Creating The Cab

Since forming The Cab while Alex DeLeon was in high school, the band has been signed to Fueled By Ramen Records. The Cab is currently on an acoustic tour with members of the band The Academy Is. (Courtesy photo)

Creating The Cab

How Alex DeLeon, who grew up in Lodi, became lead singer of The Cab, got signed to a record label and won the hearts of adoring fans - all by the age of 19.

By Lauren Nelson
Lodi Living Editor

Saturday, February 7, 2009 6:30 AM PST

Comments (1 comment(s))

Every high school kid with a guitar dreams of being in a band. Of standing under hot red lights, in front of adoring fans squeezed together at the end of the stage. Of being mysterious and poetic like Bob Dylan or Morrissey. Of life on the road. Of the girls.

Not long ago, while sitting on a "Beavis and Butt-Head" beanbag in a Las Vegas bedroom, Alex DeLeon was dreaming of similar things. He and his friend, Cash, were starting a band. He would be the guitarist. Cash would play the bass.

That was in 2005 — before DeLeon, who grew up in Lodi, became lead singer of The Cab. Before he was discovered by Fall Out Boy singer Pete Wentz. Before MTV followed him around his high school with cameras. Before he became the young, rising star who gets asked to sign autographs while walking down the street.

But at 19, DeLeon, is doing just fine, breathing in everything — miles on the road, loneliness and the perks — that comes with being the front man.

After being tornadoed into stardom, The Cab released its first album, Whisper War, last April and has been touring ever since. Today, they're driving to a New York arena in their tour bus — a plush motorhome with condo bunks decorated with Louis Vuitton browns and golds.

"I'm a kid in a candy store on this thing," said DeLeon.

On 12-hour drives they sleep and have Playstation and Xbox tournaments on the huge TV in back of the bus. It's part of an acoustic tour their doing with members of the well-known pop-rock band, The Academy Is.

DeLeon, with his shoulder-length locks, big eyes and been-doing-it-forever stage presence, may be all grown up. But it was in Lodi that he grew up. From second grade through middle school, DeLeon lived in Lodi, playing football and basketball, watched movies at Lodi Cinema 12 and rode his bike from Kettleman Lane to his house near Lodi Lake.

The Cab released its first album, Whisper War, in April. (Courtesy photo)

"I love, love, love Lodi Lake," DeLeon said. "My first kiss was down a Lodi Lake trail."

In Lodi, DeLeon lived with his father, George DeLeon, a longtime member of the local band, Monkey Shine. In his father's car, the young DeLeon learned about music and its makers from what erupted from the speakers.

While driving down Lodi Avenue one day after work, George DeLeon passed a guitar and amplifier for sale in someone's front yard. He handed over $200, and that day, he surprised Alex DeLeon with his first guitar, a simple black and white Squire.

DeLeon practiced with the Squire every day.

"He'd say, dad, check this out. I can play AC/DC. Or dad, check this out, I can play Green Day," George DeLeon said, in an excited way only a proud father can. George DeLeon recently moved from Lodi to Santa Cruz. Alex DeLeon's mother still lives in Las Vegas.

Right before he was supposed to start high school in Lodi, Alex DeLeon packed his bags and guitar and moved to Las Vegas to live with his mom. In Vegas, he thought, he'd have more opportunity.

"He wanted to go because of his music," George DeLeon said.

In high school, Alex DeLeon was clean cut — except for the long hair. He had a 4.4 grade point average. He played on the basketball team. He had plans to go to Arizona State. He was, you could say, popular with the ladies.

"I won the hearts of a few," he said, giving the impression that he might be blushing on the other end of the phone.

But even for the perfect kids, like himself, there were the rivals. Exact opposites of everything he was. The guys who fought for the girls he wanted. The guy who's very walk just made his blood boil.

For DeLeon, it was one kid, Cash Colligan.

"He was the kid I hated," DeLeon said. "He hated everything about me."

But something changed.

The summer before junior year, they realized they had more in common than the same taste in girls. They bonded over the fact that they both had fathers in "Nor Cal." And they both liked to make music — which is what they started doing all the time.

Members of the Las Vegas band, The Cab, inlcude: Alex Johnson, Ian Crawford, Alex DeLeon, Alex Marshall and Cash Colligan. (Courtesy photo)

"While other kids were getting smashed at high school parties, we were writing songs and building a friendship," DeLeon said.

The duo started talking about forming a band. And on that beanbag in Cash's bedroom, they came up with the band name, The Cab. There is no big meaning behind the name, they just liked it. It was simple enough to let the music stand on its own, DeLeon says.

It had always been DeLeon's plan to be the guitarist. But one day, while driving through Las Vegas, everyone singing along to the radio, they told him otherwise.

"You're the singer, they told me. (I said), no I'm not, I'm the guitarist," DeLeon said. "I kind of just went with it."

In the beginning, DeLeon didn't sing in public. So when his father heard he was going to be the lead singer, he was worried his son couldn't carry a tune.

"I was like, oh man, poor guy. I'm going to have to break it to him," George DeLeon said.

But then he listened to one of his son's recordings.

"I was blown away," he said.

On the same day of his high school final exams, DeLeon was ready to let his voice be heard. He walked into the Palms Casino Resort for an audition with Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz.

