Noahm

I Ain't Just Another Photograph

New York, October 6 – Radio City Music Hall, somewhere behind the stage door, right next to the elevator a sign shows: “2nd Floor – Death Cab For Cutie’s suite” I got in and eagerly pressed 2. A few seconds later, the doors bluntly opened. There was a striking quietness about this place, at the time both relaxing and disturbing. The sound of my steps on the blue carpet seemed to vanish in endless corridors. The lady in charge of the press broke the silence – “Room 207, Nick Harmer – Bassist Of Death Cab for Cutie is that right?”  - Indeed it was. Nick was still taking a nap when we showed up, later he will confess “that he was a little tired today as they were playing their 4Th show in a row”. Tired maybe, but that was certainly not going to erode any of his enthusiasm - “We’re really excited about tonight, nervous too you know, there’s so much history in this room… But, really I think tonight is going to be the one.” As a matter of fact, it could be the one. Death Cab for Cutie can be proud of what they’ve achieved over the last years. A new record - “Narrow Stairs” - that’s been more than well received, a previous one (Plans) that sold over a Million copies. “We’re still a small pretty intimate band” Nick says - “but we grew”. They grew indeed. Tonight, when the Indie-Rock band composed of Ben Gibbard, Nick Harmer, Chris Walla and Jason McGerr will hit the stage, every single seat of the 5933 available at Radio City Music Hall will be filled. Death cab for Cutie will then be standing, contemplating their crowd from somewhere they should always have been; somewhere they belong; on the shoulder of giants. Interview.

All we are, is a small pretty intimate band, as far as that goes - Nick Harmer 

Noahm: Nick, needless to say that Death Cab for Cutie has gotten pretty popular over the last couple years. Although I sometimes still hear people saying “Death who for what?” when I mention your band. How would you describe your music, your band to someone that has no idea of what you do?

Nick: That’s such a great question, I don’t know, I really have a hard time describing what we do. I guess Alternative, Indie-Rock… I don’t even know the genre or names. We just write pop-music, you know, we’re a rock band with melodies. I mean we are guitars, bass, drums, some pianos… but I think what’s really essential is that there’s a bittersweet quality to our music that often goes unrecognized. The one thing that most of people assume when they hear our band name is that we’re some kind of a metal band but really, all we are, is a small pretty intimate band, as far as that goes. 

Noahm: It’s always hard to put words on music, especially when it’s your own. So let me ask you this. Which song would you play to someone that hasn’t ever heard any Death Cab For Cutie?

Nick: That certainly always changes per album, but I would say that one of the best representative of what we’re doing right now is “I will possess your heart ”. I would play that song, I would play “I will follow you into the dark” to get the acoustic part going. I think those songs both lyrically capture a little bit of what we’re about. I would also play “Bixby Canyon Bridge”, the first song on the new record. It starts slowly and it builds up into a bigger kind of thing, I think it’s a pretty good all in one song composing what we are about.

 

When we came in making Narrow Stairs, we really were able to shut the world out and just have fun, the four of us just playing music - Nick Harmer

Noahm: Let’s talk a little bit about you’re latest album, “Narrow Stairs”. It has been out for a couple of months now, has any reaction started filtering?

Nick: Well yeah, I think it’s been received pretty well, it certainly selling pretty good. I think where this album is really standing out is in the live performance. We really spent a lot of time tracking this record and recording this record… not like a live album but certainly with the 4 of us, in a room, playing together, trying to capture a take of a song you know. I believe that the core of each song, given the fact that it was a performance that we were trying to capture is really traveling well to the live stage, a lot more than our last record (Plans) which was more an album that you would listen to with your headphones on.

Noahm: Did you really want a clean cut between Narrow Stairs and your last record? Is that why you decided to switch to live recording sessions and came back to analog tape? 

Nick: Not necessarily, a lot has to do with the material that we had to work from the demos. When Plans was put together, Ben was writing a lot of demos on his piano, in these computer programs, using loops, samples and stuff like that… and I know when he was writing demos for Narrow stairs, he fell back in love with his guitar again. A lot of the demos that came in were guitar parts. So it was two Guitars, Bass, drums and that just leans itself to a Live kind of recording style I guess, more than something that would be more digital based like the Plans was.

All I know is that we still have a lot to say musically - Nick Harmer

Noahm: Narrow Stairs is the second album to come out under the Atlantic label and it really sounds that you guys had fun recording it. Did the fact that Plans, you previous record, sold really well put you in some sort of a comfort zone that allowed you to work without any pressure?

Nick: I think it did… I know it did. I think we had a lot of apprehension going into Plans. In terms of what switching to a major label would mean for our career you know ? What was it going to mean? The label had given us promises that they wouldn’t interfere with our creative process but that still remained to be proven. We were kind of worried on how that was going to go. Overall there was just a lot of skepticism around the band, the fan were concerned you know… But then Plans came out, it did well, and people realized that “Oh, they’re the same band, they’re not a whole new thing, I still recognize the band that I love” and really, that gave us a breath of confidence and reassurance. And then when we came in making this record, we really were able to shut the world out and really just have fun, the four of us playing music. Narrow Stairs is definitely the most fun I had making a record, there was so much energy, so much…

Noahm: Joy?

Nick: Yeah, joy, joy is a great word, we were really productive, working hard, I just felt everybody was in step, synced up with our music. There was a really nice flow to what we were doing. It wasn’t certainly effortless but I really enjoyed it.

