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It’s a tale that should give every talented young band reason to keep working hard: Two years ago, singer Alex DeLeon and bassist Cash Colligan of Las Vegas pop-rockers the Cab were finishing up high school and bumping records by Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco in their spare time. One night, they spotted Panic’s drummer (and fellow Vegas native) Spencer Smith at a Cobra Starship show and gave him a demo.
Next thing DeLeon and Colligan knew, they had landed a recording contract with Decaydance, the label run by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz that counts Panic and Cobra on its roster. With memorable melodies and a polished sound that’s equal parts Maroon 5 and FOB, the Cab’s debut album, “Whisper War,” fits right into Decaydance’s stellar track record—and features cameos from Fall Out's Patrick Stump and Panic's Brendon Urie.
The Cab are coming to Columbus on July 5 for a show at The Basement.
Speaking with Colligan about his band’s extraordinary journey, we found a focused young group that’s dedicated to the road, heeding the advice of “Uncle Pete” and solving the dilemma of onstage communication when three of your band members are named Alex.
As a band that actually got signed from handing a demo to someone at a show, you have a pretty amazing story. That doesn’t really happen much, you know.
I know, I’m still in shock from it, two years later!
Once the ball got rolling and you were still in high school, did it make it difficult to concentrate on finishing school?
Not really. My whole attitude throughout high school was, I did the math. Like, if I knew to get a B in the class I had to get a 65 on a test, I would get a 66 on a test. But Alex [DeLeon] got a 4.4 in high school; everyone did really well in high school. It didn’t affect it, but it definitely made kids look at us differently our second half of our senior year.
The first tour you did was with Cobra Starship and every date was sold out. Did that put a lot of pressure on each show for you?
Oh yeah...it’s just like introducing yourself to a chick for the first time. Anything like that, you’re nervous and once you start talking you get a little more comfortable. Basically, we’ve been flirting with a girl for the last two years and are getting more and more comfortable in the relationship.
You were also in a bad car accident during that tour. Does that give you any nervousness about being out on the road again?
Yeah, but after the accident, we were scarred, bruised and battered, the singer was in crutches, but we still got on the stage. We missed one show after completely rolling our van. Our motivation is to play shows. That’s the only motivation you have out here on the road. You work 24 hours a day to just play in front of people who love you for 30 minutes.
You’re signed to a label that’s headed by a member of a band that is so influential to you. That must be beyond a normal business relationship?
Yeah, it’s funny because in high school my three main bands I listened to were Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco and Midtown. And now we’re managed by Rob Hitt, who is the drummer for Midtown, Panic found us and Pete [Wentz] is our boss. It’s crazy still today.
A good deal of the time you’ve been with Pete, he’s been preparing to be a dad and is now a father. Do you feel like you’re kind of like cousins or uncles to Bronx?
Not so much Bronx, but I always call Pete “Uncle Pete.” I would consider Pete my uncle. He’s closer to me than my relatives have ever been. He’s a very caring, kindhearted man who is there when you’re, “Hey dude, can we talk? I’ve got an issue.” He’s willing to talk to you and that’s always good to have.
Didn’t Uncle Pete film a little prospective reality show on you guys?
Kind of. It just turned into footage that they use for whatever, here and there. There was a reality show in the works and I think at the end of it, it didn’t feel out the right way.
It’s not for everyone.
Yeah, and I think that’s what it was. It wasn’t for us. We don’t want to be labeled as, “Hey, that’s the band that’s on TV.” We want to be, “Hey, that’s the band that’s touring” or, “Hey, that’s the band on the radio,” not the band that is on MTV. People get the wrong impression from stuff like that.
You have three people named Alex in your five-person band. How do you distinguish among them? Do you call them by their last names or do you have nicknames?
The only one who gets the last name treatment is [keyboardist/guitarist Alex] Marshall, because it’s like a first name. And then, as creative as we are, we call Alex DeLeon “Singer” because he sings for us and Alex Johnson “Drummer” because he’s our drummer. So we have Drummer, Singer and Marshall. “Yo, Singer, come over here” is a typical conversation between him and I.
