Karen's questions: #1 Vocals and cinema

"1) What role do vocals play in creating Interpol’s aesthetic / cinematic sound in terms of pitch, etc? Am I right in noticing also the vocal tracks are mostly no more prominent that any other instrument?

2) I can follow one instrument quite easily through a song and this might change according to input (mood, attention, etc), and other times perceive being surrounded or enveloped by all facets of the song schema.

3) I’m glad to see someone has the interest and the analytical skills to dissect the music we all love. I’d like to do the same albeit from a psychological standpoint but frankly, I’m fearful of breaking the inherent mystery that’s so attractive to this medium.

Cheers, Karen (coma~rose)"

Thanks, Karen, for very provocative questions/observations—so thought provoking, in fact, that I’d like to divide my comments into three shorter blogs according to the numbers I’ve added into your text. So, to the questions about vocals:

~ To address the second part of the question first, I agree that the vocal tracks sound fairly equally weighted with the other instruments in the mix (though I admit I am not an expert in music production; any readers knowledgeable in this area?), and I think this has a lot to do with an idea I’ve toyed with before in this blog and in my NARC paper: that most often in Interpol’s music all of the instruments work together independently, “contrapuntally,” if you will, to create the song. Whereas a lot of music out there involves a situation where the singer, and therefore the melody, is at the forefront and the instruments back the melody up, I believe Daniel’s repetitive hooks, Carlos’ often melodic bass lines, and Sam’s dynamic drum parts work together equally with Paul’s vocal line to create their own particular music; take one of the instruments away, and the song will probably sound as naked as if you took the vocals away. Thus it would stand to reason that during production the vocal track would be blended evenly in with the other instruments.

~ As for the first part of the question, the observation that Interpol’s aesthetic is perhaps cinematic is one to which I think many of us can relate, as I’m sure I’m not the only listener for whom Interpol’s music has evoked cinematic scenes, and indeed Daniel has often remarked in interviews of the inspiration he derives from film when composing. I think the role that the vocals play in creating this cinematic sound can be considered in terms of not only the storytelling nature of the lyrics (stories about Roland, Stella, spies, and a fired-up soul, etc.), but, as Karen writes, in terms of pitch. When singing to us the bulk of the story in a song, Paul utilizes a vocal range that sits right around his speaking voice, never lingering too long in the extreme highs or lows of his voice. This means that the words are fairly easy to discern as he sings (even if the lyrics are somewhat cryptic!). Beyond this is again the production of the vocal track—in any particular song, does Paul sound close-by, or perhaps far-away in an expansive landscape? The answers to these questions probably contribute to the nature of your inner Interpol cinema.

Looking forward to getting to numbers 2 and 3 very soon!

Much love from,

Meg

P.S. Happy New Year!

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Thoughts on the NARC remix by Paul Banks

Greetings to all,

I’d like to begin today with an observation:

“I think Paul's remix adds another aspect to ‘NARC.’…I've never thought of the remix though as a precursor to ‘The Lighthouse,’ but I would see how it would- the element of isolation, pensiveness, maybe even a little bit defeat, and acceptance of a certain fate/path” - Pallid Urchin

- Firstly, I agree with the opening comment regarding Paul’s remix of NARC—I hear the remix as revealing more of the true inner landscape of the protagonist portrayed in this song. I think it is significant that the remix ends before the protagonist has a chance to enter into what I call, in my extended analysis, his “fantasy” key: in the original version of NARC, the music moves to a new key just as Banks’ protagonist sings of entering his space with his lover (“we steps into my bedroom”…). The fact that Paul’s remix ends before this occurs underscores for me the “fantasy” of this moment. Eventually undermined in the original version with the onset of the final part of the song, this fantasy is altogether removed in Banks’ more intimate and sparse remix of the song.

- Secondly, I like the connection made between Paul’s NARC remix and “The Lighthouse,” as I also hear the two as resembling each other, especially in their textural character. When speaking of texture in music, I am trying to qualify feelings of “richness” or “sparseness” (or any other textural attribute) by drawing a metaphoric connection between these extra-musical attributes and a musical work’s instrumentation and production. I hear the “isolation” and “pensiveness” mentioned by Pallid Urchin as being a result, in both songs, of the instrumentation (mostly guitar, with other instruments added as quiet accompaniment), and also as a result of the production (the vocals sound as if they are echoing from a distance).

- Lastly, in “The Lighthouse,” I hear the “acceptance of a certain fate” particularly in the final section of the song, as the texture is filled out with bass and drums, and the tremolo guitar line becomes a short melody that is repeated four times; the rest of the band has shown up to draw the song to a definite close. Further, the final guitar melody itself sounds resolved to fate, as it begins with the interval of a perfect 4^th (interval referring to the “distance” between two notes—the spatialization of sound is crucial to Western music theory, though it does not intuitively work for everyone), which has symbolized throughout Western tonal music a sense of arrival, or finality.