Noahm: In all of your first five albums, you’ve shifted styles to Lo-Fi to more spacious sounds. How do you think your music has evolved with Narrow Stairs?

Nick: I think the biggest evolution for us on this record honestly was that it’s the first album we’ve recorded, like I said, the 4 of us, in a room, looking at each other, really going for the one take where everybody would be happy with his performance. Of course we still used the studio but we really wanted to try to capture that intangible magic when the 4 of us are just playing in a room together. And the analog tape was nice too, because it imposed some limitations, you know we only had 24 tracks to record and there it is, that’s all you get, good luck [laugh...] we all really felt connected to this recording process, it really spoke to us, I think we might see more of that as we move along.

I don’t think that any amount of technology and clever screens or stuff like that will ever be able to replace that feeling you have when you are playing in a room - Nick Harmer

Noahm: There’s a question that I have been dying to ask you. Death Cab For Cutie hasn’t really got a trademark sound; you’ve been exploring a lot of different styles through your albums. Do you believe that all the side projects that the members of Death Cab have been running - Ben Gibbard having the Postal Service, Chris Walla being a producer, playing with Tegan & Sara – is the key to your diversity?

Nick: I think that it’s the key to our longevity for sure at this point. I mean all of us, as individuals are so interested in different sort of expressions. Early on, we were really interested in doing side projects, recording with friends and we all just made sort of a pact – As long as Death Cab remains the primary focus of what we’re doing, yeah whenever we have off time, let’s go off and do as many thing as we possibly can – All it really does, is that it opens a lot of avenues to creativity that we maybe wouldn’t have explored. You learn stuff from other people, you bring it back to the band, you learn stuff from the band you bring it to other people, there’s this kind of free exchange of ideas that happen that is just really beneficiary to everyone. I’m just so proud of what my band mates do. Over the year a lot of journalists have tried to find cracks, you know “Aren’t you really jealous of the Postal Service? Or aren’t you jealous of Chris producing career?” – No, I mean we all absolutely support those side projects. I’m waiting for the next Postal Service as much as you guys [Laugh]

Noahm: [laugh] any input on that?

Nick: Yeah, eventually, there will be one [Laugh]

 Noahm: The Internet has always been an important media for you guys. The way you communicate, the way you sell your records and yet you guys grew in a different “Era” – How do you think the music is going to evolve?

Nick: I think the medium of music will change. I think the one thing that there will never be a substitution for is a live show, I don’t think that any amount of technology and clever screens and stuff like that will ever be able to replace that feeling you have when you are playing in a room, whether it’s with 5 other people or 50000 people, you can’t even capture that feeling somehow, you just know it’s there. So we’ve got that. But how people adjust music around that is going to change. The Internet has certainly been a huge force over the music for the last few years. When we were on our small label in the States, how did people in Europe found out about us? The Internet was the key. It’s really allowing a lot of bands to have a career when they maybe wouldn’t have had one the past, that kind of immediate exposure, the buzz and all that… I think Ben made a great point, people complain that there are just too many bands nowadays , so many music out there, but you know what? Good bands will always rise to the top. People will always find good music wherever it is , and there will be no question about it

Noahm: So you don’t have any problem with File Sharing? 

Nick: No, I have no problem with file sharing or anything like that. I just believe there’s a line. I think we all know it, you know? When you take a lot and you’re not giving enough back? Everybody knows when he’s doing that. I don’t believe “art” should be free, I feel like you should have the right to go and experience it and have a good time. But if you’re this kind of person that is just sitting home enjoying all these things and you never go buy a T-Shirt, or a movie ticket… you have to feed the machine or it will die you know. But I’m optimistic; people are starting to find a balance. They’re not grabbing everything for free anymore. I believe everyone will eventually figure out what the right way to be is; I don’t have doom days about it.

In the last few years it seems like every band in the world is on one Label now, and it’s called iTunes - Nick Harmer

Noahm: Your label might be seeing it differently [Laugh]. Maybe you guys have a different view coming from a small independent indie Label?

Nick: Yeah, possibly – But you know I’ve always said when asked about this Major versus Small  independent label thing – Well… you know, I used to kind of think about that but really in the last few years it seems like every band in the world is on one Label now, and it’s called iTunes.

Noahm: One last question. What do you see for the future of Death Cab – Yeah it had to be that question [laugh] – do you think you still have a long time to go in terms of creativity?

Nick: I think every band has some sort of a bell shaped curved to their career, they go and they get to their pick of popularity and then it kind of tapers off a bit. I really don’t know where we’re at on that, I don’t know if we’re on top, if we’re coming down the other side or if we’re still climbing… I don’t really even want to guess. I mean, as we grow older, we blend our career with things that are important to us you know… our family, our relationships and stuff outside music. We always seek to find that balance. I hope we’ll continue to be that band that continues to make records when they want to make records, play shows when we want to play shows – it has always been our thing. Whether we slow down or speed up? I don’t really know. All I know is that we still have a lot to say musically; our ideas are flowing really well right now.

Noahm: Glad to hear it. Thanks a lot for your time Nick, it’s been a real pleasure discussing with you. Enjoy the big one tonight!

Nick: Yeah, thank you very much. Hope you’ll enjoy the show!

Damn yeah we did.

And as Nick suggested it, Here’s Bixby Canyon Bridge - Live in their studio.

Sincerely yours, 

Noahm.