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Interpol Backstage at Madison Square Garden: Rolling Stone checks in with the band hours before their debut gig at New York's historic venue

Mon, Sep 17 2007 03:20 PDT Rolling Stone met up with Interpol just after they arrived at their surprisingly posh dressing room backstage at Madison Square Garden. The band recounted a brief history of their favorite dressing rooms. "There was a dressing room in Houston, Texas — it wasn't stylish, but it had atmosphere because it had been used over and over again. It had a little bit of a punk-rock history to it. Very rough around the edges," drummer Sam Fogarino remembered. Photo">

Published: 2007-09-18 Provider: Rolling Stone

Backstage With Interpol at Madison Square Garden

Friday night, a trio of New York acts known for playing small clubs all graduated to the biggest venue in the city: Madison Square Garden. Rock Daily tagged along as Interpol rested up and soundchecked before the show (Cat Power and the Liars completed the night’s lineup), and snapped photos of things like the band’s neatly manicured wardrobe as they prepared for their MSG debut. Click here to find out how the band prepped for the gig (and their favorite MSG memories) along with the photo gallery.

Published: 2007-09-18 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Liars by Liars

The band releases its self-titled fourth album before it heads out on tour with Interpol this fall. [Rock, Alternative]

Published: 2007-08-27 Provider: Metacritic

Akon Wants to Partner With Fall Out Boy, NOW! Comp Rules the Charts, John Mayer Models

Akon, having already covered Fall Out Boy’s “The Take Over, The Break’s Over,” says he would now like to collaborate with Pete Wentz’s band. Given both artists’ fondness for royal rumbling with audience members, it sounds like a match made in WWE heaven. Super-comp NOW! 25 grabbed the top spot on the Billboard Charts with 223,000 copies sold, marking the 12th time a NOW! disc has taken number one. Miley Cyrus, T.I., the Hairspray soundtrack and Colbie Caillat rounded out the top five. The Smashing Pumpkins and Interpol both dropped out of the top ten after one week. Burger King, obviously threatened by McDonald’s foray into the music business, will offer DRM-free tracks of Robbie Williams, Corinne Bailey Rae and Whopper-loving Iron Maiden. Annie Leibovitz will snap portraits of John Mayer wearing a $39.50 sweater vest for an upcoming Gap ad. The Who’s Roger Daltrey likens royalties to a pension plan as he protests the U.K.’s current copyright laws.

Published: 2007-07-26 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Chart Roundup, Afternoon News Roundup

Good Charlotte: The Six-Pack Q&A

Rolling Stone posed six questions to Good Charlotte twins Joel and Benji Madden. They recalled the times they smoked on airplanes and bummed cigarettes off 30 Rock stars, and praised Interpol for their honesty. What’s the most rock star thing you’ve ever done? Benji Madden: I smoked a cigarette on a plane one time in my seat, how about that? I got a little tattoo on my face, I’ll never be able to work another real job so I consider that to be kinda forcing myself to stick to music. Who’s the coolest person you ever met? Joel Madden: I think Billie Joe Armstrong is probably one of the coolest musicians I’ve ever met because he’s so down to earth for being in such a big band. Benji Madden: I bummed a cigarette off of Alec Baldwin, that was pretty cool. Joel Madden: I met Eric Clapton one time, he was really cool. What’s on your current playlist? Joel Madden: My favorite band right now is the Kooks. Benji Madden: Oh, that Silverchair album would have to be one of them. And I just got a Chimera record, It’s pretty dope, really good riffs. What was your favorite album when you were fourteen years old? Joel Madden: Probably Dookie, Green Day. Benji Madden: Nevermind by Nirvana. That was a big one for me. What’s the essence of Good Charlotte? Benji Madden: I think the soul of Good Charlotte is just feeling good. A lot of bands don’t really like each other. I read an Interpol interview the other day, it was a really good interview because it was showing a different aspect of a band. They don’t really like each other — they work together and they kinda exist together and that’s how they like it. They’re like, “we didn’t get into this band looking for friends.” The three of us actually started this band when we were in tenth grade and I think we still have that attitude. I think what defines our band is really that you know we’re just living our dream and making records that we love and having a good time. What happens when the band gets drun

Published: 2007-09-20 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Michael Stipe Reveals R.E.M. Has Had “Tough Ten Years”

On Friday, Michael Stipe appeared on Jane Pratt’s SIRIUS show Jane Radio and discussed R.E.M.’s well-hidden decade-year struggle to communicate with each other. (Don’t fear, R.E.M. die-hards: Stipe also chatted about how the band’s March album is bringing them closer than ever). “It’s been a really tough ten years for us,” Stipe revealed. “We were trying to keep a real brave face publicly, and kind of hold through it. But I have to say I think we finally found a place of communication. We’re talking to each other, we’ve written a bunch of great songs … I’ve got another four songs to present to the guys next week when we go back in the studio and one of those is really going to surprise them. I can’t wait to see them.” Stipe added that he’s using a high-tech songwriting trick he picked up from Bono. “I use the memo on my cell phone to [record lyrics and melodies]. … I love technology.” Not that the twenty-first century is all it was cracked up to be. “I thought we would all have jet packs, and clean energy, and the world would be a great place, and there would be no wars. That’s not really quite how it turned out,” he lamented. The singer also proclaimed himself an eternal optimist, praised Sean Penn’s film Into the Wild (for which Eddie Vedder provides the soundtrack), and said he was heading off to catch Interpol’s Madison Square Garden debut Friday night: “I love those guys so much.”

