Q&A: The Ready Set

Monday, 12 July 2010 11:33

Jordan Witzigreuter is the 20-year-old mastermind behind the electronic pop/rock band The Ready Set, who performed at Common Grounds on Sunday (July 11). We caught up with him to find out what it’s like texting Pete Wentz, being on tour and the secrets behind his sweet ‘do.

By MacKensie Gibson

I read you were in other bands before The Ready Set. Can you tell me a little bit about your early career and how you got where you are today?

Yeah, I was in a lot of other bands. I started playing shows when I was about 14, but it was a lot harder stuff. Then I started singing in an acoustic band at 16 with my friends. We had fun and eventually that fell through, but I still wanted to write songs. But at the time, I only had a keyboard and a laptop. I couldn’t play guitar or anything, so it started as an electronic band. I started putting it on MySpace and stuff, and people were into it. As soon as I finished high school, I started touring as much as I could all by myself with a keyboard and eventually added more people to the live band. One thing led to another, and I ended up playing a showcase with tons of labels. It just kind of grew very organically, I guess you could say.

How did you decide on the name “The Ready Set?”

I came up with it during the time when I was still in high school when I didn’t really know what I wanted to do: Whether to tour or to go to college? Just get ready to put all your inhibitions and fears behind you, and get ready to live your life!

You just signed with Decaydance Records and Sire Records (Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy's label) in November 2009. So how did that come about?

We set up a label showcase. There were like 15 labels there, and Pete’s just stood out the most to me because Pete just, like, texted me. He liked the way I wrote my songs and the sound of my voice, and I liked the way they ran things—very grassroots-ish. And they seemed to care a lot, and they seemed to want to sign me for the same reasons I wanted to be signed for, and that’s what I wanted the most out of a label.

What has the past year been like for you, crazier than ever?

I’m used to it; I’m definitely doing a lot more tours now and flying around everywhere. A lot more publicity and magazine stuff. It’s going to get a lot crazier in the next two months too, so I’m just bracing myself.

You've toured with bands like Boys Like Girls, Hey Monday and Good Charlotte, are you close with these bands?

Yeah, we’re close with a lot of them. We actually just got off another tour with Boys Like Girls, and we’re close with All Time Low. It’s definitely a good relationship we have with bands that tour with us; everybody’s on the same page, everybody wants the same things. It all combines together. I’ve definitely made a lot of good friends on tour.

You play every instrument on your albums, right?

Yes.

Which is your favorite to play, and do you play on stage?

I used to play the keyboard at live shows, but whenever we play shows lately, I just sing because I like jumping around and going crazy. My favorite instrument to play is drums. It’s the most fun to me and probably the easiest, but I just play on the album.

Do you have any pre-show rituals to get you pumped up?

Not really. I kind of just sing through other bands’ songs, and I just drink a bunch of water, jump around, get my blood flowing. No real rituals.

So if you were about to go on tour for six months and you could only bring three items with you, what would you bring?

Um . . . I would bring my phone, for sure. I’d bring my computer, and I’d bring, oh man, my wireless card for my Internet.

What are some of your favorite hobbies when you’re not performing or making music?

Whenever I’m home, I like to run a lot. I try to stay in pretty good shape, especially because I want to make sure I have a lot of energy for shows, so running is a good way to build that up. I relax a lot at home, but usually when I’m not doing stuff with music, I end up doing stuff with music, like writing demos and stuff.

What are some of the top bands we’d find on your iPod?

Let’s see. Probably Copeland, Muse. I’ve been listening to The Dangerous Summer, Brighten and probably a bunch of random rap stuff.

If you weren’t a musician, what would you want to be?

I really have no idea, that’s the thing. If I went to college or something, I would have no direction. This is the only thing I can see myself doing. And I didn’t realize that until I started doing it, after like the first couple tours, I was like this needs to happen, this needs to grow and be the only thing I do.

Since I know you’re in with Pete Wentz, I’ve got to ask: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done on a dare or bet?

I haven’t had a dare or a bet since I was in like fourth grade, I think. I don’t do very much, like, crazy weird dares and stuff. Obviously, we do stupid stuff on tour, but it’s usually not because of a dare.

You have great rocker hair. Did it take years to perfect it, or do you change it up a lot?

(Laughs.) I’ve had this kind of hair type since I was 14, so it’s kind of six years in the making. You just got to put your heart and soul into it when you want to look this incredible, I mean, it takes a lot of work. But in all seriousness, it takes about 15 minutes and my girlfriend does it for me. It’s a pretty simple situation.

What should we look forward to in your upcoming Gainesville show?

A lot of new songs. Hopefully, it will be a big enough stage to use my light show. I like to program light shows when I’m at home to go with the sets, but a lot of times the stages aren’t big enough to use them. I’m sure it’ll be a million degrees in there, and it’ll just be a big, fun dance party.

The Ready Set will opened for Forever The Sickest Kids, along with The Scene Aesthetic, Phone Calls From Home and A Cursive Memory.