The Whigs have had a busy year. After releasing their major-label debut Mission Control in January, they’ve toured relentlessly, and are planning on some well-deserved rest after a year of talk shows, truckstops and tours. Drummer Julian Dorio sits down with Street to fill us in.
Street: After producing your first album on your own, what was it like working with a big label on Mission Control?
Julian Dorio: First time around, we had to make use of our resources, which wasn’t really much. But we enjoyed that, as ultimately the goal was to have fun and make something we were proud of. Then, the second time around, working with ATO Records… it was great, because there was more of a budget — they were able to get us whatever we needed.
Street: You’ve been known to have pretty raucous live shows. Do you think that comes across on Mission Control?
JD: Yeah, I think that was kinda the idea of it all, giving that a shot. You know, because we were working with Rob and Doug [Boehm], who’s the engineer, we knew that the basic three-piece would jump out of the speakers a little bit more than the first time around, and we wanted to make it like our live show. And it worked out and it kept it from being all over-produced.
Street: Do you think you’ll approach your next album in a similar way?
JD: Yes and no; I think that the live element — that is the human element — is really important to us and we don’t want to lose that. But, now that we did that last album as a stripped-down trio, I think we’ll hope to evolve and work on it. We want to keep some of the things from that album that we liked, but also maybe add elements outside of the trio. We’ll see where it takes us.
Street: Were there any places that you’ve been to on this tour that really stuck out for you?
JD: In the summer we got to go to Japan, and that was incredible. Just that opportunity — you can’t believe that you’re able to fly all the way over there to play. We’ve gone through every state, basically every corner, playing anywhere we can. We’re a touring band and have really enjoyed it, but because we’re from here, it was more surreal to go overseas.
Street: You’re from Georgia, and you’ve played with bands like My Morning Jacket and Drive-By Truckers. Do you consider yourselves a Southern rock band, or a band from the South?
JD: A lot of people might write something and say, “This band is from Georgia, this is Southern-fried rock." You can hear it in the music, but I don’t think we’re nearly as Southern-sounding as the Truckers, who are one of my favorite bands. I hope that you can sense [our Southern-ness], not because we’re trying, but because we do like bands to have a sort of geographic relevance as opposed to a band that has no character, no region.
Check out The Whigs with Kings of Leon and We Are Scientists this Saturday and Sunday at the Electric Factory, All ages, $36.