"He's an A-list celebrity so that was intense," Alex DeLeon said. He soon realized the room was filled with other professional musicians, including Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, who were there to give their input on the hopeful singers.

DeLeon sat in a chair in the middle of the room, his guitar on his lap. Just play whatever you want, Wentz told him.

And that's what he did.

After, Wentz welcomed DeLeon and The Cab to his musical family and the band was signed to the label, Fueled by Ramen, a subsidary of Decaydance Records. Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Hey Monday, The Academy Is belong to the same label. Since then, Panic at the Disco has taken The Cab on tour and they've played with arenas with Fall Out Boy, Plain White T's and others.

"I went from being (Wentz's) biggest fan to being good friends," DeLeon said, adding that he can't remember the number of times he's "crashed" at Wentz's house.

MTV also discovered The Cab. While DeLeon was still attending high school, a TV crew followed each of the band mates around their parents' homes, school and jamming sessions. They recorded tons of footage for a show about what it takes to make it as a band. In the end, The Cab decided not to air the show, but they went on to appear on "Total Request Live" twice to promote their music video.

With his adult-like cadence, immediate likability and serious lyrics, it's strange to remember that DeLeon is only 19. And even more strange to realize he's a 19-year-old who hasn't let fame get to his head.

Days will pass and no one will recognize the singer who wears vests and long sleeves on stage. But then, there are the times — on a beach in Florida or while shopping in New York — that he can't go anywhere without being stopped.

Tyler Thalken, one of DeLeon's Lodi friends toured with The Cab for three months in 2008. Thalken says DeLeon is great on stage and great with the fans. While at a Fall Out Boy show in San Francisco, DeLeon was bombarded with fans wanting to meet him.

"We were trying to talk (to each other) and he had like 20 or 30 people coming up to take a picture," Thalken said, adding that DeLeon was always willing to talk to his fans.

For DeLeon, meeting his fans is something he enjoys. However, he still can't believe people know who he is.

"It's surreal. I can't help but smile. I was the kid who went to the concerts. I was the guy who liked to meet all the people in (different) bands."

Now, it's his turn.

Question and Answer with The Cab's Alex DeLeon

Q: What bands does The Cab get compared to?
A: We get compared to Maroon 5 because of the soul influences. We're a cross between Fall Out Boy and Maroon 5. We have people who say, "(you) guys sound like Justin Timberlake with a rock (edge). It's great to be compared to one of the biggest selling artists.
Q: What's the hardest part of being a musician?
A: Some look at people in bands and think it's a huge and glorifying party life. It's a blast and I wouldn't change it, but it's more work than people realize. We have 13 hour drives. We have to be away from home for four months at a time. Coming home after almost two years touring (is hard). Time doesn't stop for you and you definitely realize time has gone by. It goes so slow because you miss everyone and everything.
Q: What are three things you always take with you on tour?
A: Probably my computer and phone and guitar. I swear by my Mac Book Pro — my little baby.
Q: Do you write your own music?
A: Yes, we definitely write our own music. Most were written during the first few months of high school … I'm pretty bad with guitar. I'm decent enough to write the bare bones of a song. Then, they'll just transform into something we can be really proud of.
Q: What are your songs about?
A: A lot of bands sing about negative things or depression or things that don't really matter. We wanted to make sure (our music) gave people meaning … to keep your head up. Some are about leaving home. Some are about relationships and partying. All ends of the spectrum.

Timeline: 24 hours with Alex DeLeon

5 or 6 a.m. — Wake up at a hotel in whatever city he performed in the night before. "At that point, I brush my teeth and stumble into a van or bus. There, I pass out for a few hours."
11 a.m. — "I get some kind of gross, disgusting fast food and chow down."
Noon-1 p.m. — DeLeon usually arrives at the venue where he'll perform later that night. 1 p.m.-ish (or after unloading) — He gets about five hours to wander the city, hang out with friends, sight see. What he does depends on the city he's in. If it's New York City, he says he shops. If he's near a beach, that's where he goes.
6 p.m. — Sound check.
9 p.m. — The Cab performs the live show.
10 p.m. — The end of a performance means The Cab hangs out, "partying, going to see a movie, going out to eat," DeLeon said.
3-4 a.m. — Sleep time.

Alex Deleon At A Glance

HOMETOWNS: Born in Las Vegas; lived in Lodi during elementary and middle school
AGE: 19
LODI SCHOOLS HE ATTENDED: Lakewood, Leroy Nichols, Vinewood, Elkhorn.
HIGH SCHOOL G.P.A: 4.4
MUSIC HE LISTENS TO: Frank Sinatra, Justin Timberlake, Temptations, John Mayer, The Killers, Fall Out Boy.
WHAT HE DOES TO RELAX: Vacations in Hawaii.
WHAT HE'D BE DOING IF HE WASN'T IN THE CAB: Going to school at Arizona State.
GUITAR HE'S USING ON CURRENT TOUR: Gibson acoustic
WORST TOURING EXPERIENCE: His tour bus leaving the hotel without him and having to pay $300 for a cab.

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Creating The Cab

How Alex DeLeon, who grew up in Lodi, became lead singer of The Cab, got signed to a record label and won the hearts of adoring fans - all by the age of 19.

Question and Answer with The Cab's Alex DeLeon

Timeline: 24 hours with Alex DeLeon

Alex Deleon At A Glance

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