Interpol:
(l to r) Samuel, Paul, Carlos, Daniel
When New York’s Interpol
arrived on the international scene back in 2002 it wasn’t just their
music that made a splash. They also happened to be one of the most
stylish looking bands going. One glance at their snapshots and you know they've
studied the aesthetics of cinema and rock 'n' roll. The killer suits, the
geometric hair. All very beguiling. Indeed, I'm unabashed in saying that the
look of Interpol was the 'in' point for me as far as interest in the band
was concerned. So I was excited by the chance to talk to guitarist and founding
member Daniel Kessler – a man obviously clued into how important image
is to pop music. He didn’t share my enthusiasm.
You
were born in England but have lived in America for a long time. Do you class
yourself as English or American?
It's kinda hard. I lived in England till I was about six, then France till
I was about 11 and then moved to Washington D.C. In high school I probably
would've called myself American but the truth of the matter is I'm English.
And I have a brother who lives in England and a brother who lives in France.
But then I don't call myself a Brit either. So I'm kinda in no man's land.
I never saw much of a pull for being nationalistic or attaching oneself to
a country. It never made sense to me. And as much as it was difficult to move
around as a child it wasn't a bad thing to have. I moved through different
countries and different dialects. Plus I live in New York and New York doesn't
feel very much like America. New York is an international city.
Did you exhibit any gothic
tendencies when you were growing up?
No. Zero gothic tendencies on my part.
I'm interested because
there's quite a gothic presence at your shows and I'm just wondering if that's
a surprise to you?
I guess. There's so many people of the gothic persuasion, I suppose, but I don't
know if the majority of our fan base is gothic. I think it's a pretty big mixture
of everyone really. You could ask me if I'm surprised if so many jocks like
our music? Because there are a lot of jocks into Interpol. Kids that beat up
kids in high school like our music. I know what you're saying but our music
isn't gothic so I don't know. You know what I mean - it's not an ambition of
ours.
What does Australian tennis
hero Rod Laver have to do with Interpol?
We attempted a song called 'Rod Laver' but it never materialised so it has nothing
to do with Interpol now. It was just a name that we came up with as a working
title for a song. It was Paul (Banks, lead singer) actually who thought of it
- maybe he was watching the tennis or something. It was definitely out of respect
for Rod Laver.
What
do you feel Antics presents that wasn't on Turn on the Bright Lights?
I don't know. I don't think it's up to me to figure out what the difference
is between the first record and this one. We didn't really attempt to do anything
differently as much as we felt a natural progression and growth. I do think
there is some pretty big growth on this record. Stylistically? I don't know.
We didn't really attempt to do anything different other than it sounds like
Interpol progressing and growing and writing songs like we've always written
songs. Not talking so much about what we want to do but just doing it. We haven't
had one of those episodes where we all sit down and say, 'it'd be really great
if we could explore this side of music or make a song like this'. It's not the
way we write songs.
Most things that end up
on a record are there by a conscious choice. So I'm interested in what you didn't
want to repeat from the first album?
I don't know. The things we wanted to do a little bit differently was make the
songs a little more concise. Some of the songs are a little bit shorter than
the first record.
With short and concise
in mind - what do you feel is the closest you've got to writing the perfect
pop song?
I don't know. I don't think in those terms. I just don't. I'm more thinking
about the perfect album and how songs serve the album.
What's the song on Antics
that best serves the album?
Hard to say. They all had their moments. I think when 'Take You on a Cruise'
came together in the studio it went beyond our expectations. It just got better
and better and better. But, for me, there's no favourites. It's really about
the whole entity. It's not like there's one song that's going to anchor the
whole album and then a bunch of other songs that are less significant. For us,
each song serves its purpose and when you look at it from the perspective of
the album each plays it's own significant role. I could be talking to a football
team right now.
Who has sported the best
haircut in rock?
I don't know. I don't think in those terms.
Yes, you do. You're a
man who is into the aesthetics of rock. I know you've spent time thinking about
it.
I don't think about that and I don't intend to. Sorry.
Do you think Brian Jones
had the best haircut in rock?
Um, I don't know. I'm sorry. I don't think stylistically like that. Carlos might
have a better answer. He might think a little more like that.
You're
a band that presents itself with a strong aesthetic to sell your yourselves
and your music. I find it hard to believe you wouldn't want to talk about it.
Do you think it cheapens the music to talk about it?
The way we dress is the way we dress. I realise that we present ourselves in
a certain way as a band but, for me, it's not a sport to talk about styles of
clothes. We're not like the Hives are thankyou very much. They have a band image
and certain bands have even more of an image than the Hives. For us, we realise
we have a certain aesthetic but …
What about your personal
outlook?
The way I dress is the way I dress. I like fitted clothes I suppose you could
say. I really like clothes that fit you well. I look back fondly on the 50s
and 60s when people would dress up even when there wasn't an occasion. I like
the way they look in the French New Wave films. Like the Jean Luc Godard films.
Alain Delon.
You talk in a band sense
most of the time. Is it easy for you to separate your working life from your
professional life?
Yes but, oddly enough, the band is my life. I think about it every day but I
never feel like the band has taken over my personality or who I am or what I
have to say. I am able to separate it. I'm a pretty grounded and modest individual
and I live in New York City where it's pretty easy to be anonymous so it keeps
you that way.
Every article people write
about the band being influenced by Joy Division or Magazine or whatever. What's
an influence that you can hear in your music that's never been mentioned? A
secret ingredient if you will?
Those are not bands that we've ever said we're influenced by. Those are bands
that other people said we were influenced by. And they have a right to contextualise
it anyway they see fit but to assume that we've said that we're influenced by
those bands is false.
I understand what you're
saying but I'm asking what has influenced you that nobody is picking up on?
I don't think like that. It's really hard for me to do interviews sometimes
because it's hard for me to convince people how it is for us. Certain bands
are formed by one person who have control over everything or made up of people
who are all into the same bands. It just so happens that we didn't meet this
way. We're four really different people and we got to know each other solely
from the band. So we didn't have very much in common as individuals and appreciators
of music. Yet, we tried to make it work and it's taken a long time. But, ultimately,
to this day, we have extremely different tastes from each other with a few overlaps.
When I come in with a song I'll have an idea of which way I want it to go but
by the time Paul lays down his part and Carlos puts down his all of a sudden
it's disappeared from my original starting point. So, in terms of what I hear,
I don't really know. The one thing with this record so far is no one has been
throwing too many band references which is a victory for us.
But, at the end of the
day, is being compared to Joy Division necessarily a bad thing?
I think they are a fine, fine, fine band. But what if I told you were from …
where you from?
Melbourne…
So what if I told you, you were from Auckland. And you say 'no I'm from Melbourne'
and I go 'no, you're from Auckland'. Don't you think that would get to you after
a little while? Not get to you but, I mean, I sorta just have to let it go and
say, 'cool, I'm from Auckland'. The only reason I'm being defensive about this
is because people assume something that's not necessarily true.
¡Tarantula!
the Sand Pebbles' fanzine
'another ghost transmission...'
sandpebbles@brella.org
©2004 Christopher Hollow
|