Did you know Tom Higgenson from the Plain White T’s had his own record label, Humans Were Here? True story. In fact, one of the very first bands he signed on are Chicago pop band Fairview. We fell in love with them the moment we heard and saw the video for their latest single “Our Little Secret” (watch below) and were stoked to get the chance to interview Lizzy (Vocals & Piano) and Matt (guitar & vocals) from Fairview! If you’re heading to a Plain White T’s show this summer, you’re more than likely to run into these guys since they’ll be hitting the road too!
CelebMix: First and foremost – How did you all eventually meet and decide to work together to make Fairview?
Lizzy & Matt: We (Lizzy and Matt) met in grade school when we were really young, like 5th grade. Freshman year of high school we started just hanging out writing music with a group of friends and decided to start a band. We met Becca in high school, and Shawn in college and the rest is history!
Lately, you guys have been touring A LOT. How has it been to put your music out there in front of complete strangers? How has the feedback been?
The feedback had been amazing. It’s really special to get to play these songs to people and see which ones they connect to most. It’s super honest feedback, and getting to meet everyone after the shows is kinda the best part.
What have you learned while being on tour and what do you hope to see/experience in your future tour with the Plain White T’s and Ocean Park Standoff?
We’ve learned not to spend all our money on snacks at gas stations.
Your first interaction with Tom was back in 2011. Here we are almost 10 years later with you signed onto his label! What was the process like to finally get here?
Getting to this point has been a crazy journey. We met Tom when we were only high schoolers and now here we are such close friends of his. It was a lot of late nights recording, a lot of songs that didn’t make the cut, and definitely hard work. But it all led us to this place where we really feel we’re ready for this first step, finally getting to release our music! Getting to be signed to Humans Were Here feels like this amazing opportunity. Being the first band on a label is a really great experience. There’s no shortage of hard work, that’s for sure, but just knowing that who we’re working with has our best interest is so amazing. It’s like working with family.
Do you recall your first reaction when Tom was like, “Alright, let’s make this official. Let me sign you onto Humans Were Here”?
Well it was something that kind of evolved. When he first heard our music, he reached out to us and said we should all hang out, maybe try writing a song. Once that happened and we wrote “Life In Your Years” with him, he wanted to write more. Then we all decided we would co-write the whole EP together. After that, with us not being signed, he wanted to help us get to that next level, and he wanted to be a part of it. We still remember when he called us basically asking if we had a lawyer, because he wanted to sign us. It was an awesome feeling and one we’ll never forget.
We love your single “Our Little Secret”! Can you tell us a bit the origin of the song?
So when we first started working with Tom, he kind of kept us a secret. His friends would ask him about us and who we are and one day our producer Dan asked him why he kept us so much of a secret in the beginning and that sparked the idea. Tom told us we had to write a song called “Our Little Secret” because it sounded like the perfect album title. So we did! It’s still to this day one of our favorite songs we’ve ever written.
The video is just as cute! How did the idea for that come about?
We were set to record the music video in Malibu and actually the week before we were supposed to go out there we got word that the director we were supposed to work with had to go out of town last minute. So Tom called up his friend Rick Wayne who had done a video for the T’s and he wrote out a screenplay and we all just loved it. Obviously filming in Malibu was so incredible, so the scenes were just so beautiful to film and it all came together so perfectly.
Since this may be the first many are hearing from you for the first time via the Internet, what can we expect to hear on your Our Little Secret EP?
We call it “dream pop.” So our music is made up of duet vocal harmonies between Matt and Lizzy mixed with catchy guitar lines and heartfelt lyrics. The love songs are for sure influenced by our relationship, and you can definitely expect to feel that in these songs.
What was the process like for putting that together? What happened to be the biggest obstacle you experienced?
The biggest obstacle was probably the waiting process. We had so many songs that we were just waiting to release, but timing is everything. We really had to get ready in every aspect before we could put them out, but it was hard having something you were so proud of and not being able to give it to the fans yet. But now it’s time, and the waiting makes it all the more special now.
What can we expect in the future for Fairview?
World domination.
Do you listen to Fairview or is this your first time hearing about them? Tweet us (@CelebMix) to let us know what you think!