When The Cab announced their return, frontman Alexander DeLeon wasn’t sure what to expect. After 13 years without touring, there was no guarantee fans would still be waiting. Instead, the band found themselves playing sold-out venues, hearing crowds sing every word back to them, and watching parents introduce their children to the music that defined their own youth.
Ahead of the release of Chasing Crowns, DeLeon spoke about the band’s long-awaited comeback, the stories behind the new album, and the community that has kept The Cab alive all these years.
How do you feel returning to music after all these years with The Cab?
I have been just completely ecstatic for the whole tour. Seeing so many friends and family members at the shows and fans we haven’t seen in 13 years, and getting to hug them and thank them for staying by our side for so long—it’s just been really special. Every single show has been incredibly unique and special. It just means the world to us that even after 13 years, people are still here for us and singing with us, and we can stand on a stage and look down and see people singing our songs. It’s super beautiful and awesome that our wives, kids, and families get to see it too because 13 years ago we were all single guys in our early 20s, and now we are married and have three-year-olds, and we get to see them rock out to The Cab music; it’s really cool.
What surprised you most about the fan response after such a long absence?
I just think them showing up. When you don’t tour for 13 years, you wonder if anyone is going to come. I remember our booking agent sent the room counts, and we were like, “How are we playing the House of Blues in Chicago? Isn’t that like 2,000 people?” We had to ask ourselves if 2,000 people knew who The Cab was 13 years later. And then it sells out. It’s so freaking cool, and it’s also cool to see people sing the new songs too. It hasn’t been strictly nostalgic. People are super-hyped about the new songs.
One of the other big surprises is seeing fans bring their kids to shows now, which is really special. They’re bringing their kids and saying, ‘This is our favorite band from when we were younger, and we want you to experience a The Cab show.’ A lot of kids are sitting on the shoulders of their moms and dads in the crowd, and that’s a really amazing, beautiful feeling.
How has your relationship with songwriting changed since the band’s early days?
I think when you’re 17 and writing songs, the first thing you write is just what it is. Now, we hone in on the craft more. We’ve been doing this for 20–25 years now, so it’s more of a puzzle for us, in a fun way, when we get together. We also appreciate the collaboration more now. You realize that anyone can pick up a guitar and write a song by themselves if they want to, but I think the joy of it is being with the other guys in the band and making music.
I think the beauty of being in a band is being able to hang out in a room with your friends, making and writing songs, and calling it work.
Has becoming older changed the kinds of stories you want to tell in songs?
The older you get, the more you face. I hate to be dark, but I think you realize that you’re going to die one day. When you’re young, you’re just driving fast on a highway, and when you get older, you start realizing the things in your life that actually carry weight, whether those are the good things or the bad things.
I think two of the most personal songs I’ve ever written are on the new record: “Hellraiser” for my daughter and “Every Universe” for my wife. That’s just because I’ve lived a few decades of life at this point, and everything means a little bit more. Everything is just a little bit heavier. The more life you’ve lived, the more perspective you have, so I think the songs naturally go a bit deeper.
Were there any songs from your catalog that took on a new meaning when you performed them again years later?
I would say “Living Louder” off Symphony Soldier. Again, talking about death, I wrote that song when I was really young, and it just has a new meaning now that I’m older. There is a line in the song that’s like, “Traveled the world, loved every step, my only regret is having regrets,” and when I wrote that, I had been to 15 countries. Now I’ve been to about 100, and, not to use the same phrase, but it carries a little more weight.
When I’m singing it, I realize, one, it’s really cool that we had the insight to write that song at such a young age, and now it has 10 times more meaning than it did when we first wrote it.
Has the music industry changed since the first two albums?
Everything has changed. I almost feel like it’s a Toy Story 5 movie where technology has invaded the world. Everything is streaming and social media. I think, as an artist, all you can really do is try to connect with your fan base as best you can, make the best art you can, and hope that everything else follows.
We’re not going to be the band that’s necessarily doing TikTok dances, but obviously, social media is a great tool, and it’s definitely something we’ve had to adapt to and learn to love. You just have to be genuine and learn to love yourself, and I think everything will fall into place.”
Why was Chasing Crowns the album you needed to make for this comeback?
Well, Chasing Crowns was interesting because it was kind of written over 10 years. I always say songs are like bookmarks in your life. If you’re having a bad day, you might get a sad song. If you’re having the best day of your life, it’s obviously going to feel very different.
For me, when I look at Chasing Crowns, it’s kind of like a scrapbook of the past decade of our lives—the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, all of those experiences. It’s a super cool scrapbook of the past decade.
Do you have a favorite story associated with a certain track, one that just takes you back to a certain time?
There are two. “Rollercoaster” was written in Bali. I told Alex Marshall and the rest of the band, “Guys, we need to get out of Los Angeles. We need to go somewhere weird and make some music out of our element.” We got a beach house in Bali, and I remember Marshall setting up the recording gear, and there were literally monkeys coming in and trying to steal our speakers and microphones while we were recording. The house was also right against the ocean, so we were writing these verses while floating in the water and hoping that monkeys weren’t stealing the gear.
And then “Every Universe” was one of those songs where I woke up at three in the morning at Alex’s house, and it was like a song came out of the sky like a lightning bolt and wrote itself in 20 minutes. “Every Universe” is about my wife. I just woke up in the middle of the night, I was jet-lagged, and it just wrote itself. It was crazy. It felt like someone else just took over my mind and body, and the song came out in 20 minutes in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep.
What are you looking forward to for this tour?
Honestly, just seeing the fans after all these years. We also did a tour with All Time Low in the fall, and we did a lot of Midwest and West Coast dates, but we didn’t get to the East Coast. So I’m pretty excited to see the New York fans, the Jersey fans, and the Boston and Philly fans. They still haven’t seen us in like 15 years, so I’m counting down the days until I can get up to the Northeast and see them. Those fans have always been some of our favorite fans.
Do you have anything to say to the fans who have been waiting for this for so many years?
I mean, whatever way I can express gratitude. Our fans have changed our lives and have given us purpose and fulfillment, and we would be nothing without them. So I’m just so incredibly thankful and grateful for every single person who comes to the shows and sings every word.
The fans who come up and ask me to write out lyrics for them to get tattooed — I can honestly say I think The Cab fans are just the best in the world. They’re there for each other, they support each other, and people meet their best friends in our crowds. It’s just a really unique community, and I look up to them.
