Interpol’s 2002 debut Turn on the Bright Lights seemed to arrive out of nowhere, a visceral, uncommonly mature effort that channeled not only a host of Post Punk staples but also a distinct post-9/11 desolation. It was, in fact, the product of the band’s founder, guitarist and driving force Daniel Kessler’s long-simmering vision, one he formed through years of writing and playing live around New York City with frontman Paul Banks, bassist Carlos Dengler and drummer Sam Fogarino, who was the last (essential ingredient) to join the band in 2000.
Thirteen years after that stirring debut, Interpol is still kicking — minus Dengler, who left after recording the band’s self-titled fourth album in 2010; Banks now serves as the group’s bassist — and still delivering its melancholic, angular brand of Indie Rock. The New Yorkers’ fifth album, El Pintor, released last fall by the long-nurturing label Matador, is something of a return to the beginning — its 10 taut songs possess a certain urgency and cohesion that hasn’t been present since at least their second effort, 2004’s Antics.
CityBeat recently connected with Kessler by phone to discuss the band’s approach to songwriting, his love of live shows and the influence of Banks’ artistic vitality.
CityBeat:
You guys have now been touring for more than a dozen years. In fact, I talked to Sam (Fogarino) back in 2003 when you guys played the Southgate House in Newport on your first headlining tour. Do you still enjoy playing live?
Daniel Kessler:
It’s a very special thing to get to do this. Not to be cliché or to say the correct things here, but I feel like as you get older you appreciate it even more. At least I do. I think when you’re just starting out you get caught up in the whole thing. You have so many things to think about and you’re dealing with the newness of everything. But as you do it longer, I guess you can become jaded, but I think it’s a really amazing opportunity to play songs and people have a reaction to them, whether they are old (songs) or new ones. And obviously in this day and age, the digital aspect makes it different.
Something that really touched me was that on our fourth record, I remember we put up a song online and then we played a show not long afterward. It was before the record came out, but just seeing people mouthing lyrics already, I was just like, “Wow, that’s incredible. We just put this up there (on our website), and they feel so connected to it that they’re actually singing it back at a concert.” I feel like the connection element between humans — one playing something, the other kind of being open to it — is something that’s far from lost on me. If anything, it’s something I appreciate more now than ever.
CB:
You guys seem to have such a specific vision and aesthetic. Now that the band has been around for so long, do you think about what will work and what won’t work as an Interpol song when you start to write a new album?
DK:
No. I don’t really think about much when I do it. I try to think very little. I don’t force things ever. I’m aware that maybe something will fit well within the band, but I never think about it too much in the sense of like, “Well, this could work if Paul took this kind of approach.” The vocal stuff is really all Paul, and I can’t predict how Paul is going to interpret something.
It’s often a surprise, which is part of the beauty for me. Some of my best memories (are) of Paul doing something I had no idea was possible in a piece of music or it came out of the blue. It’s like a euphoric feeling to hear the final layer on top of the song that you’ve been working on.
CB:
Speaking of Paul, I almost forgot how young he was when you asked him to front the band. I think he was 18 or something. Why were you so confident that he could do it at the time?
DK:
Yeah, I’ve known Paul since he was just out of high school. I think he had just turned 18. For an 18-year-old to carry himself with an air of belonging and maturity was rare. Usually when you’re 18 and you’re talking to people who are in their early twenties you might feel like, “I’m just out of high school and I’m kind of intimidated.”
But there wasn’t that aspect about him. He had a strong sense of maturity and just knowing. I think moving around and living in different countries as a kid, maybe that was part of his makeup as well.
For me, it’s not about your chops or how good a musician you are, it’s a bit more about your sensibility to life and how you approach things. Consequently, with Paul — much like with Sam and Carlos (Dengler) when I approached them — it was more about the way he carried himself and how interesting he was as an individual and the way he went about each day. Then you find out that he happens to play an instrument and there’s a good chance he might be a person who has an interesting outlook on art and how to go about making music. It’s just sort of a feeling you get when you meet someone.
CB:
People talked a lot about Carlos’ departure back in 2010, but it wasn’t until the new album that he wasn’t part of the writing and recording process for the first time. What was it like to have Paul switching from guitar and taking over on bass? How did that impact the new songs?
DK:
I feel like it wasn’t really clear until the final result that Paul should be playing bass. I never really overthink it. At the end of day one in the studio, Paul said, “Maybe I should bring a bass in tomorrow, because I think the bass lines are the foundation of these songs.” By the second day he had made such great headway with what I thought the songs could be, that it’s pretty close to what the final result ended up being. And then his vocal melodies that day were close to the final ones as well.
I feel like when those moments are happening … I mean, I was really just excited. I feel like what he did fit into an aesthetic that we’ve had, but it also fits these particular songs. Those bass parts were enhancing the songs. To me he was running with the energy of the songs and it was very intuitive. I had no idea he was that accomplished of a bassist. It was really incredible. He’s an incredible artist in general. We had never really talked about him playing bass until it happened.
INTERPOL performs at Bogart’s Friday. Tickets/more info
here .
This article appears in May 13-19, 2015.
