pic by Scott Bilby, taken live in Carrboro, NC on dec. 9th 2002

Interpol
nov 10th 2002 - Salle des Fêtes de Ramonville, Toulouse, FR
interview with Carlos (bass) by Barbara H and El Compila Funkistador with support from Juliette and Vincent. 

Barbara H : how are you ?

Carlos : good

BH: so you had quite a big party yesterday ?

C : yes

BH: do you still remember it ?

C: of course. oh, you mean I could have forgotten... I don't really blackout like some other people do, like, they get so completely drunk that they don't remember anything that happened the night before. I always remember every single detail.

BH: anything you feel like telling us ?

C: well it was in Barcelona and we went to this huge, huge club that was actually playing good music and not that crap techno that most clubs that are that big play and... you know, it was like Radiohead, Blur and things like that on a huge space with mainstream people dancing to stuff like that. That closed at like, seven in the morning. Then we went to another club that was open until nine (laughs) I was like "does this town sleep ?" And these were normal people, there weren't like, freaks, they were normal people. I was like "ok this is what normal people do in Barcelona, I think I wanna move here."

BH: Have you met famous people on the road, during the tour ?

C: Well Miss Kittin was spinning last night actually but I didn't get a chance to meet her. errrr... there must have been somebody... actually, you know what ? I haven't really met anybody famous, I've just read that quote unquote famous people come to the show but I never get a chance to meet them. You know Jarvis Cocker was there and I flipped out, I wish I could have met him but there wasn't an opportunity...

BH: what are your next plans ? I know you're doing a small tour in the US in December...

C: Yeah, well, it's supposed to be the same duration as the tour we just did here in Europe but it got split in half cause we're doing this string of dates in the UK, about twelve dates for the... it's part of the package tour called the "NME Brats" tour, the Datsuns are headlining this year, Polyphonic Spree are playing before them, then us and then some band called the Thrills. And that's in the end of January so what we're gonna do is we're gonna tour the US for two weeks then come back to the UK then go back to the US and finish the tour like in two or three weeks. Which is kind of upsetting to me because, I think I'm the only one in the band who feels this way but I much prefer touring in the US than in Europe. We eat much better food here, you're probably driving in a better van here but it's sort of the language barrier, the culture shock that I have a hard time understanding i guess... There's something about... I don't know, I guess I just feel American,(laughs) I'm trying to like, not admit it but...

BH: Do you know what the band is going to do with the old songs like Song Seven and Precipitate ?

C: We've not really decided... we're still doing Song Seven, it's still part of our set. We might re-record that, we might re-record Precipitate and, there's a bunch, there are still a couple of old songs that are still... but they're not part of the middle, of the core of our set. Sometimes we play them sometimes we don't.

El Compila Fukistador : any new songs in the set ?

C: There aren't any new songs in the set yet, there are three complete new songs that have been written already so...

ECF : any release plans ?

C: well, we don't exactly know how we're gonna do the second album, i mean, we might do like, a single first which will obviously have new material or we might just do the second album but that won't happen at least until early 2004.   

ECF: was the album released everywhere ?

C : well i don't know if it's available in Afghanistan actually I don't think that the distribution hits that market, so to speak (laughs) but I know it's available in Japan and Australia, only recently though. We have different... actually Matador's doing Japan and in Australia and New Zealand we have a separate label I can't remember the name of the label

ECF: so, are you big in Japan ?

C : ahaha, tu-dum tshhhhhk (laughs) I don't know yet, we may not even play there before we release the second album, there's so much to do on this side of the planet

BH : In the NME, there was a list of the coolest people in rock and Daniel was 27th. Are you jealous?

C: oh why would you say that ? no, I'm not jealous *makes a jealous face* go on (laughs)

BH: On the Japanese version of the album there's an instrumental called "Interlude" is it part of a bigger song or...

C: when we do it live it's a little bit longer because we can't.. you know it fades in and out and we can't do that live obviously but yeah it's supposed to be really short

BH: You are in Teen People

C: uh-uh. did you know what I had for breakfast today ? (laughs)

BH: how do you feel about that ?

C: I think it's cool... why would you ask that ? because it's cheesy ?

BH: yes. I mean, there's Avril Lavigne and then you. 

C: yeah, I know... I think it's kinda cool though, yeah it's kinda cool. 

BH: That's more girls to your shows (laughs)

C: you're just digging for dirt

BH: yes! so... do you know if there will be another single after Obstacle 1 and which one it will be? 

C: probably NYC

BH: ...cause you already shot a video for it

C: oh yeah, now that you mention it, definitely, it will have to be NYC...

BH: do you plan on shooting a video for Obstacle 1 ?