Published: 2007-09-18 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Illness Forces Interpol To Cancel Gig

New York band Interpol were forced to cancel a gig at Newcastle Academy last night after a member of the band was unwell.Bassist Carlos D wa

Published: 2007-08-22 Provider: Contact Music

Interpol’s Paul Banks Talks Kurt Cobain and Jackass Guitarists: Exclusive Audio

When Interpol first formed, the band’s melancholy, cavernous goth pop aligned them with an emerging breed of New York bands that were attempting to differentiate themselves from the Nu Metal masses. Nearly ten years later, Interpol have just released their third album, Our Love To Admire and are booked to play Madison Square Garden for the first time in September. Rolling Stone Associate Editor Austin Scaggs sat down with frontman Paul Banks to discuss everything from the singer-guitarist’s enduring love for Nirvana to the dangers of taking song lyrics too seriously. Here’s a bit of their interview: Though he played guitar in high school, Banks couldn’t translate that skill into instant social cred: “If someone heard I played guitar, they’d be like, ‘Well, play a song,’ and it’s like, I can’t play any song except original stuff, because I never had the attention span. I’d get sidetracked, because when I heard a good interval, I’d be like, ‘Oh, fuck, I’m going to play with that,’ rather than bothering to learn anything all the way through. So I never really learned the wailing skills. I can’t just pick up a guitar and bust out the hits. But that was something I decided to be … I was humble in the schoolyard with a guitar, whereas all these other jackasses are rocking out to hits.” On why he was offended by Green Day fans: “After Kurt [Cobain] died, I really resented everybody getting into Green Day. I was like, ‘A fuckin’ legend just passed, and you guys are listening to Green Day …’ I was really passionate about it.” On why he makes all Interpol lyrics available online even though they aren’t included in the albums’ liner notes: “When we started going to foreign countries for the first album, people were like, ‘What the fuck are you saying?’ I felt like, ‘Oh shit, that would be a bitch, with the vocals mixed pretty low and I’m saying strange things, how are they ever going

Published: 2007-08-17 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Audio Interviews

Cat Power Readies Two More Covers Albums, Fall Tour

Cat Power has been in Brooklyn, Miami and Dallas studios recording two new albums of cover songs with Stuart Sikes (and a band consisting of drummer Jim White, keyboardist Greg Foreman, guitarist Judah Bauer and bassist Greg Paparazzi). On what’s tentatively titled The Covers Record II (due in January), Chan Marshall takes on Joni Mitchell’s “Blue,” the Highwaymen’s “Silver Stallion,” Hot Boys’ “I Feel,” Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son,” Jessie Mae Hemphill’s “Lord Help the Poor and Needy,” Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You,” and a duet with Shane MacGowan on the Irish traditional “The Auld Triangle.” On 2000’s The Covers Record she memorably interpreted the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” and songs by Moby Grape and the Velvet Underground. And in the fall, Cat Power will get a chance to rest out some of these tunes on a short tour during which she’ll be backed by the Memphis Rhythm Band, the group of musicians that played on tours for her 2006 album The Greatest. Keep reading for the full list of tour dates: 8/17 - Dallas, TX (Granada Theater) 9/14 - New York, NY (Madison Square Garden; opening for Interpol) 9/19 - San Francisco, CA (The Fillmore) 9/21 - Los Angeles, CA (Avalon) 10/13 - Fulton County, GA (The Echo Project) 10/14 - Norfolk, VA (NorVa) 10/15 - Washington, DC (9:30 Club) 10/16 - Carrboro, NC (Cat’s Cradle) 10/18 - Tallahassee, FL (The Moon) 10/19 - Savannah, GA (Trustees Theater at Savannah College of Art and Design) 10/20 - Orlando, FL (Club Firestone) 10/21 - St. Petersburg, FL (State Theatre)

Published: 2007-08-17 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Interpol, Muse, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Patti Smith and the Hold Steady Rock Into the Chicago Night at Lollapalooza Day Two

