By Jesse Reaves
For The Salisbury Post
Back in October, I had the opportunity to talk on the phone with Julian Dorio, drummer for Athens Georgia band The Whigs.
I saw The Whigs open for The Black Keys back in August in Norfolk and I have been hooked ever since. Their garage rock sound is high energy with Julian providing the powerful backbeat.
The other members of this three-piece group are Parker Gispert on lead vocals, keyboard and guitar and Tim Deaux on bass, guitar, and backup vocals.
Their first album, “Give ‘Em All A Big Fat Lip,” gained a lot of record industry attention, with Rolling Stone Magazine naming them the best unsigned band in America and one of the top 10 bands to watch in 2007. After signing with Dave Matthews’ record label ATO and releasing their new album “Mission Control” back in January, the band is on the road, winning over new fans at every stop.
This interview took place just before they went on tour opening for Kings of Leon, a huge opportunity for this band to gain some new fans.
Jesse: First of all thanks for doing this interview with me. How’s it going?
Julian: No problem man, I’m doing great
Jesse: Where are you guys right now?
Julian: Right now we’re in Seattle, heading towards Portland. We’re currently touring with The Kooks, awesome band.
Jesse: Sounds good. I recently saw Delta Airlines broke Parker’s guitar.
Julian: Yeah, it’s just brutal, man. They didn’t take any responsibility for it at all, and we’re getting ready to fly back to New York, so we’re all a little worried about our gear. Luckily we fixed it though.
Jesse: Well, that’s good. So how did The Whigs get their start?
Julian: Well, we started while Parker and I were attending the University of Georgia. We actually went to high school together in Atlanta, but didn’t start playing music until we went to college. We were just inspired by all the great bands in Athens. It took us a few months to even work up a 45-minute set.
Jesse: Yeah, I’m in a band now that just began, so I know the situation.
Julian: Oh, OK, cool, so yeah, you know how it is. We would go and play out a lot, trying to play places that would allow us to still be able to get to class on time. We recorded our first album actually (Give All A Big Fat Lip) by ourselves for basically nothing while we were still in college. After that we started being able to tour more and have been on the road pretty much ever since.
Jesse: Well, all that hard work has really paid off for you. For example in 2007 you were named by Esquire magazine as drummer of the year.
Julian: Yeah, I thought it was a joke at first (laughs). It was very flattering, definitely came as a surprise.
Jesse: You guys also got to play Conan and Letterman and will be on Jimmy Kimmel on Oct. 29.
Julian: Yeah, it’s very exciting, sorta surreal to be there.
Jesse: When I saw you in Charlotte, The Sammies jumped onstage with you. How do you know them?
Julian: Our first show in Charlotte they were on the bill actually. We talked to each other and were immediate fans and good friends since. We’ve played many shows together since and have a mutual respect for each other, great guys.
Jesse: Well Julian, I’m going to wrap it up with this: what are The Whigs’ plans for right now?
Julian: We’re on tour with The Kooks until Nov. 1, and then we go on tour with The Kings of Leon and We Are Scientist until Thanksgiving. After that we’re finally going to get some time off for the first time pretty much all year. It’ll be good to visit family and friends. We do have a couple of shows on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31 with Band of Horses at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, awesome band, definitely looking forward to it. After that we’ll start the writing process on a new album.
Jesse: Julian, thanks for the interview and good luck on the tour!
Julian: Yeah Jesse, thanks for doing it!
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The Whigs will be performing with The Sammies and The Hymns April 2 at the Visulite Theatre, 1615 Elizabeth Ave., Charlotte.www.visulite.com.
For more information on The Whigs, visit their Web site at www.thewhigs.com or visit their myspace page at www.myspace.com/thewhigs.
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Musician Jesse Reaves lives in Salisbury. Contact him at ringostrat1@yahoo.com.