The Walkmen
06.11.06
Q&A
words: Phoebe Assenza
photos: Wendy Lynch (undertheradarmag.com)

Even if they’re not your favorite band, it’s hard to say The Walkmen aren’t kinda perfect. Since proving themselves as promising long-haul career types with their sophomore release Bows and Arrows, they’ve struck a delicate and super-important balance for any band hoping to avoid starving indie obscurity: big and exhilarant songs which aren’t obnoxious, random spells of listlessness that never sound lazy, and, most importantly, emerging from the now-renowned New York rock scene of the early 00’s, (read: contemporaries like The Strokes and Interpol) without degenerating into self-important, velvet-clad DJs, or unruly urinating rockstars who get too drunk to perform.

Perhaps it’s their lack of pretense and posture, (not so much their actual sound) that’s caused critics to compare them to early-U2 ad nauseum, and since they haven’t yet reached the level of concept arena tours, silver cowboy suits, and ridiculous oversized sunglasses, that comparison can only be a testament to their imminent universal appeal. Their new album, 100 Miles Off, re-demonstrates their knack for earnest, accessible rock, while adding some new elements like calypso hooks and other interesting, unpredictable slow-builders.

Loose Record caught up with bassist, organist, and bitter new gourd player Pete Bauer to talk about the new album, touring, and brainy weather:

Loose Record: So where are you right now?

Pete Bauer: I’m in Kentucky with my wife and my son. We’re driving to a museum. (The band) just got back from being on tour about two days ago. We were in England.

LR: How was England?

PB: Cold and rainy.

LR: Cold and brainy?

PB: No, it was raining.

LR: So what museum are you going to in Kentucky?

PB: It’s called the Speed Museum.

LR: Is that like a horseracing museum?

PB: …No, I think it’s just a sort of a general visual art museum.

LR: Okay. Let’s talk about the new record. I just downloaded the “Louisiana” single on iTunes and it sounds amazing.

PB: Great, thanks for not downloading the entire album. I’m sure it’s out there somewhere.

LR: I can’t deal with the guilt of downloading something without paying for it, so iTunes it is.

PB: Thank you. Me, too. I do the same thing. It’s cheap on the iTunes and I just think it’s great.

LR: The only annoying thing is you can’t share the music you buy, which is ultimately good for the artist, just a pain in the ass for me and my roommate.

PB: Or if you switch to a different name, then you lose all your songs. Like if you forget your password.

LR: That’s why you back up. You guys have some new instruments that we haven’t heard before on previous records…

PB: The horns, definitely.

LR: Is that something we’re gonna see on tour?

PB: Indeed it is. Paul (Maroon, guitar) is slowly learning how to play the trumpet, and so is Ham (-ilton Leithauser, vocals), although he hasn’t been trying as hard (as Paul), I don’t think. Paul’s been playing it at our shows, and it’s been up and down. He swore it off after our last (show). He was like, “I’m never doing it again,” but I think he will.

LR: The trumpet is physically difficult to play.

PB: It is, to pick it up. We’ve also been having friends do it. I think when we go back on tour, we’re just gonna put something on our website saying, “If you wanna play horns with us, just show up at soundcheck,” because it’s a really easy trumpet part. If you play trumpet, you can play it, but if you don’t play trumpet, you can’t. It’ll be fun every night, you’ll have some weird…weirdo up there playing, and either he’ll be able to do it or he won’t.

LR: The weirdo special guest trumpet player.

PB: Exactly. It’s kind of fun, because everyday we try and find somebody. Like at Coachella, we asked Cat Power’s horn section to play and they did a great job.

LR: That must have been really cool!

PB: And then we asked Man Man to play. They’re all real solid musicians, and they opened for us, so we taught it to them about a minute before we played. We showed them in between sets, and they came up, and they were just so good. Then they took this Big Band solo thing over the end of it, and it was just great. We really loved it.

LR: How was Coachella? I had this theory that the bands that play those big summer type shows are actually kind of miserable.

PB: We had a blast. We didn’t go see anybody (else) play, but it was still really fun. I like those things because you just sit outside in the sun and drink all day. If you’re on a long tour, and you run into one of those big outdoor things, it’s like heaven on earth. You’re not in a nightclub anymore. It’s like, “Oh my god, I can’t believe we’re outside!”

LR: So it’s a nice respite. Ok, you disproved my theory.

PB: Well, I think it’s punishing for the audience.

LR: Yes!

PB: Because it’s sort of 200 degrees.

LR: It’s in the middle of the desert, and you’re waiting around all day getting sunburned to watch a band play for 20 minutes, and you can never hear them that well, because the acoustics in a field kind of suck.

PB: Our part was the opposite. It was so loud, and we’re in the middle of all this heat and we’re playing minor rock songs. We’re not the most desert-y thing on earth.

LR: What do The Walkmen do on tour to keep themselves entertained besides write novels?

PB: (The novel) is sort of a goofy joke. We haven’t really finished it yet. We all sort of wrote chapters, and as long as they don’t go anywhere, it’s fine. When it’s published, we’ll probably be like, blacklisted.

LR: And what’s the story with the gourd?

PB: The gourd is gone. Honestly, I think we have a lead on the guy with the gourd. There were only about a hundred people at that show. I’m gonna find out who did it, and I’m really gonna punish the guy, because we had to buy another gourd at the last minute, and it turned out to glow in the dark. It was such an embarrassment every night. We were in the airport the other day (with the new glow-in-the-dark gourd), when this older couple walks by, and one of them says to other, (old fogey voice) “Oh, look honey! A reggae band!” I just feel like a chump every time I touch it. I gotta find our old gourd.

LR: That glow-in-the-dark gourd could turn into unintentional new trademark for the band.

PB: (We were playing and) I looked down and saw it was glowing in the dark, and I was really about to lose it. We’re definitely gonna find (the guy that stole the gourd). I just can’t believe he stole a gourd off the stage! And the show was free, too. It’s like, what? You didn’t get enough stuff? You gotta steal the gourd?

LR: Does the gourd have sentimental value?

PB: No, it’s just a really handsome instrument. A lot of the new songs have a gourd on it. Like, I’ll play organ and gourd at the same time. It’s like a big shaker.

LR: Where was it stolen? Maybe Loose can put out an APB or something.

PB: Boston. It’s lost in Boston.

LR: Some starving Harvard student, probably.

PB: I doubt it. There were a bunch of real sleazeballs at that show.

LR: Sleazeballs there to see you guys? That surprises me.

PB: I think they were there for us. I didn’t like the looks of that crowd. I really think we’re gonna find it though. I think there’s a chance. The next time we go to Boston, we’ll find it. Like, someone will come up to us, and they’ll think it’s funny they stole it.

LR: I liked the offer you guys posted, letting the thief play the gourd live with you if they just return it.

PB: Yeah, secretly though, that’s not what’s gonna happen if they turn it in.

LR: Hopefully we can help get the word out.

PB: Please.

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