Plain White T's play Cupid on 'Listen to Your Heart' premiere

Life in "The Bachelor"-verse can seem pretty far removed from the reality that many of us know, but Monday night's premiere of "Listen to Your Heart" will feature some familiar faces - the Plain White T's.

The DuPage County-born rock band - Tom Higgenson, De'Mar Hamilton, Tim Lopez, Mike Retondo and Dave Tirio - will grace TV screens playing some musical favorites, including the hit "Hey There Delilah," in the series' first episode, filmed in January in Los Angeles.

"It was literally the beginning of filming, so everything seemed fine and dandy," said Higgenson, the band's Elmhurst-based frontman. "There wasn't any drama yet or anything like that, that reality TV drama."

The new show from the creators of "The Bachelor" series and its siblings gives aspiring singer-songwriters a chance to create beautiful music together.

"It was super cool, super chill," Higgenson said, not able to disclose too much about the unaired show. "It's kind of like a backyard party that we were set up at and played just like we would a normal acoustic show. ... And the couple came in and had a little moment. We talked to them, hung out for a little."

The band had been touring until right before Christmas last year, and the Plain White T's filmed the show while taking some time off before a planned spring tour to Europe.

"It's awesome that it came up because now obviously our tour was canceled for the U.K., all of our shows in April and May are already canceled," Higgenson said. "So luckily we shot this TV show that millions of people will see."

The "Listen to Your Heart" series premieres at 7 p.m. Monday on ABC.

This weekend, Plain White T's is also celebrating the 15th anniversary of the release of "All That We Needed," with an expanded digital reissue of the album, including five acoustic sessions from 2005 that were never released.

A vinyl album also in the works is on hold because of a shortage of production materials after the February fire at the Apollo Masters plant in Banning, California. The plant was one of the two main production companies in the United States.

"We put those five acoustic live tracks on to the album digitally to give fans a little something and to commemorate the anniversary of that album," Higgenson said.