EX.812 Interpol

Frontman Paul Banks on the legacy band's creative evolution, why he prefers hip-hop to rock and their new album, This Mirror Weighs a Ton. Interpol might not be electronic in the traditional sense, but they've long been the techno fan's indie band of choice. Cofounded by lead singer Paul Banks and guitarist Daniel Kessler in 1997—Banks is the lyricist, Kessler the composer—they emerged in Manhattan's burgeoning 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-'00s New York rock revival alongside The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and LCD Soundsystem. They went on to shape the moody, post-punk revival canon that defined the following decade. Interpol are now back with an album that's been called their best in years: This Mirror Weighs a Ton. In this Exchange, Banks unpacks the LP's conception and composition with producer Andrew Wyatt—best known for his work with artists like Bruno Mars, Charli xcx and Dua Lipa—and its darker lyrical meditations on drone footage, mediated violence and the surveillance state. Banks also reveals the version of himself that isn't typically in the press cycle. Outside of Interpol, the singer is an avid beatmaker who hasn't listened to rock music in over twenty years. He DJs hip-hop under the name Fancypants, released a sample-based mixtape featuring US rapper Talib Kweli and has collaborated with everyone from Wu-Tang's RZA to Kool Keith, Ghostface Killah and Method Man. In this conversation, he explains why he thinks hip-hop is the only genre still meaningfully inventing language—and what that means for the band he's been fronting for nearly 30 years. This Mirror Weighs a Ton is out now on Partisan Records. Listen to the episode in full.