Interpol about their fourth studio album
Their debut album "Turn On The Bright Lights" and the second studio record "Antics" registered a great success. Now, after the less lucky "Our Love To Admire", Interpol are back with a new studio effort, simply named "Interpol".
Clashmusic talked with the band about the new order (after Carlos' depature) and their relationship with fashion.
This is your fourth release and you’ve always said that your creative process is a collaborative effort. How did it work on this latest album?
Daniel: The songs begin with me and then we all have our say about where they should go and Paul finishes off the vocals and the lyrics. Conversations about aspirations and goals have never really worked for us. I think it’s just better to play a song and have a reaction to it and that’s what makes the whole process so interesting. I can come in with these ideas of guitar progressions and songs that I’m pretty into in my own ideas but as soon as you play it to a band it can go any way.
How has Carlos’ departure affected the overall dynamics of the band and what’s his legacy?
Paul: It’s important to know that Carlos wrote this record with us, so it’s all of his compositions on the record. The only thing that’s different is we now play live with Dave Pajo who’s on bass and Brandon Curtis on keys and vocals. With regards to Carlos’ legacy, in my opinion he’s a musical genius and will probably be a rock icon well into the future. But I think at the moment it’s only other musicians who appreciate how good a musician he is. He’s a fucking exceptionally gifted individual and his legacy will be long and rich.
After the success of your debut album ‘Turn On the Bright Lights’, did you feel the pressure to live up to critics’ high expectations?
Paul: No not really, because we had already built good foundations after four years of playing shows around Europe without any real hope of even putting out an album. It’s hard to make it in NY and when we were starting out there were only a few pubs that you really wanted to play to make a difference and you play them hundreds of times without any luck. There are lots of bands that don’t make it but we just really liked writing together and making it together. You need to do it because you want to do it and not because you want to be in a rock band.
Daniel: I don’t think we ever felt pressured because all of the years before we put out our first record kind of built the foundations, so nothing happened too fast. I think that the focus is so strong and firm when you finally make your debut so it’s not really shaken by people paying attention to your band. I think it’s probably different nowadays as a band pay get interest within the first 6 months and people are suddenly dying for them and that may make it more difficult to make their second record.
Have you always taken an interest in fashion or has this interest evolved as the band has evolved?
Paul: No, we’ve all probably been independently interested in fashion. But I don’t read fashion magazines, I’m more interested in how people dress and how they have fun with it. I’m not a label snob or anything and I never care about what a trend is at any given moment, I just see what I like on other people and appreciate style.
You requested Prada suits for the shoot. Is there a relationship there?
Paul: I’ve just always really liked Prada. I like the cut, the lines, the colours. I’m a pretty monochromatic dresser and Prada has a very nice sleek feel to do it. But I also really love Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, Gucci, Agnes B. My favourite item of clothing at the moment currently is my vintage David Lee Roth t-shirt though where he’s painted red with white dots down the front. I get a lot of compliments on that.
Original source: clashmusic.com