There were no guarantees that Interpol would make another record. Following the departure of bassist Carlos Dengler at the end of sessions for their 2010 self-titled LP and a relentless marathon of more than 200 shows in support of it, the band’s remaining members—guitarist Daniel Kessler, singer/guitarist Paul Banks, and drummer Sam Fogarino—took a two-and-a-half year break. For the first time, they all lived in different cities, providing both geographic and mental distance from all things Interpol. Technically speaking, all things Interpol began at NYU in 1997, when Kessler recruited Dengler and Banks to form a band.
“I didn’t care so much about talented musicians or having similar tastes in music as finding people with a certain sensibility,” he remembers. In 2002, with Fogarino on drums, the band signed to Matador and released ‘Turn On The Bright Lights,’ which Pitchfork named the year’s #1 album. Over the next decade, they would go on to release a trio of records that found them cracking the Top 5 on the Billboard 200; earning rave reviews from Rolling Stone to TIME along with performances on Letterman, Conan, Leno, and more; headlining major festivals like Lollapalooza and All Tomorrow’s Parties; and touring with iconic bands including U2 and the Cure. They explored side and solo projects during their time apart, but ultimately found themselves drawn back together again, not by any expectations of returning to the studio, but rather by that same unshakable urge that brought them together in the first place, to let the music lead them where it may.
“Paul and I got together for a short spell in August 2012, which was the first foray into seeing if we should do something,” remembers Kessler. “We had no plans whatsoever. I certainly didn’t have anything in my brain saying we had to do this. It was just us playing music to see if there was something there.”
It quickly became apparent that there was indeed something there, something urgent and compelling, something revitalized and reenergized by their time apart.
Those hot August days spent sweltering in an AC-less rehearsal space belonging to fellow NYC band Battles proved to be the birthing ground for ‘El Pintor,’ Interpol’s fifth and most exhilarating studio album. It’s a driving, relentless record, taut and epic in equal measure. It’s also an album of firsts.
“With Banks on bass, “the songs started growing in identity,” explains Kessler, who frequently found exciting and unexpected counterparts to his guitar riffs in Banks’ bass lines during those early writing sessions. “It was sort of like a new band in that sense.”
Fogarino joined rehearsals later, adding his resolutely tenacious percussion to the arrangements Kessler and Banks had worked up, and he immediately found himself surprised by what he heard.
Recorded was the album at the legendary Electric Lady Studios and the brand new Atomic Sound in NYC. In contrast with previous records, Interpol took a step back on ‘El Pintor’ and “let the songs happen,” as Fogarino explains, embracing the patience it took to see where the music would lead them in its own due time. There may not have been any guarantees that they would record again, but the result is as accomplished and thrilling a collection as the band has ever released.
That’s why they decided to come back on stage on their world tour, where they also will stop in Europe.
The long waiting has an end: the Czech fans can see Interpol live on the 12th of August in the Lucerna Music Bar.
THE SHOW IS SOLD OUT!
SUPPORT: I Like You Hysteric
Line-up:
20:00 club open
20:45 I Like You Hysteric
21:45 INTERPOL
