20 August 2008 :: How incredibly sad is it that I know what Chris Issak's drummer looks like?

:: Interview /⊙ Features Home

This has already been a great year for the Walkmen, who just recently released their second album, Bows and Arrows. The follow-up to their lauded and wonderfully titled debut, Everybody Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, Arrows is a far more self-assured and focused outing, one that seems to be resonating with people far more than the the more monotonous and downbeat feel of their debut. CMG's Scott Reid recently got the chance to interview the Walkmen's lead singer Hamilton Leithauser via e-mail, and though e-mail interviews are certainly impersonal and hard to really plan out, this one turned out fairly interesting; for a man known for being incredibly curt with his responses (hence the long, multi-part questions I was advised to ask), he even graced us with a few multi-line answers, which left us giddy with excitement.

*****

CMG: Anything you can tell us that most people don't know about you guys? Any impressive or gross talents? Hilarious phobias?
Hamilton Leithauser: God I'm sure we do but I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

CMG: To really devote yourself to (and suffer through) the processes of being in an independent band these days, you really need to have a stubborn love of your art. Where was there ever a point previous to (or even now, I suppose) the attention you've been receiving where you felt like it wasn't worth it? Has the exposure helped the situation or is there a pressure that comes along with it?
Leithauser: I haven't ever felt like it wasn't worth it. I've always liked what we've done. It's most frustrating when you get reviews or something where the person just isn't thinking, or hasn't even listened to the music and writes about something else. That's when it seems most like you'll never be able to get through.

CMG: I'd imagine any band, especially one that is still as relatively new as yours, goes through an awkward phase of developing the live show. How has your live show been progressing, how has it affected your studio material and, lastly, any good tour stories you rarely get to tell?
Leithauser: Oh yeah our show has gone from night to day. We used to just stand around really nervous and no one was really that into it and frankly, we were terrible. Then we started really amping things up with our newer songs and now we have a very energized show that's a lot more fun for everyone. The new album is a reflection of that change, I think. I've told all my tour stories, I think. They're all about like microwaving telephones and stupider things.

CMG: If you could have any band cover one of your songs, what band/song would it be and why?
Leithauser: Ahh I'd say Gordon Lightfoot doing "Little House of Savages." I think he'd just have a really different take on it.

CMG: Is there any significance to the title of the new record outside of it just sounding good?
Leithauser: No, we just all agreed on it. I wanted to call it "The Rat, the Dog, and the Cornsnake" because we had songs called the rat, the dog, and the cornsnake. . . but the latter 2 didn't make it on the record, so I really didn't have much ground to stand on when I was arguing for that. Ahh it's probably a good thing I didn't win.

CMG: The lyrics on the new record seem even more personal than on Everybody Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone, especially on "The Rat."
Leithauser: Ahh, there wasn't any conscious decision made there. I just came up with the lyrics to "The Rat" right after I heard it for the first time. We just played it and it was really intense and that line just made sense over it. Like the middle part, the "when I used to go out" stuff. . . I don't even know what that means. I mean I really don't know what that means, but it just came to me and it sounded right, or just didn't sound that out of place, so I just went with it.

CMG: If my shoddy internet research holds up, all the members from the band are from DC and later moved to NYC before forming the Walkmen. Do you think the band would've progressed differently had you stayed in DC?
Leithauser: I don't know, it's hard to be objective about that. I've lived in NY for 7 years, the other guys upwards of 11 years. . . so I wouldn't know if it shaped our sound or not. I mean last time I was playing music in DC we had a slap-bassist and just about the worst sounding music I've ever come across. Last time the older 3 were in DC (in like the late '80s) they were playing, honestly, ska that really ended up sounding like Incubus. . . I mean they were, I guess, really ahead of their time.

CMG: On the closing two songs on your new album, there is a wonderfully thick organ sound that isn't at very prominent in your previous work. It works very well, but I'm wondering if placing these two at the very end alludes to a more prominent role in the future?
Leithauser: Not intentionally, but now that you point it out, maybe. Those were some of the last songs written, so maybe we will use it more in the future. I like it a lot, so I hope it works out.

CMG: There is certainly, to these ears at least, a greater sense of immediacy and intensity on the new record, especially in your voice. Has the thought of throwing caution to the wind and making a full out punk record crossed your minds? You could go political and take on a thick British accent. Could be lucrative.
Leithauser: Yeah, I've thought about it but once we really cross over into punk we sound so stupid. We tried ripping off all these Bad Brains songs and we'd really get into it, then all of the sudden someone would take a step back and realize "what the FUCK are we playing?" It sounded just so incredibly stupid, and at the time we were totally into it.

CMG: Do you guys find yourself reading a lot of the press you've been receiving, especially with all of the exposure the new record has been receiving? If so, have you ever read something and wanted to pull a Ryan Adams and call them to give them a piece of your mind?
Leithauser: Ahh yeah, I've read some reviews where I'm certain the person knew what they were going to write long before they even saw the record. . . and a lot of the time I suspect they never even listened to it. It's irritating when people are caught up in their own world and they just assume you're a part of it too.

CMG: What are three records that you wouldn't be able to live without hearing again and why?
Leithauser: Ahh let's see...
John Wesley Harding (Bob Dylan)-because it's just got it's own vibe I could not live without.
The Howling Hex (Neil Hagerty)-because I just have to hear it daily to retain my sanity.
England's Newest Hitmakers (Rolling Stones)-it's my favorite Stones record probably because it was the first I ever owned. I've just heard it more than any other record in the world and I still love everything about it.

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