In lieu of announcing apermanent replacement for Dengler, the band’s remaining three members electedto hire a temporary touring bassist. It only made sense that they would land onone of indie-rock’s go-to free agents, David Pajo.
Since his days as aco-founder of the seminal math-rock band Slint, Pajo has played with acts asdisparate as Tortoise, Stereolab, Early Man, Royal Trux, Dead Child and Will Oldham.When Billy Corgan needed a bassist to lend credibility to his post-SmashingPumpkins group Zwan, he hired David Pajo.
Pajo came recommended toInterpol through the band’s sound man, who had worked with Pajo when he was afill-in bassist for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs during their 2009 tour.
“I’d met David a coupletimes over the years, and we were all tremendous admirers of his work,especially that Tortoise record he played on [1996’s Millions Now Living Will Never Die],” says Interpol guitaristDaniel Kessler. “That was my favorite record of that year. It was really such aturning point for independent music, this incredible bridge between so manygenres of music, including electronic, a rock album that had the sensibilitiesof jazz. David’s played on so many great projects since; he’s just an amazingmusician.”
So why doesn’t the groupmake Pajo a member of the band so they can record with him?
“That notion iscertainly one we’re open to; I mean, how could we not be?” Kessler says. “Butit’s hard for any of us to go there yet. We’ve only played like 10 showstogether, so it’s early on, and right now we’re focused on playing our newrecord live, which is a whole other beast. We’ve never been a band that mappedeverything out; we’ve never been a career-oriented band. We don’t look too fardown the road.”
Joining Pajo as atemporary touring member of Interpol (with potential, perhaps, for somethingmore permanent) is keyboardist Brandon Curtis, of the space-rock band TheSecret Machines. His role is important, given the newfound prominence the newInterpol album places on keys.
“For the last Interpolalbums, the orchestrations and pianos and keyboards were final touches,something we incorporated after I had starting writing the songs,” Kesslersays. “But for this album, from the beginning we were open to the idea of usinginstrumentation to provide melody and harmony, so piano really influenced wherewe were going with these songs.”
Despite that approach,the self-titled Interpol album, out Sept. 7, is a leaner, less-cluttered listenthan the band’s last effort, 2007’s OurLove to Admire. That disc was Interpol’s most expansive, layering brass,strings and other bells and whistles over the band’s signature post-punk.Critics posited that its fuller sound resulted from the band’s move to themajor label Capitol, a suggestion the band denies.
“We never changedanything to grow our audience,” Kessler says. “We did nothing different becausewe were on Capitol; we just made the same record we would have made anyway. Theonly difference was different people put it out and promoted it.”
Even with themajor-label support, Our Love to Admiresold about the same as Interpol’s previous albums, and the band returned totheir original label, Matador Records, to release the new record, which Kesslercalls the group’s best yet.
“Artistically, it feelslike our most complete, cohesive record,” Kessler says. “We’re not the type ofband that writes 25 songs and only keeps 10 or 11. We really decide in advancewhat kind of record we’re making, and make sure the songs say what we want themto say. We want them all to have a cohesive feel and be like chapters of abook. Making a record is definitely less of a traditional rock-band process forus and more of an artistic one.”
Interpol plays the Rave on Friday, Aug.13, at 8 p.m. with opener Twin Tigers.
