"Krone" interview

Interpol: “We were never the classic friends”

Indie darlings from New York: Interpol around frontman Paul Banks (from left) revolutionized their genre and are always looking for new challenges.

(Bild: Atiba Jefferson)

For more than 20 years, New Yorkers Interpol have been one of the most important indie bands of their generation. Now they are coming to Vienna's Stadthalle as guests of the Smashing Pumpkins, albeit without drummer Sam Fogarino, who is out due to spinal problems. In the "Krone" interview, frontman Paul Banks looks back on the last album and gives us a closer look at the essence of the band.

"Krone": Paul, you've already played a few concerts in Austria. Do you prefer playing indoors or outdoors in the open air?
Paul Banks: For me, both are very good. I like the darkness of indoor shows, but the energy can also be great with a festival audience.

Your last album "The Other Side Of Make-Believe" sounded a bit more light-footed and playful compared to its predecessors. Did that happen that way or was it composed on purpose?
It was a typical pandemic isolation album and it turned out that way. We were scattered all over the world. I was in Scotland, Daniel was in Barcelona and Sam was in the United States. We were emailing back and forth and I was recording my vocals in my bedroom. Normally we write together in the same room, which we couldn't do here. Together we are automatically a bit louder because of the energy. Our second album "Antics" was created in a similar way to this one, which also made it a little quieter and more leisurely. But we also enjoyed the process. The album is definitely more intimate.

When you released your debut "Turn On The Bright Lights" more than 20 years ago, you quickly became the next big thing in the indie sector. The hype has normalized and everything is going in an orderly fashion now. Would people perceive the new album differently if it were a debut?
It's quite difficult to indulge in this mind game because the audience naturally bases their approach to our music on the history of our back catalog. We're very proud of everything we've done so far and feel that it all carries over naturally. If you didn't know our first album, you'd probably be even more surprised by the new one, but that's all hypothetical. We had a lot of time to write the first album. Of course, that always leaves it a bit more thought through than the others.

Is it particularly important to you to reinvent yourselves a little with every album?
Not as a natural aspiration. I love artists who do it on purpose. Jack White is a very good example of that, but for us it happens unconsciously. I respect his idea that you can expect something from the audience and surprise them. He is a very clever artist who always presses the right buttons. We are certainly a little differently polarized. As a songwriter and musician, I find myself in an evolution that goes from one step to the next. We work intuitively. If Daniel particularly likes a vocal track of mine, then it stays in. We feel little pressure in that we see ourselves as good quality control. If we are all unsure, then we have to change something. A lot happens according to feeling and we go with that feeling, we trust it.

You also like to spread your wings in other areas, such as your collaboration with RZA on Banks And Steelz. Do you find it harder to get back into Interpol mode from there?
No, not at all. I see these other projects as a benefit and a great advantage to let my creativity run free in many ways. The question would probably be more appropriate if I were the sole songwriter in Interpol, because then all areas would be under my auspices. With us, Daniel always comes up with the first layers of songs and then I react to them. It's similar with Banks And Steelz, except that we naturally approach things differently there. I'm a good reflector of other people's ideas, that's my best way of writing and contributing to songs. I'm inspired by the music of my partners that I reflect on.

Concept albums, elaborate artwork and mind games that go beyond mere single releases are becoming increasingly rare. But Interpol stand for all these things. Is it still worth the effort?
There is enough room for all kinds of releases and we still take the old-school approach to heart. The love for an overall concept has never gone away in the music business. It just depends on who cares about it and who cares about it. Not every artist has to do it that way. I'm a big fan of releasing songs individually and I'm not a big advocate of an album cycle myself. But it's absolutely fine the way we do it now.

How do you go about songwriting? Do you write the lyrics parallel to the first layers of Daniel's sound or does it all come with a certain delay and convergence?
Even the lyrics are just a reaction to Daniel's first instrumental passages. I tried it differently once and didn't feel comfortable at all. I see my voice as an additional instrument that interacts with the band. The music and the lyrics or language form a subconscious symbiosis that you don't even notice at first. Something like that develops over time, it crystallizes. I never think about what I want to write a song about. The words come from my subconscious and adapt to the music. Over the years I've learned to trust this process and not question it. I don't like the idea that I'm going around being pseudo-intellectual and consciously trying to write clever lyrics. That's not my style.

Interpol's live shows have a certain artistic ambition, but it all seems very easy and natural. Is it easy for you to find the right balance?
That's an interesting thing. As collaborators who also know musical theory, it's important for us to maintain our own enthusiasm for music without worrying too much about how the audience will react to it. Interpol have a sensitivity for not appearing too intellectual or too "artsy". For us, it's always about the emotions. We have to feel and sense the music. Sometimes it can be more bombastic and sometimes more basic. I always try to find the right balance. Sam loves the bombast, Daniel loves the emotion and then I usually acrobatically put all the elements together - if that makes any sense.

Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott told me in an interview that he enjoyed the recording process so much away from his bandmates that he would never want to do it any other way again. Do you see it the same way in your case?
I'm still convinced that the magic of Interpol lies in creating the material together. We love being in the studio together and being able to react and interact with each other. That's an important part of the band that I want to do more of on the next album. But some songs are also better created in isolation from each other. For 70 percent of the music, I would say we should be together, because surprising, unplanned things come out of it. When three people work together and contribute their input, a completely different dynamic is created.

How have the collaboration and the community among you generally developed over the last few years?
We weren't the classic high school friends in Interpol who at some point decided to start a band. We were each musicians in our own right and we worked together, and our friendship developed out of that. Our relationship has always been interesting and the glue between us is that we have great respect for each other artistically. Each of us is intrinsically motivated and as artists we have a special life. I don't have to go through the working process with Daniel verbally, it has worked for us on a subconscious level for years. We still manage to stimulate each other creatively quite well.

Do you still live in Berlin? Is this city important for your creative streak?
I haven't written any more music for Interpol since I've been living in Berlin, but the surroundings are important. What's more important is how I feel in my head. I can write on the beach, but I can also write in Berlin. If I get away from the music for a few months, I'm inevitably drawn back to it at some point and the ideas just bubble out of me. My girlfriend is of German-Scottish descent and lives in Berlin. We now have a child and have stayed there. My German is subterranean, but I love the city.

What about your other projects Banks & Steelz and Muzz? Is there anything coming up in the foreseeable future?
During the pandemic we discussed a few ideas for Banks & Steelz, but RZA was busy in other areas and we put it on hold. To really move things forward, we'll both have to be in the same place. When that will happen again, I can't say at the moment. But I love working together and we're still good friends. The guys in Muzz are very busy at the moment, but that doesn't bother us as a collective. It just has to fit, you can't force it. We all have our main projects that take priority, but that doesn't mean that nothing else happens. I'm also working on Solodingen and another project. It never gets boring.

Live in Vienna
On Monday, June 24, Interpol can be seen as special guest of the Smashing Pumpkins on their "The World Is A Vampire" tour at the Wiener Stadthalle. Tickets for the summer indie highlight are still available at www.oeticket.com.