You didn't push the SAP button: Interview with Paul Banks

I had to watch this interview about five times before I got the gist of it. My one year of college Spanish has not prepared me well for the real world unfortunately. But damn, Paul can lay it down en Español! He spent a good chunk of his childhoold in Spain and Mexico apparently. (His Spanish sounds a little Catalan here, I think...) He is discussing Interpol and his relationship with music. It's fun watching him talk with his hands too because he doesn't normally get so animated. But I grew up speaking another language as well and I still wave my hands around when I speak.

She Picked A Real Good One

Today I am flabbergasted. You must know I mean business because I never use the word “flabbergasted,” but maybe will start because it’s so fun to say—
"Hello, good morning! How are you?”
“I am flabbergasted! And you?”

Anyway, the reason for the flabber getting gasted is because Jamie Hince (of The Kills) is dating Kate Moss. When did this happen? She really loves those rockers. The dings and bells of the internet search engines must be ringing off the roof right now with people wondering, “Who is Jamie Hince?”

Friends, he is the guitarist of one of my favorite duos, The Kills. Also known as “Hotel,” he and his band mate Alison “VV” Mosshart, and their well-worn drum machine have been making some really interesting albums since the early 2000s.




The Kills- The Good Ones
(Buy No Wow)

The Kills are definitely on my list of bands to see live. I’ve heard they have an amazing, electrical chemistry on stage.

The writhing wires in that video remind me of a video by Interpol where electric cords play another important role. Babycakes, let that music control you!




Different context, different rhythm, but Interpol’s is still totally better—Obstacle 1 is classic!

Interpol- Obstacle 1
(Buy Turn on the Bright Lights)

Surprise, sometimes you'll come around

This has been the summer of many firsts. For example, even though I am a native New Yorker, I have never been to Madison Square Garden. And now that I’ve seen what all the hoopla’s about, I don’t really care if I go again. Overpriced concession snacks, and industrial air conditioning cheapens the concert-going experience (but not the price of the ticket, sadly).

Tonight was the Interpol concert and the night started off poorly. First, it was unbearably cold, and then to top that off, two words: The Liars. Maybe I just don’t get them and their experimental rock. Nothing they played sounded…good. I am fond of their song, “Houseclouds” but between the teeth chattering and making sense of their noise, I just gave up figuring out what the hell they were doing. Knowing Cat Power was coming up kept me going though. She sandwiched her cover songs between “The Greatest” and “Metal Heart,” which is one of my favorites. Still, I was starting to get restless. It’s probably because Soph and I have been spoiled by the beauty of general admission—your proximity to the stage depends solely on your willingness to shove and your resolve to wait patiently in the ticket line for hours. Unaware that there was a general admission ticket for this show, we were stuck with our original seats.

Well, we made the best of it, and when Interpol took the stage, they did not disappoint. Lots of jumping and belting out lyrics warmed us up nicely. The only snafu was when the big screen thing that covered the stage at the beginning of their set got stuck.

“We’re going to take a short break so we can take this fucking screen down and try to see all of you.”- Paul



New York- MSG 9.14.07 Setlist
Pioneer to the Falls
Obstacle 1
C’mere
Narc
Say Hello to The Angels
Pace is the Trick
Mammoth
Hands Away
No I in Threesome
Slow Hands
Rest My Chemistry
Heinrich Maneuver
Evil
Not Even Jail

Encore
NYC
Stella Was a Diver
PDA

Encore #2
Untitled

Another first—2 encores. The fake out was stellar. Despite it all, I could’ve been there all night (Sam Fogarino’s drumming is amazing). Keep those encores coming!

Interpol- Untitled
(Buy Turn On The Bright Lights)

Cat Power's Madison Square Garden show confirmed

Pitchfork confirms that Cat Power will open for Interpol in New York. The former label mates (Cat Power is signed to Matador, as was Interpol for their first two albums) will rock Madison Square Garden on September 14th.

I love Chan Marshall. I know she used to be depressing as all hell, infamous for incoherent sets, and bizzare stage behavior, but I loved her anyway. Everything she sings is poetry. And now she's sobered up, and better than ever.

From her interview in Spin magazine last year:

Do you have stage fright?

It makes my heart beat faster just thinking about it -- all the people and the lights. I don't appear shy, but I'm a very sensitive person.

Do you have to play live? Is that part of your contract?

No not at all. I wanted to.

You enjoy playing live? You don't always seem to enjoy it.

That's the thing about me. People think, Oh she's crazy -- she doesn't like to play. But that's not it. It's like tapping into some communal vein. There's always one person who talks to you after you go through this physical, emotional, spiritual, psychological experience. It's a dualship, a communication between the listener and me, even though you're not talking to each other or looking at each other, there's this space that starts living. This space in the universe that we all share, and it opens up, and then we forget we're in a bar. It's like looking at a painting or watching a horse run. It's that thing that keeps us liking life.

