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Home  Archive music profiles Hailing a Death Cab in Queen's English
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Hailing a Death Cab in Queen's English |
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Written by Sean Moeller
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Friday, 16 December 2005 |
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What can you never get away with that you wish you could?
NH: Shaving my hair into a huge liberty spike Mohawk, wearing pegged
black pants and lots of spikes. Maybe wearing head-to-toe Goth garb and
makeup, like Marilyn Manson or something.
Six months have passed since Death Cab For Cutie’s exquisite fifth
album, Transatlanticism (Barsuk), entered the world, but there are no
signs that anything’s going to slow down for the band. The record
continues to soar off the shelves, the band’s obsessed over by one of
the main characters on the hit teenage drama The O.C., and they’re
getting ready to make the rounds with Ben Kweller and Pedro the Lion
over the next couple of months. While traipsing through the old
country, Death Cab was as elusively uncatchable as a greased pig (a
recreational practice still commonly enjoyed in the old country, no
doubt), but when they were cornered, they weighed in on, among other
things, fans truncating their name and board games.
Since
you’re currently hopping between Sweden and Norway, is there anything
Death Cab For Cutie can get away with there that you can’t get away
with in the U.S.?
Nick Harmer [bass]: Ummmmm, not really…I
guess we can get away with not talking in between songs if we aren’t
feeling like it. You know, the language barrier and all, but even then,
most people in Scandinavia speak English just as good as their native
languages. Sadly, we are the same band wherever we go. Or, wait: maybe
being genuine is a good thing.
What can you never get away with that you wish you could?
NH: Shaving my hair into a huge liberty spike Mohawk, wearing pegged
black pants and lots of spikes. Maybe wearing head-to-toe Goth garb and
makeup, like Marilyn Manson or something. I also wish I could get away
with drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels in one night without any effects
in the morning…ouch.
Do you miss being home?
NH: When I am
at home, I miss touring every second of every day, yet when I am on the
road, I miss home every second of every day. Some shrink is going to
have a field day with me in 10 years.
Can you explain the passion people have for your band? What’s the most outward passion anyone’s had for your band?
NH: I could not even begin to explain people’s passion for our band. In
fact, and I am being really honest here, every time we play a show, I
am convinced that nobody will show up—that somehow, collectively,
everyone who once liked our band decided that they are over us and they
are moving on. I guess it is my way of keeping my head screwed on
straight, being humble and always remembering that everything has to
end someday. Hopefully we will be like 50 before we stop making
records, but who knows. Anyways, I think that only really normal people
like our band because we haven’t had too many “outward displays of
passion” that have weirded us out to the point of making a lasting
memory. People say nice things. They sometimes give us gifts and, for
the most part, don’t ask us to be anything we’re not.
Do you have any production gigs lined up?
Chris Walla [guitar]: The Thermals record is, in fact, truly great.
I’ll be interested to see if they have to deal with the U.S. Patriot
Act at any point during the promotion of the album. There’s a pointy
song called “God and Country” that’s more inflammatory and true than
any I’ve heard in years. This summer, I’m recording a new record for
the Velvet Teen and hopefully a record with The Decemberists, if the
schedule works out.
NH: Chris just finished working on the new
Thermals record, which, he swears, is the greatest single achievement
in rock history. And he is in the middle of working on the new Nada
Surf record as well, which he says, will be the next single greatest
achievement in rock history. I have no doubt whatsoever that he is
correct about his predictions.
What are you currently reading and listening to?
CW: I bought a little Sony shortwave/multi-band radio at Gatwick last
week, so I’ve been listening to the BBC World Service as we drive
through the Pyrenees and whatnot. It’s nice to hear some Queen’s
English in Catalan country. On Top of the Pops, they played the new
Keane single and I thought that was really good. Our driver, Martin,
played Midnight Oil’s Diesel and Dust in the van last week and I fell
in love with that all over again. No Doubt’s cover of “It’s My Life”
rules and it’s been on the radio here. The last book I read was Song
Stories, which details out every song in the XTC catalog in the words
of the band. I’m a fanatic, so it’s fun.
I read somewhere that
your favorite board game is Scrabble; similarly, I also read recently
that Fountains of Wayne played a skewed version of Scrabble called
Vodka Scrabble. Do you guys play any alternative versions of
established and known games?
CW: Vodka Scrabble sounds brilliant. I
think if you were to order a vodka Scrabble in a Swiss bar, you’d
probably end up with a pretty good drink. Sadly, we’re boring
traditionalists who deviate little from the known quantities…like game
rules. Nick does, however, enjoy some poker every now and again.
Does anyone in the band talk in their sleep? What do they say?
CW: Nick and I are the worst offenders. Nick tends to get all fidgety
and agitated in his sleep, so we only get little snippets of whatever
happens between the important parts of the plot. I’ll tell whole
stories about old girlfriends and drunken nights out; thankfully, no
one has taped any yet.
If you’ve seen Lost in Translation, do you know what Bill Murray says to Scarlett Johanssan at the end? Please help.
CW: I haven’t seen it, so I can’t help you out. I’m sorry.
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