Interpol's Daniel Kessler on Working with Andrew Wyatt and Weathering the Comparisons

This is a free post from Larry Fitzmaurice's Last Donut of the Night newsletter. Paid subscribers get one or two email-only Baker's Dozens every week featuring music I've been listening to and some critical observations around it, along with a Screen Memories column every one or two weeks where I write about stuff I watched lately.

Today's installment: Interpol have been a band on my checklist to talk to for quite some time, and it's because I think they're low-key one of the best rock bands of the 2000s. (I ride for Our Love to Admire—that's just how much I like these guys.) Their latest album This Mirror Weighs a Ton is getting some "return to form" buzz and justifiably so, as it contains some of the most lovely and well-composed music they've put together in a while (and, again, this is coming from someone who also liked the last two albums quite a bit). All of this is to say, I was very pleased to get Daniel Kessler on the horn a while back to talk all things the new album and this fascinating point of Interpol's career, and now that convo is here for you to read today. Check it out:

You guys are on a pretty regular creative schedule at this point—one album every four years.
It's true—but what's bananas is that we toured so much between those four years. We did two and a half years for the last record and the anniversary tour for Antics. We wrote a little bit in between tours, I wrote a lot at home in between tours, and then we found some moments and were pretty productive, because we knew we wanted to work with Andrew Wyatt—who's a very close friend,—and he had a window for us to make the record. So we were really prepared, and it was a great experience working with him and writing songs.

Truthfully, it's amazing that we actually were able to do this album, because when I'm touring, I'm not creative at all. It's really about performance, traveling, and being present in that moment—so it's not necessarily a certainty that I can switch brains. I discovered with the first record that touring is about touring, and writing is the thing you get to do when you get home—and it's really nice. But when you have a lofty goal of starting to record a month after a really long tour, you don't know if you're going to be there. But the record feels great, the songs feel great, and it feels like a real step forward for us.

You mentioned that you've been friends with Andrew for a bit. Talk to me about what he brought to the table.
Obviously, the thing we have in common is music, but it's one of those things where we're friends and not really talking that much about music besides, "What are you up to?" I knew he was a very skilled musician, and it made me very curious about what he'd be like to work with. Paul had also worked with him a little bit on [Banks & Steelz], so it was a very positive experience for him. He's from New York, and being in Miike Snow, he came up around a similar time as well. I didn't know him back then, but in recent years we became very close friends.

He's also a very learned musician. I'm a super bastard musician. I don't think about what note I'm playing when I'm playing it on a guitar and writing something. It's all about the feel for me, it's always been that way, and whenever I've learned things and I start thinking about them, it feels like handcuffs. It's always best to be off the leash and free-flowing. That said, working with someone like him makes for an interesting combination, so that piqued my curiosity. He's really incredible with keyboards, so on the record there's a ton of keyboards, which is something that we hadn't had in a very long time. With his presence, there's something that felt right for this batch of songs—a lot of atmospherics—and they fit the songs really well.

Him almost being a fifth member while we were doing this was a key component. That said, if you're friends with someone and you start working with them on music, it doesn't mean you're gonna gel, sure. You know, right away whether things fit together or not, and it can either feel awesome or horrible. But right away, it felt great, and what he added was a welcome addition to the band.

When it comes to creative relationships, you and Paul have obviously worked together for a long time now. Being in a creative relationship can require the same give-and-take as a marriage. Talk to me about the evolution of your creative and personal relationship with Paul.
It's definitely like a marriage. We've known each other for so long, and it's crazy how these things start in innocence. You don't know when you meet someone that they're going to have such a huge impact on your life. It's been 30 years since I've known him, which is insane. I met him when he just graduated from high school, and here we are, completing our eighth record together. Being around each other for so many different chapters of our lives, it becomes very clear that this is a lifelong friendship, which is really incredible in itself and to be respected, cared for, and nurtured.

We've never been like, "We should go write some songs together." The songs usually tend to begin with me for the most part, but you put us in a room, and we're off to the races. We've never been short of ideas. We've always been short of time, because we're doing other stuff—but when we start working together, it's not a chore and it's never work. The chemistry is very pure and obvious. When Carlos left the band and Paul started writing a lot of the bass parts, I was like, "Oh man, this is how we're continuing." Until then, it wasn't something we discussed. But then I saw how things were moving forward, and fate took its course.

I'm in awe of Paul, because he's such an incredible artist and musician, and he's always getting better at whatever he's focusing on. He's got that mindset as a person. He gets really good at a lot of different things, and he can get better at so many others. It's very inspiring to be around.

You guys started work on this record in earnest right around the Mexico City show.
Yeah. The Mexico City show was confirmed only three weeks beforehand. We'd already had this plan to do a test run with Andrew, so we did five days with him beforehand, which was super fun and really productive. Even from those five days, there's elements that are part of the record now.

You guys played to 160,000 people for that show. That sounds like an extremely surreal experience.
It was one-of-a-kind. We have a very dedicated, wonderful, and special fan base in Mexico, and getting to play the Zócalo—a sacred, special, and historic place—was such an honor. When we got the invitation, we were like, "Wow, this is something that's clearly going to be a big moment in the band's life." They talked about it for a while and only got it confirmed three weeks beforehand, and we hadn't played a show in several months—so we had one day of rehearsal beforehand with no soundcheck, because it's one of the world's largest public squares.

We went out there and, right away, it felt like it was going to be a very special evening. We were playing very well together, and you looked out and saw a massive, endless audience. There was a moment during "NYC" and my eyes were shut, and I opened them and all I could see were camera phones with their lights up. My mouth literally dropped. I saw footage afterwards and I literally went, "Wow." I tried to be as present as possible and really enjoy it, and it was incredible.

Sam Fogarino's stepping away from touring for a while, and you've already played shows without him for the last few years. Was there an adjustment period when it came to replacing him?
Definitely. Sam is a one-of-a-kind drummer. No one plays like him, and he's got his own unique language. But he plays all over the record, and he sounds really great on it.

When you do what you do for long enough, you inevitably end up facing some misconceptions, whether it be from the public or listeners. Talk to me about your experiences in that regard.
There were probably things earlier on. But the one good thing about being in a band is it makes you let go of things very easily. You control what you can, and don't worry about the stuff that you can't while knowing what the truth is. There's nothing that's been that frustrating to me, honestly. Being lumped into some early influences, there was a moment where I was a little bit like, "Okay." [Laughs] But, again, you control what you control. That's just the nature of these things, and it's not personal. It never really bothered me that much, as much as it didn't really tell the whole story about the band.