Daniel Kessler

Interpol might not be electronic in the traditional sense, but they've long been the techno fans indie band of choice.

Co-founded by lead singer Paul Banks and guitarist Daniel Kessler in 1997, Banks is the lyricist, Kessler the composer.

They emerged in Manhattan's blossoming guitar music scene.

Their 2002 debut, Turn on the Bright Lights, is widely considered one of the defining albums of the decade and landed them in the middle of the early 2000s New York rock revival alongside The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and LCD Sound System.

They obviously wait until they have enough tunes they feel strongly about.

And they still have Paul Banks, Sam Far- Fogarino on drums, Daniel Kessler on guitar, Paul Banks, guitar and vocals, and Brad Truax or Traux, T-R-A-U-X, I don't, never met him, on bass.

The song we heard today was on track two on the album, C Out Loud, one of their singles that came out before.

So hopefully Sam and I will meet again someday.

Yeah, thanks for the good conversation.

that was paul banks and daniel kessler of interpol here on 101 part-time jobs their new record this mirror weighs a ton is out now and it's excellent unsurprisingly uh cheers for being here we've had loads of great guests on 101 recently like stuart lee the mary wallopers get down services mary in the junkyard all who have great records out and coming up we've got some more excellent guests johnny ma in particular, is coming up in a couple of weeks.

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And don't forget, we've got this newsletter, 101ptj.fyi, where if you sign up, we'll give you weekly recommendations of what we're listening to and watching.

I think it was Broken Record.

They had, uh, Daniel Kessler on there.

Yeah.

Are you a fan of Interpol or no?

Anyways, uh, but they've had lots of other hits, like in subsequent albums.

But, um, I always thought of Interpol as like Paul Banks, like the, like the lead guy, you know.

But Daniel Kessler's like kind of the lead guitarist, I guess.

And he was on, uh...

[on hold music] Pushkin.

Daniel Kessler grew up between London, Paris, and DC listening to his older brother's early UK punk and rock records.

He picked up guitar as a teenager the same day he quit skateboarding, and after moving to New York in the late '90s, set out to find musicians serious enough to start a band.

Fast-forward more than two decades later, Kessler remains the musical architect of the band Interpol, writing the foundation of the band's songs, often alone on a classical guitar, before bringing them to his bandmates.

The band has now made eight albums together, and their latest, This Mirror Weighs a Ton, is their first record made in New York in more than a decade.

On today's episode, Leah Rhodes talks with Daniel Kessler about making the new album, the early days when Interpol played to almost nobody, a chance encounter with David Bowie before a show at Hammerstein Ballroom, and the creative routines, guitar, coffee, and films that have kept him writing for nearly three decades.

[upbeat music] This is Broken Record: Real Musicians, Real Conversations.

This is an iHeart podcast.

Yeah

... of Daniel and my news show.

Patreon.com/allisonrosen.

That's where you get that.

Interpol.

All of them.

Daniel-

I like Walkmen, too.

It was, like, extremely not cool.

I actually just had Daniel Kessler on from Interpol.

Oh, yeah.

We're gonna run that episode soon, and we were talking-