The Whigs Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 16th 2010 12:17PM by Veronica Amador

The Whigs have gone widescreen with their third album, "In the Dark." Front man Parker Gispert talked about the band as it heads to SXSW.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Rambunctious and straight ahead.

How did your band form?

Julian [Dorio] and I knew each other since high school. He played in bands, and I played drums in a few bands as well. I switched to guitar when we decided to form a band because he's a much better drummer than me. We met Hank [Sullivant, the original bassist] through mutual friends and asked him to join us. Hank decided to leave the band and we chose another friend, Tim [Deaux], to take over.

Has the lineup transition worked out?

Definitely. Our chemistry is great.

Elaborate.

He was a friend before he was in a band. Having someone you already know instead of a total stranger is luxury that we're really grateful and excited about. We did auditions when Hank quit the band. You realize how fortunate you are to have people who you know outside of music that you can then play music with. It doesn't always work that way so we were lucky.

What are your musical influences?

For this record I'd say it was the Cramps, the Rolling Stones, and Johnny Cash.

How did you guys come up with the name the Whigs?

We actually booked our first concert and the venue needed to put the show under a band name. It then occurred to us that we didn't have a band name so we just kinda had to stand there in parking lot and say names for about an hour. We're trying to find something that was a neutral sounding word. We didn't want to be the Black Daggers of Death or the Pink Daisies and have that connote a particular sound. The Whigs was ambivalent so we went with that and it just stuck.

What about the spelling? What's up with that?

It's actually the old political party which is making a resurgence right now.

Who's your musical guilty pleasure?

I have an issue with the guilty pleasure. I don't really feel guilty about anything I like to listen to. I don't have any.

What about someone you listen to that your fans might not expect you to?

Sure. Hootie and the Blowfish.

If you could book a show anywhere, with any acts (living or dead) who would you book and where would the show be?

I've actually been talking to management about doing a show in space. I'd definitely do a space show with Elvis and Frank Sinatra. They'd headline and The Whigs would be the backing band.

And lastly, aside from The Whigs, who are the top five bands to check out at SXSW this year?

Drive By Truckers, Wax Fang, Reptar, Johnny Corn Dog and Dead Confederate.

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