The band's sound is a dark mix of bass throb and choppy,
sparse guitar. Interpol has been somewhat likened to
Joy Division and
The Chameleons, whose stark, sombre music and sometimes
perplexing
lyrics it is thought to echo. Where Turn on the Bright
Lights had been spare and tentative, Antics used a
fuller, more confident sound. Both Antics and Turn on
the Bright Lights were recorded at
Tarquin Studios in
Bridgeport,
Connecticut.
The band formed when Daniel Kessler met
drummer
Greg Drudy,
now a member of
screamo band
Hot Cross, on the
New York University
campus. Kessler later added Carlos D., an ex-guitarist, on
the bass, after meeting him in a history class. The line-up was
complete after Kessler remembered an old friend he met while in
Paris.
Banks and Kessler ran into each other on the street, after
losing touch since Paris, and Banks became
lead singer. In
2000,
Greg left the band, and Daniel recruited Sam, whom the band knew
through his job at a local
record store.
Daniel Kessler has stated in an interview that the band
"...had played shows with no name and then I got to the
point where I was like, 'Guys, we're getting decent crowds,
but like...we don't have a name so no one knows who to go
see again.'" Other names the band considered were Las
Armas (The Weapons)[1]
and The French Letters. They also performed a secret
show at
Luna Lounge in New York under the
pseudonymCuddleworthy.
The name Interpol supposedly comes from Paul
Banks' name. While he was in
Spain, friends would call him "Pol, Pol, Interpol."
Another suggestion as to the reason the band is so called is
because the word
Interpol suggests
order and
efficiency, similar to the
style in which the band plays.
Rumor has it that an Interpol agent attended a concert
in Europe and actually approached the band afterwards. On
the other hand, the band does receive a lot of mail from
people who think that info@interpolny.com is the
e-mail address for the
international police.
Bassist and keyboard player Carlos is also a DJ. He
often spins at parties while the band is on tour and has
hosted several ongoing parties in NYC.
