The Cab
The Cab are set to make a return this week with their new single Bad and that comes just a week before the release of their new album Symphony Soldier.
I caught up with Alex DeLeon when he was in the UK to chat about the single and album and what lies ahead for the band.
- You are about to release your new single Bad so what can we expect from the new track?
Bad is a fun song and it is very upbeat as it has some funk elements but it also has some pop-rock. It is our big sing-along kind of song - it’s a song that if it came on in a bar everyone could sing to and it would sound like a chant.
But it is about wanting a bad girl - deep down I think that everyone wants someone who will keep them on their toes and keep then surprised. Nice is nice but it can be a little boring sometimes - it’s about just wanting having someone who is fun.
- And Bad is closely followed by the release of your album Symphony Soldier so how does this new single introduce us to the rest of the album?
The cool thing about the album is every song is completely different. You can listen to Bad and you can hear my voice and the music but all the songs are very different as some songs are very rock and a little darker while some are upbeat and feel-good.
You have to get the record to hear exactly who we are as a band - Bad does a good job in showing off one side of us.
- You have touched on my next question really as you say there are rock and pop elements on the album but some people here in the UK will be coming to your music for the first time with this new album so how would you describe the sound of the new record?
The sound of The Cab is we are a rock band but we do take a lot of RnB, pop and funk influences and put in into our music.
I am a rock singer but I don’t listen to rock music that much as I grew up listening to Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Justin Timberlake.
So it is more of smooth pop RnB vocal over rock as opposed to just a rock singer yelling or something like that (laughs).
- This is your third album and you first since 2009 so how have you seen your sound change and develop between records?
It is just a little more polished - when we recorded our first album we were only seventeen year old and we didn’t really know what we were doing and we were just in the studio having fun.
Now there is just a better understanding so it is a little more polished and a little better thought out.
The song-writing has gotten better if anything - the influences have stayed the same but they are just a little better crafted.
- As I have said it has been a while since you released an album and you have had a few problems in getting this record out but how great is it to finally be seeing it released?
It is incredible. It is incredible to get it out in the States let alone here in the UK - it is an even better feeling. I think a lot of people really counted us out but our fans really stood by us.
We were the underdogs as we had all of these difficulties but we had people like Bruno Mars, who wrote a song with us on the record, and Adam Levine rallied behind us and helped us make an album that we are really proud of. We couldn’t be happier to be releasing the album here.
- And how are you finding the response to both the single and the album over here in the UK? Are you enjoying your time over here?
It has been incredible as we have had this big group of fans that have been following us around. Until you come here you don’t realise and you forget that you have fans across the ocean as you are just so use to playing your home country.
So when you come over and you have all these fans that really look up to you and your music it is really fascinating and it is an amazing feeling.
Growing up it was always a dream to be able to play music for a living and to be able to go around the world and people know your songs - it’s amazing.
- You got John Feldmann on board to produce the album so what were you looking for in your producer for this record?
We are very poppy and upbeat and we wanted a producer who could put a little bit of rock into it and John Feldmann has worked with bands that are a little heavier - we thought that he might be able to bring some meat and beef into it.
So we would bring the RnB and the pop, which we knew better than he did, and he would bring the rock, which he knows way better than we do.
- He is incredibly experienced so how did you find working with him and what did his experience bring to this album?
He is like a mad scientist - he is crazy in the best way possible. Just having his expertise and him having the knowledge of tone when it comes to sounds and songs - he had a very good instinct when it came to songs.
We had hundreds of songs and he just listened to them and got to hand-pick the good ones - I think that that is where he came in handy the most.
- As you say Adam Levine and Bruno Mars have had a hand in working on this album so how did that came around? And excited were you at being able to work with people like that?
Bruno and Adam are two of my idols both vocally and just career wise. One of the reasons that I looked up to them was they are just some of the most talented singers and artists in the game but at the same time they have remained incredibly humble.
So for them to get behind us and put their name on our album when we are fairly unknown was an honour.
I learned so much from them and I still look up to them as older brothers - we go on tour in a couple of days with Maroon 5 so I am looking forward to getting that started.
- As you say the band are also about to kick off a tour with Maroon 5 so how excited are you about getting back out on the road on such a huge tour?
This is our dream tour. If you were to have asked me five years ago ‘who would you tour with if you have the chance?’ I would have said Maroon 5.
So this is something that we have been working for for half of our lives and we cannot wait to get on stage.
Our first show is in South Korea and we are just counting down the seconds as it is going to be the time of our lives.
- How did the slot with Maroon 5 come about?
I just think the relationship through writing songs with them. But we have a really good management team that works… we have the same management.
But I just think that we have a similar sound in music as they are kind of up-beat, funk, rock and I think that we do a similar thing; we are a younger version of them I think in many people’s eyes. So it is just a good match.
- You are very heavily involved in the penning of the tracks for this album so how does the writing process work within the band - is there one main writer or is it very much a collaborative effort?
Myself and Alex Marshall do most of the writing - he is more of the musical guy where I am more about the melody and the lyrics.
But the cool thing about music is every song is different and there is no formula and it is not chemistry it just happens; sometimes it starts with a lyric while other times it stars with the music. Every song has a different story and so that is what makes them so unique.
- So how did the band come together?
We were in high school and it was just for fun. We just loved playing music and I don’t think that any of us… I never wanted to be the singer of a band I just did it for fun.
But then we started seeing some success and it just kind of happened. It came really naturally and now I am talking to you on the phone and sitting in a hotel in London.
- You have got an ever growing fan-base so for any of those fans who will be reading this interview do you have a message for them?
Just a really sincere thank you. We wouldn’t be here without them as they believed in us when we didn’t even believe in ourselves.
We were really really close to giving up but we stayed strong for them and everything we do is for our fans - we appreciate them greatly.
And I just want to thank the UK fans for being patient and we will be coming here very soon - I know it has taken a while to get the album and the song out and we will be here to support it and play some shows.
- Finally what's next for you between now and the end of the year?
We are just doing the Maroon 5 tour and then we will be starting work on the new album?
- You have started thinking about that already?
Symphony Solider has been out for a year in the United States but it is only just coming our here. So we do have to start recording the next batch of music for the U.S. while we will still be pushing Symphony Solider here in the UK.
The Cab’s new single Bad is out now
Symphony Solider is released 17th September
Click here to buy the album Symphony Solider
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw