With the release of their self-titled debut still only a few weeks old, The Virgins are living large on the Nylon Summer Music Tour. Front man Donald Cumming hasn't always had it this sweet though. Leaving home and dropping out of school at 15 left Cumming to depend on friends and lady-luck to get by in New York City. Both pulled through for him. A photo shoot for his friend Ryan McGinley brought Cumming and guitarist Wade Oates together. The two were shortly joined by bassist Nick Zarin-Ackerman and drummer Erik Ratensperger to round out the Virgins four-piece. We spoke to Cumming about the meaning of "hype," the influence of New York City and his last role as a deer.

So you guys are on the Nylon tour. Where in the world are The Virgins at the moment?
We're in Vancouver; it's raining. It's a little bit cold, I just bought a jacket, and I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to fucking eat because they won't take... I guess my money isn't Canadian enough.

There's an article on you guys that said I'd likely find you walking around with a dog-eared Oscar Wilde novel in hand. Accurate?
No, no... I can barely read. And, if I was gonna walk around with a book in my hand, it would be, um, I don't know, something else. It would be about exchange rates...

The Canadian exchange rate?
Yeah.

So what kind of music influences you? What sort of stuff have you been listening to?
I only listen to rap. I listen to the Wu-Tang Clan. Anything by the Wu-Tang Clan.

So do you like Bobby Digital too?
I love Bobby Digital. RZA — he's the best. He's a genius, right?

Yeah, he's good...
Nah, nah, nah...He's a genius. He's the greatest!

It seems you have a future in acting... particularly as a deer. I caught a glimpse of you in a Fall Out Boy video with some mighty fine antlers on your head. How did you end up starring as a deer in that video?
My friend was directing it. He's actually the same guy who directed the "Private Affairs" video. My friend Matt Lenski, and he was like, "Hey, do you want to make $600?" At the time I was really, really poor and hungry so I agreed that I would like to make $600. And then I went and did this video, which I never knew anyone would ever see but it turned out that the song was pretty popular, and that's how that came about. As far as the future, I can't see that.

No acting in your future? Just music?
I don't know. I wouldn't know. Do you know? Do you know something I don't know?

I don't know. I guess it's all in your hands...
It's in my hands? Well right now I have a Canadian 20 dollar bill and an Apple phone that isn't mine...

On "Rich Girls," you mention being a "playboy from Dubai to Paris," and "Sleeping in the park." How much of that is your real life? How much of that is pretend?
Oh, it's all real. It's all true. There is no story. I was trying to make a really like, accurate and concise portrait of my life up until this point. Obviously, you know, leaving out the boring parts and stuff. There's nothing fictitious or fantastic about it.

You've been called a quintessential New York band, which I guess warrants Strokes comparisons. How do you think the city has influenced your music?
You know, it's where I live. I grew up there. I was born there. I love the Strokes; I'm a big fan of the Strokes. The city has influenced my music in as much as I like going out at night and listening to music, like, really loud...like at parties and stuff. That's kind of the music I wanted to make on this album, music that I could hear when I went out. So like, make music for the background of my own life, type of thing.

How do you guys write songs, lyrically, all together?
I usually bring something in that's either partially formed, or sort of outlined, or maybe completely written, and we just take things from there.

So pretty soon after you rounded out The Virgins four-piece, you were opening for Patti Smith in Paris. In a Spin article you said, "I can barely play guitar." Needless to say, luck has been in your favor. How do you respond to people who say your success is unearned?
Oh! Am I successful?

I think you guys are getting there...
Oh, then I guess we're earning it. I don't know. I didn't know I was successful. If I am, it's because of hard work and perseverance. I think that hard work and perseverance is always good for these kind of things.

What kind of stuff have you persevered through?
Oh! A great deal! Like, for example, it was raining earlier, and I was cold because I wasn't prepared to be in Canada today, and I went and got this North Face jacket and now I'm fucking warm. Had I not saw it through, I would still be cold.

Your lyrics in "Rich Girls" and "Fernando Pando" talk about having a "lovely way with words" and "playing around with words." What's your opinion on the power of words? Their power to affect others, to twist things, to be playful, or serious?
Oh, I think it's minor, isn't it? I mean, I wouldn't give words too much power. I think they need less power. They should be, uh, I don't know. I don't think words are important at all, right?

So for you, what's more important, the music or the lyrics?
Ooohhhh... Shucks. I don't know? Jeepers. I think that, uh, lyrics are for me, probably a little bit more....uh... No, I like 'em both. I like lyrics and music.

Do they need each other to succeed in a song?
It depends on the goal. I mean, we haven't defined success yet in this conversation...

Define success then...
I can't, I don't know the context. What's the goal? What's our goal? What's the aim of the version that we've succeeded at, in your opinion?

In your opinion—
No... your opinion. You asked me what do I say to the people who say my success is undeserved. So you've defined us as successful. So I'm saying in your opinion, what is the aim of the version that we've already succeeded in something.

Do you guys think you've succeeded at something?
I'm asking you!

I think that for indie-rock musicians, people think success is...
Uh, oh...

People think success is being on a big tour, like you guys are on. You guys have an album out that's getting a lot of "hype," especially in New York.
What's hype? Two questions: What's hype? And what's indie rock? Let's do hype first though, just because you were in the middle of it. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off...

I am not letting you turn this around!
No, c'mon, c'mon! You were almost in there...

So you guys are on the road a bunch lately. What's that like after being tagged to New York so firmly? Do you like touring much, or is it monotonous?
I like touring. It's fun.

Where's your favorite place you've stopped so far?
I have no idea. I don't even know where we are. Well, I know we're in Canada.

You and Wade got your big break, or at least your first bout of recognition, in modeling. You were technically part of the "art" world. What do you think is the connection between the two spheres of music and art?
Did we get recognized as models? I've never been recognized. I think that music is art. Whoa!!! [Laughs] I consider what we do to be a lot like art.

Music and 2-D art, I mean. You modeled for a photographer...
Ok, I know what you mean. I think that art is uh...[Talking aside: Yes sir. Oh, I'm sorry. OK, I thought I was in the dressing room. Oh, I'm sorry man. I'm putting it out. It's out.] I put it out. Did you catch any of that?

Were you smoking?
[laughs] Yes, I was.

Got caught?
Yes I did, by like a really righteous dude. He's all about the law. But I'm ignorant to the law. First of all, I'm an American citizen, which leaves me ignorant to Canadian laws and customs, 'cause I haven't been educated. In America, we never get educated about other cultures. You know that, right? So like, how would I know?

What are your thoughts on your music being used in Gossip Girl and Entourage?
First of all, I think that the women on the show Gossip Girl are really fly. That's undeniable. I mean, those girls are just gorgeous, right? Ok, so we got that covered. I think Entourage is a very entertaining show that I like a lot. So that was really cool, and uh, both of those things were pretty groovy.

Did you guys gain a lot of recognition from being on those shows?
The Gossip Girl thing definitely. I guess like, more people probably heard our music on that show than they had before that, because our MySpace really took off after that.

Is that considered hype?
I don't think so. Because I think they heard it and either they liked it or they didn't like it but they went and saw where it came from. So that's another way of people hearing it, and then making a call after they hear it. I don't think we pegged down hype yet... I still can't get my head around hype.

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