C: I think so, actually I think that some footage might have already been shot, like live footage but i don't know exactly what the concept is gonna be, I don't think we really talked about it. I think we should. But I don't think, no, Obstacle 1 is not being released as a single in America, it's just Europe, so, I don't know...

BH: so it's the end of the tour, how do you feel ? tired ?

C: yes, very. homesick, utterly homesick. 

BH: the shows get better or...

C: I think this is the second tour that we've done, like, being out for a really long time, being away. And I think what I've noticed is that when the tour starts we're really tight and we're doing really well then for some reason in the middle, I don't know if it's actually for real or just psychological, but, something happens and it doesn't feel the same way and then towards the end we start getting tight again. The past week it's really been like, solid. 

BH: do you write songs, not for Interpol but... 

C: I do. I haven't been able to in a really long time but yeah.

BH: do you plan on using them for Interpol ?

C: well, I don't know if they're exactly appropriate.

BH: how does it sound ?

C: kinda like film music. I have a tape that's 50 or 60 minutes of stuff that I've just done on keyboards and recorded onto four track, it's really lo-fi but I haven't heard it in, like, over a year.

BH: You've played with Girls vs. Boys, how did it go ?

C: really well, they're a really cool bunch of guys too and we're going to play with them one last time tomorrow... no, the day after. 

BH: Do you have cool memories about this tour, things you'll never forget ?

C: hmm, yes. yes I do. yeah!

BH: can you tell us ?

C: they're a bit personal, so...

BH: can you pick one that you can tell ?

C: one that is not so personal ? let me think.... fuck, there's gotta be something...

(silence)

BH: dude you're so boring! (laughs)

C: I know! you make me feel so dull! (laughs)

BH: we wanted to ask you about Chloe Sevigny when you first came at la route du rock, everybody was like "oh Chloe Sevigny is with them!", so what's the relationship ?

C: Well, she's not as good friends with the band as... you know, people. Actually I think that was the last time I saw her. (laughs) and that's over a year ago, so... Paul and I casually know her from New York City and we are better friends with a mutual friend and this friend said "oh she's gonna be in Paris and she's really bored, maybe you should take her with you at the festival", so we gave her directions and... she's pretty cool.

ECF: you signed pretty late with Matador, why did it take so long ?

C: we wanted to take our time to find the best label, the most appropriate and that takes a long time. A lot of bands will just go with any label and build from there, we wanted to take our time.

BH (pointing at the worn-out suit) : Do you plan on buying a new suit ?

C: What are you trying to say ? (laughs) yeah. actually, yeah. New suits are one of the priorities when we go back...

(still making fun of his clothes)

C: I know! Ok, it's the end of the tour! Give me a break! You've been so mean to me!

BH: awwwwwww 

C: you've been waiting for this right ?

BH: yes

ECF: Do you expect the US tour to be different from the European tour ?

C: I think the level of enthusiasm is the same, the shows are all well attended... I think it's just the people and the vibe, the atmosphere that's really different. Also, as I said earlier, touring conditions area  lot worse there, like, we eat McDonalds and Burger King everyday when we tour the US, when we tour Europe we eat fine cheese and really good bread so, like, whenever we come back from Europe we all look like, you know, like we're glowing (laughs) and whenever we come back from the US we look like monsters *makes monster face* eating fast food everyday...

BH: Will you play bigger venues for the US tour ?

C: yeah, I mean, we could have played bigger venues for the last one because the tour got booked early and there was increased interest between the time when the tour was booked and the time when we played, so people complained like "why would you play such a small venue", like in Montreal we played a 150 person venue or something like that, you couldn't move, it was insane. People were really upset that they couldn't come to the show so we want to make sure that it doesn't happen this time.

ECF: Which bands are you going to play with ?

C: I don't think that we're going to tour with a band, it will be like the last tours, local venues will just book a band... 

BH: did you like a band in particular from the ones you've been touring with ?

C: In the US I know there was one that we really got into... well, we're friend with The Stills, they're actually from Montreal and I'm pretty sure they're moving to New York and they're really really good. They haven't been signed yet or anything but I'm pretty sure they will be very soon. That's one band from the US and in Europe, British Sea Power, they're really really good, I think the album's coming out in January. There was also a very good band I can't remember their name that we played with in Rennes. That was insane, Rennes was ridiculous, cause St Malo's all close, and it was la route du rock crowd, they were bouncing off the walls...

ECF: What's new and fresh in New York ?

C: like i said, the Stills, and there's another friends band called Prosaics they just toured with the Liars and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

ECF: the Walkmen ?

C: the Walkmen are good, we played with them a couple of times.

ECF: Secret Machines ?

C: yeah, they're pretty good. and Radio 4 too.

BH: ... I guess that's it

C: c'est fini ?

BH: yes, thank you!

/huge thanks to Pierre from www.soitditenpassant.com/