Take a listen to Tom McBride and the Whig Party and you’ll find a band that builds on a mix of country and rock with modern sensibilities. Their songs are rooted in solid instrumentation, steady rhythms and easy going choruses. This self-proclaimed five-piece rock, Americana/alt-soul band from Washington, DC, is keeping busy this summer with the release of their new album “Like A Lion” and local shows at Iota and Nats Stadium.
Tell us a little about yourself and your band, the Whig Party. How did you all find each other and decide that you wanted to form a band?
I had initially moved to DC with a band I was playing with in Nashville called “Gillespy Road.” We did not have our act together and fell apart after a short few months after moving here. So for a few years I was writing songs in my basement and playing open mics around DC. I finally had this awakening of sorts that I really preferred playing with a band and I missed the camaraderie of it. I had found out through friends about this guy who played drums (Andrew) who then introduced me to Colin and we just started going over song ideas I had in this space out in Falls Church. I knew I wanted piano/keyboard as I love the diversity of sound it provides, and we went searching through Craigs List and other music postings shortly thereafter and found Chad. So yeah, I still do the solo acoustic gig every once in a while, but I prefer playing with these guys and building our “sound” that is starting to take shape. I’m excited for “Like A Lion” to come-out, but also excited on developing our next record as well.
We’ve been listening to a few of the songs from your new album, “Like A Lion” that have not yet been released, but are available on your MySpace page. I particularly like the song “Flying Pete” because it’s the type of song that you can listen to repeatedly and hear something new/different each time. Can you highlight a few of your favorite songs from the new album?
Thank you. Yes, we are really excited about releasing the album on Thursday to our fans and I’m biased of course, but I don’t think the album has a weak song on it. There are pieces of each that I really enjoy, and despite listening to these hundreds of times in the recording and editing process, I’m still not tired of them, which I think is a good thing. I think “Underwater Stone” through the recording process, really came out as a unique take on something that started as a pretty acoustic guitar driven tune. Chad’s work on the “Rhodes” is excellent. I think though that the second half of the title track, “Like A Lion,” may be my favorite part of the album. The saxophone, the piano line, the drum build-up, the Strat, all the pieces fit great and build nicely. I think it represents our sound at its best. I got goose bumps the first time I heard it.
Your music is definitely mellow with plenty of soul and country rock to boot. As you look back from your latest release to earlier works you’ve done, how have you changed and grown in your musical style?
I’ve started to deconstruct the song writing process much more intensely over the past few years, more so than I had with the music I wrote for my band in Nashville and then my solo stuff on “Headed For.” You start examining the songs you love, and deconstructing their tempo, chord changes, timber and all the elements about the song. It really forces you to become a student of the work you grew up listening to and trying to hone in on what about it you love. So, while capturing moments of inspiration is still the key for me in getting a song started, I now force myself to work through those elements further, to try to keep it new and interesting and into something that is unique to our sound. I didn’t break songwriting down like that five years ago. I am not where I want to be in terms of skill level, but I work pretty hard at it.
I’m a little rusty in terms of remembering the nuances of early American politics. Why the reference to the “Whig Party,” which ultimately destroyed itself through factionalism (thanks Wikipedia) and inter-party politics involving among other things, the question of slavery in the US?
Wikipedia is incredible isn’t it? So, yeah we didn’t think it through to that degree where we were aligning any political beliefs with the historical party and the name. We do have some Irish and Scottish heritage in the band, and the initial Whig name I think began over there I believe, but in fact, the guys in the band represent a pretty diverse set of view points so we could never fit into one political mold. We did have a variety of band names at first, everything from The Stringer Bells to the Atomic. After playing around with names we were e-mailing back and forth some name and The Whig Party stuck. We had wanted to link some element of the name with being a band created here in DC. Pull some of that attention down from Brooklyn perhaps. So for whatever reason, it stuck. I’m still waiting for people to start showing up to the shows wearing those old powdered wigs as well.
You’re a native of Boston, Nashville and now DC—what are some of your favorite things about each city and why did you decide to plant yourself in DC at this point in your life?
I was just back in Boston this weekend visiting my brother, and it still is unquestionably “home” for me. My brother lives a few blocks from where my parents grew-up in Arlington, so I still feel a pretty close bond to the city. While I have not lived there in a while, I still am in love with the city as well as the town of Falmouth where I spent a lot of my summer youth. The small beach I grew up going to in Falmouth has hardly any sand, the water is cold and dark, seaweed piles up on the shore and jellyfish are everywhere but it’s probably the most relaxing place I could be. That and Fenway Park are probably my favorite places I visit when I go home.
Nashville was where I truly fell in love with music and songwriting. It’s funny because recently it has built a bit of renewed credibility again in the rock scene with the Kings of Leon moving to the city outskirts and Jack White setting up shop with his new label downtown. When I was there it still felt very much felt all country, and certainly it still is the Mecca for songwriters. I used to love playing a venue called the Exit/Inn in Nashville—a legendary venue where some of the all time greats have gone through and played. I’m hoping we get a chance to play down there soon.
I moved to DC looking for a job out of college, with my girlfriend and my band from college. It was a little bit like throwing a dart on the map. It was central, big, and close to everything and not as overwhelming as moving to New York. I’ve grown to love aspects of DC over the past few years. I respect the drive in this town and it’s pretty inspiring… a lot of type-A folks moving at a million miles an hour. That has its drawbacks too, which is I think a smaller pool of people that can take the time to enjoy the arts, the history of this town and move beyond the immediate rat-race perhaps.
If you could start your own political party, what would you call it and what would be the foundation of your political platform?
Yeah I presume I should anticipate this question as we are in DC and our band name is called The Whig Party. I think starting a band is hard enough work and I would be a terrible politician for a variety of reasons. But if I did start a political party, I would probably try to recruit a lot of nerds to help me win. I like nerds as they know a lot. Knowledge is key. We would probably develop a bad-ass space exploration program. And go to the 4-day work week of course.