“Last year we played here and I said it was the most fun I ever had at 3 PM. This is shaping up to be the most fun I’ve ever had,” proclaimed Craig Finn two songs into the Hold Steady’s unhinged late-afternoon set. If not the finest, the singer-guitarist’s quintet made a watertight case for at least being the day’s most jubilant and ecstatic performance. Finn understands that a frontman needs to be unafraid to act a fool. Keyed-up and rambunctious, the bespectacled singer pointed, hopped and shuffled while playing the role of an inebriated storyteller. Drinking (“Party Pit”), driving (“Multitude of Casualties”), drugs (“Cattle and the Creeping Things”), dealers (“You Can Make Him Like You”) and sex (“Southtown Girls”) fueled the location- and character-rich tales, alternately shot through with barroom swagger, driving power chords and Southern rock abandon. Adorned in a Ron Gardenhire Minnesota Twins jersey, Finn also spoke of the I-35W bridge collapse that impacted his beloved town, and did a sign of the cross after mentioning the Mississippi River during “Stuck Between Stations.” A throng of converts soaked it all in, but the biggest fan of all was Finn, whose uplifting presence and merry mood caused anyone within earshot to grin. Not to be outdone, Karen O dressed in black latex and criss-cross-patterned stockings. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman also brought masquerade masks and glittery towels to throw over her head. She wasted no time in smearing her makeup or ripping gloves off of her hands with her teeth with her band aptly followed O’s animated antics and vocal meows, snarls and screams through songs from their latest EP, Is Is and tracks from their most recent full-length, Show Your Bones. For pure, genuine rebellion, all anyone needed to do was hoof it across the park to see Patti Smith. Initially, Smith clung to calmness. Outfitted in a homemade peace-and-love T-shirt, she strummed an acoustic guitar while taking “Beneath the Southern Cross” into t

Published: 2007-08-06 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Festivals, Lollapalooza

"An End Has a Start (Deluxe Edition)" by Editors

Considering the British boys in Editors spent a large part of their debut's promotion time hell-bent on convincing listeners that they're not merely a Xerox copy of Interpol, it's curious that they're releasing their sophomore effort, An End Has a Start, a week after the New York band's Our Love to Admire. But while Interpol is now focused on cool detachment and fleeting threesomes, Editors newest is the embodiment of earnestness. Singer Tom Smith mopes his way through lyrics that wouldn't read out of place on a Hallmark card: "In the end all you can hope for is the love you felt to equal the pain you've gone through," the frontman emotes in "Bones," while "Push Your Head Towards the Air" sees Smith professing, "Now don't drown in your tears, babe, I will always be there." As for the music, despite the band's insistence that Joy Division is not an influence, their sound still plays like a not-wholly-unique variety of gloomy post-punk. Ultimately, the

Published: 2007-07-16 Provider: Artist Direct

“Guitar Hero: World Tour” Unveils Full Track List

Photo:Activision Guitar Hero: World Tour has finally released its full track list. While the list of 86 tracks isn’t as jaw-dropping as that of its counterpart Rock Band 2, there are a bunch of highlights, including a pair of tracks by Jimi Hendrix and Ozzy Osbourne, plus cuts from Metallica, Nirvana, Van Halen, the Doors and Lynyrd Skynyrd. All the songs are original master recordings. There’s karaoke favorites like the Eagles‘ “Hotel California” and, for the true axmen, virtuoso songs like Joe Satriani’s “Satch Boogie.” Additionally, the game will boast exclusive Guitar Duel recordings by Ted Nugent and Zakk Wylde. There’s also a trio of new play options: Band Career, the Music Studio feature and the 8-player Battle of the Bands that allow bands to compete online. GH:WT also has those new instruments, new amps and that exclusive Smashing Pumpkins premiere single “G.L.O.W.” The game hits shelves October 26th. Guitar Hero: World Tour Track List: 311 - “Beautiful Disaster” 30 Seconds To Mars - “The Kill” Airbourne - “Too Much Too Young” The Allman Brothers Band - “Ramblin’ Man” Anouk - “Good God” The Answer - “Never Too Late” At The Drive-In - “One Armed Scissor” Beastie Boys - “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” Beatsteaks - “Hail to the Freaks” Billy Idol - “Rebel Yell” Black Label Society - “Stillborn” Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - “Weapon of Choice” blink-182 - “Dammit” Blondie - “One Way or Another” Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - “Hollywood Nights” Bon Jovi - “Livin’ On A Prayer” Bullet For My Valentine - “Scream Aim Fire” Coldplay - “Shiver” Creedence Clearwater Revival - “Up Around The Bend” The Cult - “Love Removal Machine” Dinosaur Jr. - “Feel The Pain” The Doors - “Love Me Two Times” Dream Theater - “Pull Me Under” The Eagles - “Hotel California” The Enemy - “Aggro” Filter - “Hey Man, Nice Shot” Fleetwood Mac - “Go Your Own Way” Foo Fighters - “Everlong” The Guess Who - “American Woman” Hush Puppies - “You’re Gonna Say Yeah!” Interpol - “Obstacle 1″ Jane’s Addic

Published: 2008-09-12 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News