Interpol Interview September 2010
Interpol have always known the power of mystery. In their monochromatic suits, they’ve always been something of an enigma, managing to make dance-rock music while still brooding in the exquisite melancholia which characterizes their sound, born of the cynical, urban streets of New York.
In recent releases, particularly the latest self-titled record, they’ve taken their sound from the backstreet gutters of their beloved city and propelled it into faded grandiose concert halls of a bygone, industrial age, their brand of brooding romanticism earning classical tinges and building on Our Love to Admire’s flirtation with heavy keys and textures to bring the epic shades of Arcade Fire-esque, concept-heavy music.
Staking their place as among the best purveyors of sophisticated art-pop, Interpol are back with a record which drummer Sam Fogorino believes surpasses anything we’ve yet heard from the band, even on the highly critically acclaimed Antics and Turn on the Bright Lights. Rockfeedback talked to him about the departure of iconic bassist Carlos D and the rejuvenation his replacement (Slint’s Dave Pajo) has provoked, fourth album pressure, and how the city affects their output.
How long’ve you been on tour for? I see you have a lot more dates to go… how does it affect the band’s energy spending intense amounts of time together? Do you feed off it or find it difficult?
We’ve been in America touring for about 5 weeks but now we’ve hit the UK and since the album only came out here a couple of days ago here we’re sort of in promo mode. Our first show is tonight. Of late being on tour’s been working out great. The energy level is just very high right now, which I think is born out of having a new lineup. It just makes everything so fresh. Rejuvenating.
Now that you're on your fourth record, do you guys still feel any pressure at this point? Was there an imagined trajectory for the band at all? Are you where you thought you'd be?
I think the band is always, for the most part at least, taking it a day at a time. There’s just been drive, and certainly integrity in terms of what we do but I don’t think we’ve ever imposed lofty goals. You don’t get too cynical or jaded over little minor defeats or victories that way. I think we’re right where we should be. Personally speaking I feel very comfortable with where we’re at and in this age where it is so different what it means to be a band now than it even was 5 years ago… There’s such an oversaturation and the record buying climate has drastically changed and the perception of what it is to even buy an album is different. With all of that said, I feel very fortunate to be where we are.
How has the transition between Carlos D (who plays on the record) and David Pajo (who plays on tour, previously of Tortoise, Will Oldham, Stereolab, Slint, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) been?
David Pajo has such an impressive CV that we’re like little kids having him around. He’s a very influential musician. We’re fans of so many of the projects he’s been involved in for the past 20 years. It’s quite amazing to have him actually. It only softened the blow of Carlo’s departure, turning an unfortunate situation into something fucking amazing.
Awesome. So will you be writing with David? How do you feel it will affect things, as Interpol’s extremely strong rhythm section was always so influential to the band’s sound?
At the moment that just seems so far down the line, with this album just out, but unofficially that would be amazing. I would love the opportunity to write music with him if it worked out. I think that with him the whole concept of rhythm in Interpol would just be further explored.
Tell me a bit about the song writing process on this album- Interpol have always been lauded for having such inventive rhythm sections- is it full collaboration between all 4 parties or how does it work?
Well as usual Daniel comes up with the initial seeds, like a chord progression, which will eventually turn into a full Interpol song. The only thing that was a little bit different this time was Daniel and Carlos made some demos for the songs. We all build up our parts and then the last thing is the lyrics and vocals, where Daniel goes off and does totally behind closed doors.
There’s been quite a bit of coverage of Carlos’ other projects. Are the rest of you working on anything on the side that you’re excited about?
Interpol is what I dedicate most of my time to. I always have a plan to do something extra but at the moment we’re all deep in Interpol for the next year or so until the world tour’s over. I’m sure Paul will put out another solo record. Midway through the touring process I always start writing rough ideas for songs. It’s a curious thing to write songs on tour. You have a cross inspiration that comes from playing shows every night and you have a lot of down time. After a show and all that energy we get straight on a bus and drive to the next destination. It’s a good time to get out a laptop and record.
The songs on the new album seem quite self aware, particularly lyrically, about your place in the world. Would you agree? How do you feel you ended up with this record so different to the strict minimalism of sound and aesthetic of Bright Lights?
I see this record musically as a lot more confident than previous ones. It feels a lot more realised. Especially since it is so dense musically. That said, it was kind of just a progression musically. I think we’ve all had the desire to make this record for a long time. It’s kind of funny because with most artists their current work is always their favourite. And I could say that, and I would believe it, but I’m sure I’ll also say it about the next record we do. We’re all really unified and happy about how this record turned out. Playing the new material live kind of puts a new spin on the old material.
What kind of set are you playing with the new line up? As the first two albums have such strong singles, but obviously the second two better define your current, more mature sound?
Definitely a cross section of our entire body of work. It makes it hard, but also interesting to forge together a set from 4 different records. It’ll probably get even harder as we go along and make 5 or 6 records. The material varies a bit of course but that’s what makes for a dynamic live show.
What do you take inspiration from on tour when writing and recording records, as I’ve read in interviews that you don’t like to listen to other music at this time to ‘keep the palette clean’?
I think a lot of motivation comes from different forms of art, you know, film and literature. It’s more of a motivation than a direct influence. Even on the road I don’t tend to listen to much new music. I want something I’m familiar with. I listen to a lot of David Bowie. Right now I’m reading a book about a whaling ship off the coast of Nantucket, which met a horrible end in the 1800s. Recently I read a book called Chronic City, which was a very interesting take on a very lecherous small group of friends and the ugly side of New York. Having lived in New York for 14 years it was a great little read. Very poignant.
How do you feel New York the city has influenced the band? If Interpol came from say, Chicago, would you be an entirely different entity?
I don’t think it makes a difference at this point in time. I think that we’ve spent so much time there now that we can take that… whatever that thing is that New York does to the creative mind or how it affects personal relationships and now take it anywhere but it was certainly important at the beginning, but I don’t feel that it defines who we are anymore.
Interpol have outgrown the city that spawned them, taking their leave to develop their sound beyond the concrete and moving into the larger spaces their ambient waves of sound and effects demand to bring the brooding, bruised romantic in all of us out to dance.
Artists in this article: Interpol