Fort Wayne, Ind., native Jordan Witzigreuter is only a few weeks away from his 22nd birthday. He’ll be spending it in Raleigh, N.C., with hundreds of strangers. That’s because he’s The Ready Set.
The Ready Set may sound like a band name, but Witzigreuter is a one-man act. He’s most known for his hit “Love Like Woe,” which blew up radio airwaves in the latter part of 2010. Fresh off the summer-long Vans Warped Tour, Witzigreuter is bringing the sounds of The Ready Set to Columbia as an opener for All Time Low. MOVE talked to him about his career, touring and what it’s like to be a one-man band.
**[MOVE]** First and foremost, where did the name The Ready Set come from?
**[Jordan Witzigreuter]** It pretty much means being ready to set your ambitions and stuff behind you and kind of just do what you wanna do. That’s kinda where I came up with it.
**[MOVE]** Why did you decide to be a one-man band?
**[JW]** I was always in bands growing up playing drums, so I kind of wanted to do things completely on my own and write my own songs. It just stuck. I just started messing around writing songs in my basement, and I guess it started kind of picking up some momentum. Then I started taking it pretty seriously. I like being able to have creative control and be able to call the shots on everything. But when I tour, I have a live band with me, so it’s the best of both worlds in that sense.
**[MOVE]** You’ll be in Columbia with All Time Low next week. What is it like touring with them?
**[JW]**It’s fun. They’re friends of ours. We’ve known them for a while. I think we’re kind of overdue to tour with them, so it’s been awesome so far. They’re great.
**[M]** What can Columbia expect from your part of the show next week?
**[JW]** A lot of energy. We’ll try to get everyone as pumped up as we can for All Time Low.
**[MOVE]** What is a typical day on tour like for you?
**[JW]** It depends. This tour is different for us because it’s the first tour we’ve done in like over a year where we’ve been in a van. It’s a short tour, so we decided to do it in a van instead of a bus like normal. So lately it’s been wake up really early, drive, hang out at the hotel all day and then go to the venue later, play and then come back. But on a normal tour, we’re usually kind of around the venue all day and the bus is just kind of hanging out wandering around.
**[MOVE]**How has your life changed since “Love Like Woe” hit the charts?
**[JW]** It’s been a lot busier. I’ve gotten to play insanely big shows and do things I never really thought I’d get to do, so it’s definitely opened a lot of doors for me and kind of changed everything for me. It’s awesome. I’m very excited to get back into the radio thing and put out another single to radio and get to do that thing again. The whole climb and fight for getting your song on the radio is really fun and really challenging. It’s harder than anything I’ve ever had to do before but it’s really cool. You make a lot of friends with people at the radio stations. It’s definitely hectic and very, very difficult and tiring but I love it.
**[MOVE]** What was it like when you first heard “Love Like Woe” on the radio?
**[JW]** It was crazy! I was driving in the car with some of my label people and it was on Sirius Hits or something like that. It’s just one of those things that doesn’t really stop feeling awesome. It’s exciting every time. It’s kind of like a pat-on-the-back thing. You feel triumphant.
The Rise and Fall of My Pants Tour arrives Nov. 2. at The Blue Note.