having fun with the sounds, tones, textures. There are a lot of over-dubs and we’re trying a lot of new pedals. We got into the studio side of things on this one. We were trying to be conscious of the studio. It’s still a rock record, but we have played more with the technical side of things on this one.

BYT: Have audiences been receptive to the new material?

JD: Yeah, they have been. I try to think back with Mission Control. Some of them got an immediate response, others not so much. Now, with the new songs you can fall back on those older ones that people recognize and are more likely to respond too. With that said, people have been enjoying the new songs as far as I can tell.

BYT: You guys spend a lot of time on the road. What’s the best and worst place to eat while touring?

JD: We’ve eaten some pretty terrible places and some pretty great places. I wish the other guys were here, they would probably be yelling out some of the places we’ve eaten.

BYT: Let me rephrase this question: How many $5 footlongs have you had on tour?

[Laughs] 1000 to 2000 easily. It’s a back and forth process with Subway. Sometimes everyone is all about subway. Other times, not so much. Right now we don’t want to eat there. But when we’re not eating Subway, we tend to try and eat at local, Mom and pop places. We’ve found a ton of places we like to revisit when we can.

BYT: You guys opened for the Kings of Leon earlier this year. How was playing in Madison Square Garden?

JD: That was amazing. It was such a crazy idea and concept to us since we’re used to playing to a couple hundred of people each night. Those things are so exciting and you’ve been looking forward to it so long it was surprising how fast it goes by. We’re lucky to be a part of that. It was incredible. They ended up inviting us out in August to do a tour of arenas. We did Red Rock and the Forum in LA. And all of these huge West coast venues. It was insane.

BYT: Does coming from a town with such a rich musical history like Athens, hurt or help the band?

JD: I think helps. It really depends on how you look at it. We came out of high school. I knew I had to go to school and I knew this would be a good place to be. We love it and for us it breads a real healthy competition. Our neighbors are in all these different bands. It’s a weird place to be in one way, people are spoiled if you play a show. They don’t have to come see you. There are a ton of great options and other acts in town. There are bands in this town that keep you wanting to do something different. It keeps us on your toes.

BYT: With the holidays coming up, is there anything in particular you want gift wise?

JD: I want to sleep. I’m looking forward to finishing up this tour. We’ll get a chance to hang out and spend some time with friends and family during the holidays. With touring you don’t really have a chance to really enjoy it since you always have to be somewhere. I’ll have a chance to rest and catch up.

As far as gifts, I tend to look at musical equipment. Some new drumming toys would be great. Stuff like that.

BYT: I appreciate taking 20 minutes out of your day to talk.

JD: It’s not a problem. Thanks.

BYT: Have a good one. Try and stay warm.

JD: You too. Bye.

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The Whigs will be playing at The Black Cat [Mainstage] tonight, December 10 with Mean Creak and The Features. Tickets are $13. Doors are at 8 p.m.