An Interview With The Pop Duo FAIRVIEW On Their Latest Music and Being Signed To Plain White T’s Front-man Tom Higgenson’s Label Humans Were Here!

Photo Credit- Lizzy Zyburt, Matt Richardson

Meet the Chicago pop darlings Fairview! They are one of the first two bands signed to Plain White T’s front-man Tom Higgenson’s record label, Humans Were Here. They recently released their new single from their debut, self-titled EP called “Our Little Secret.” They’ll also hitting the road to go on tour this summer with Plain White T’s and Ocean Park Standoff.

Fairview was first discovered by Tom Higgenson in 2009 when the band members were still in high school in Chicago, Tom’s hometown. The band introduced themselves and Tom stumbled upon their music online and fell in love with their sound. Soon after, Tom started writing music with them and ultimately became the first signing on the label.

Learn more about Fairview in the following All Access interview:

Thanks for your time! Besides this interview, what else do you guys have on tap for today?

Hey thanks for having us! We’re actually on our way to House Of Blues in Cleveland right now. We’ve been touring with Vinyl Theater the past week it’s been so fun.

How has being from your hometown in Chicago influenced this band and the kind of music that you make today?

We’d say that living in Chicago has had a huge influence because of the people we’ve been able to connect with. We grew up together in the suburbs of Chicago, and ended up meeting Tom Higgenson from the Plain White T’s. As far as being from Chicago influencing the kind of music we write- I’d say that we’ve always loved acoustic songs, and getting the chance to co-write this EP with Tom was a huge evolution of our sound.

We were able to work with some really talented people and it’s all come from the connections we’ve made in Chicago.

How did you all meet and form this band? Can you remember the first moment where you thought you could be in this band together and make music?

So Matt and I met in grade school actually. He had a crush on me back in 7th grade our friends would always hang out so we became close. Then in high school we started playing music together, and Matt actually met Becca and she joined the band, and plays bass. Then in our one year of college we met Shawn our keyboard player. It feels that through different stages of our lives we’ve picked up key parts to who we are. Kinda cool. It’s always been a feeling in us that we have something unique that people would connect with. Now we’re finally able to start releasing music and starting to see those connections first hand.

Was it difficult coming up with your band name? What were some of the other names the you considered?

We actually really struggled with a band name! At one point we were all just sitting around looking through dictionary’s for cool words to use. None of them stuck haha. At that time we were in high school and met Tom Higgenson for the first time. We decided to name the band after the street where that encounter took place…which just so happened to be Fairview.

What has it been like being signed to Plain White T’s front-man Tom Higgenson’s record label, Humans Were Here? Why do you think this is the right place for you and your music today? What does it mean to you to be the first band to sign with the label?

Honestly, it’s been pretty incredible. Everything that we’re doing has been a joint effort and to have someone who believes in the band like Tom believes in us we could only hope for on a big label. Sure some things have taken more time but it’s been a learning experience for all of us. And those setbacks and pauses have only helped us grow and become better. We remember when we first read Taylor Swift’s story on how she was the first artist on a brand new record label Big Machine Records, we thought just how amazing that was. And how rare that kind of situation is. But now, being with Humans, it just feels like being part of a small family, and something with endless potential all at the same time.

What was it like putting together your debut EP? Did anything surprise you about the overall process? Were there any unexpected challenges?

We started writing the songs for the EP about two years ago. When that first started we were writing with Tom, and working with the super talented members of his team, Dan Monahan and Augie Schmidt. And it was like a total dream come true. It surprised us how long it all ended up taking, but being able to take our time and put so much thought into each track in the end just made everything so much better.

How do you think your single “Our Little Secret” prepares listeners for more music from you? What was the inspiration for this first track?

It’s funny you ask that. The whole reason we wrote that song was actually because when we first started working with Tom, he would keep it all very secret from other people. Our producer Dan who we didn’t yet know asked if we were his “little secret” and so Tom actually told us we should write a song with that as the title. So we think in that same way, this song is going to be the perfect first thing for people to listen to from us. It gives an insight to the guy girl duet style and also the acoustic pop love songs we write.

How excited are you to be hitting the road this summer with Plain White T’s and Ocean Park Standoff? Are you going to playing at venues that you haven’t ever played at before? Where are you looking forward to playing at the most?

We are sooo excited! It’s been a goal of ours to tour with the T’s for so long and it’s kinda crazy when something you’ve wanted to do for so long becomes reality. We’re playig in a bunch of cities we’ve never played in. One of the venues we can’t wait to play is Surf Ballroom- it’s pretty iconic. And we love Nashville- so those two are pretty exciting but honesty the whole thing is going to be so fun.

Where do you think you are all happiest- in the studio recording new music, on stage performing or elsewhere?

We can all agree that performing is for sure one of the most exciting parts. Seeing people’s reactions to our lyrics or hearing the crowd sing along is insane. It really makes us appreciate all those days and nights in the studio- so the live show is defiantly one of the most rewarding parts. However, the team we work with is hilarious. So there is never a moment we’re not cracking up when we’re recording, that’s for sure.

How do you think being a musician and in this band gives you all the most joy in life today? With everything going on in the world today, how do you think your music is a reflection of these times?

Being in a band has always been this sense of family to us. Getting to travel and experience so many crazy cool things with your best friends is like the most amazing job ever. So we all kinda feel that joy daily. We’ve all wanted this for so long and feel really blessed to keep getting opportunities. There is a lot of negativity in the world. But we find that in those times, people want to do one of two things- just be sad for a while, or find the happiness. And our songs kind of reflect those two emotions. We write majority love songs. And so in that, there are songs about losing love, letting it go, and also songs about falling in love, feeling those emotions for the first time etc. So our music really does portray real human emotions that hopefully in whatever situation, the listener can relate to.

Who are you all listening to these days? What artists have continued to inspire you and your music? Who would you absolutely love to work with in the future?

The top two artists we would collectively love to work with are Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran. Lizzy and Becca loves Taylor, and Matt and Shawn and obsessed with Ed Sheeran. Which works out well because those two are best friends. Can you say squad goals?😎

What advice would you give to a young band just getting started today?

We would tell them don’t be afraid to put everything you have into your music. In an industry like this one, not everyone makes it. So let it be your everything. Put in the work, and take chances.

Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers about yourselves or your music?

We’d love to just say how excited we are to get our music out!! These songs mean so much and it’s been awesome working with our team from Humans Were Here. We’re stoked to finally be sharing it with you and can’t wait for whatever comes next. Thanks guys!