This is one of my favorite songs--

Cat Power- Werewolf (link expired)

(Buy it- You are free)

Cook like a ROCKSTAR

A little while ago, I found an interview that Interpol drummer, Sam Fogarino, did in 2002 with Jennifer Niederst Robbins, the mastermind behind Cooking with Rockstars. I love the concept. How better to get musicians to open up than to get them talking about what nourishes their bodies and their souls—food and music? I think it’s refreshing and a hell of a lot more interesting than yet another interview on the music process/inspiration/band origins. As Sam says:

"This is the best interview I’ve ever been on. No band name. No, why do you dress nice? Do you guys really like Joy Division? Okay, no? What about Echo and the Bunnymen? None of that. It’s all about food.”

I love Sam. He’s so cool. I love to cook too so I decided to give his recipe for Pasta with Mushroom cream sauce a go. It was a pretty basic and delicious recipe. I actually believe the pasta tastes better if you leave it in the fridge overnight, and then microwave it the next day as a quick lunch with a glass of white wine. Also, I think it’s fine if you leave out the porcini, especially if you’re not a fan mushrooms. You can probably use less cream as well. The wine I used was an Orvieto Classico.

Yummy! I’m kind of sad actually. I made one big batch on Saturday, and now it’s all gone. I will have to console myself by listening to more Interpol.

Interpol- Rest My Chemistry (link expired)
(Buy the new album: Our Love to Admire)

Paul, Paul, Interpol

At some point in his life, Paul Banks was an editorial assistant at Interview Magazine “I was a horrible interviewer. Damon Dash once called me on it: “You don’t know a thing about me do you?” (To see what would probably happen if I interviewed Paul, click here). Eventually he took a job in data entry. And then a job at a café—an intentional regression/progression—the desire to pare down an apple till you come to the core. And then you take those seeds, and you plant bigger, tastier, and sweeter apples.

I think most people have the desire to get to the core of ourselves. We have our hobbies, and our lazy fantasies of what life could be like if we turned left instead of right, but rarely do we act on those feelings. And sometimes this is justified—not all of us have the luxury to give up lucrative (and not so lucrative) jobs in order to do what our heart desires. But this is why I admire Paul Banks (Interpol, and all musicians in general). Because he knows who he is and what he wants. If that means working crap jobs in order to devote more time to music, then so be it.

However, I do find it hard to believe that Paul “Fancypants” Banks doesn’t know much about Damon Dash. After all, he is a self-professed rap music fanatic. Maybe this revelation came to him after the interview was over. Meh.

(links expired)
Interpol- Narc
Interpol- Narc (Paul Banks Remix)
(Buy the Album- Antics: Special Edition)

My love to admire

When someone mentions Interpol, there is still a part of me that feels an incredible amount of regret. I am transported back to 2003, sitting in my freshman dorm room, oblivious to the fact that give or take 300 yards, Interpol plays a show and stops for a bite to eat in our dining hall. Ugh… even thinking about it makes my heart ache, hoping that it was all an urban myth. If only someone had come to me the day before, smacked me over the head with a copy of “Turn on the Bright Lights,” I might be a different woman today.

Flash forward two years, I don’t even remember how I came across the song NYC. But I did, and it made me long for home. I thought, why did it take me so long to hear about this band? It was a difficult time. I spent a lot of time staring at my ceiling. NYC looped on my playlist and I drifted in and out of a languid isolation.

Our Love to Admire comes out on Tuesday, July 10th so we are all about Interpol this week. Are you ready?

Interpol- NYC

(Buy the EP: Interpol)

Billboard Interview with Interpol: “There is no I in Foursome”

Interpol’s third studio album, “Our Love to Admire” is schedule for release July 10th (oh how I count the days) by Capitol Records. An additional track, titled, “Mind Over Time” will be included in a pre-order launch campaign from iTunes says Sharon Lord, Capitol’s senior vice president of marketing. A Letterman show is also scheduled for a “street date.”

I have no idea what that means. Whatever it is, it better be soon! Since we failed to get Interpol tix at Bowery Ballroom, I've been itching to see them.

On the band, and on the new album, Daniel Kessler tells Billboard, “One thing about us that's been consistent is that it's not just one guy making decisions. It's always four people…That's the only way we can exist."

There was also a new picture of the band-- a promotional photo, I’m sure. Carlos D’s mustache has developed into a beard. I’m sure we all want to know if they were all in unison when Carlos D decided to grow a beard. Is this the new gun holster? He better be packing heat in there.

I’ll just marvel at this photo of them during simpler times… sans beard.

(Photo by Lorne Bridgeman)