- It is my hope that by (all too briefly) expounding upon comments like Pallid Urchin’s, we can discover together ways of thinking about Interpol’s music that elucidate our reactions to their songs. As always, your comments, thoughts, and/or questions are welcomed and encouraged – and for those of you who have already contributed to these, thank you, and look to the near future for your thoughts to be addressed here!

Love from,

Meg

P.S. I also want to answer quickly another question from Pallid Urchin:

“Are you planning on analyzing any other songs at some point? If so, which ones?” - Pallid Urchin

- As of yet, I’ve only studied NARC in depth—I prefer to make transcriptions of the songs before I interpret them, and these scores take me a few days of fairly intense concentration to produce—but I have ideas and observations regarding several of Interpol’s songs that I plan on putting to paper at some point in the near future. In particular, “Take You on a Cruise” and “Rest My Chemistry,” are high on my list. Thanks for asking!

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Question 2: Scales, notes, and composition

Question 2: “I've found with Interpol, that there is a tendency to stick to the same notes and chords. F major starts no less than 5 songs - four on Antics (i think). Is there in fact theoretical genius with the scales and notes used, or does Interpol's genius lie mainly in the composition of the basic parts of the song?” - Josh

Before getting to the meat of this question, I’d like to quickly address a few of the concepts brought up by Josh, which are the concepts of “scale,” “key,” and “chord,” in music. These concepts are related, in that they provide for us a way of theorizing about the palette of pitches that musicians use to write any given song. Both the scale and the key of a song tell us the specific collection of pitches that predominate throughout the song, as well as which will be the most commonly found chords (a “chord” is generally 3 or 4 notes played simultaneously, all of which are found “in” the key of the song). “F major,” refers to a type of chord, called a triad, which contains the pitches F, A, and C—this chord is found in the keys of F major, C major, B-flat major, etc.

~ The fact that Daniel, Paul, and Carlos all compose their music on guitars (though, as you know, Our Love to Admire saw Carlos integrating the keyboard parts earlier on in the compositional process than he had done in the past) is an important factor in their choice of keys, and therefore chords, for their songs. I find it fairly common to hear bands favoring one key over the others, and from my limited experience with playing the guitar, I can say that my hand usually favors certain shapes over others (this is also true when I play at the piano). Having heard in several interviews that, when the band convenes to write, Daniel often brings in a short lick that provides the springboard for a new song, a possible explanation for Josh’s observation is that (at the very least) Daniel’s hands might favor the F major shape.

~ The latter half of Josh’s question speaks more strongly to my reaction to Interpol’s music: for me, Interpol’s cleverness lies mainly in the composition and collaboration of each band member’s musical line. Aside from being in love with their music, part of what makes Interpol a fascinating band for me to study is the way in which they write their music—each band member has a say in the composition of the song, and somehow they manage to reconcile their individual tastes and needs in a piece of music that communicates collectively and coherently. I am able to hear “Sam” while at the same time hearing him interacting with “Paul,” while at the same time receiving a coherent communication from all 4 of them (including the keyboard) at once.

Thanks for the question—I hope this provided at least some illumination.

Love from,

Meg

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Question 1: What makes Interpol’s music so addictive?

Greetings to all. As I wrote in my last entry, my purpose for this blog is primarily for the discussion of questions you all may have about Interpol’s music. As a music theorist, I hope to offer you cogent ways of understanding and describing your experiences with their highly compelling pieces. To that end, let’s look at Question #1:

"What do you think makes Interpol’s music so addictive?”

~ This is an important question that deserves far deeper consideration than I can give it here; for now, I’d like to focus on how Interpol’s music influences a fusion of intellect and sensuality in us as listeners, something which I think many of us strive for in our lives, and therefore something that would cause us to desire to experience Interpol’s music over and over again.

~ As you may have noticed, Paul Bank’s lyrics tend to lean heavily on the side of physicality, that is, a preoccupation with the body, physical needs, and appetites. For example, “touch your thighs, I’m the lonely one” from “NARC”; “I haven’t slept for two days/I’ve bathed in nothing but sweat” from “Rest My Chemistry”; and “we have 200 couches where you can sleep tonight” from “PDA.” Even when singing about the non-corporeal soul in “All Fired Up,” Banks invokes physical sensation: “I’ve got this soul/it’s all fired up.”

~ So how does Interpol’s music influence a fusion of intellect and sensuality in listeners? The music itself is highly orchestrated and “contrapuntal” (referring to independent lines that sound harmonious together), and if you’ve ever seen them perform you’ve probably noticed the intense amount of concentration that is required of them by the music. Each musician has his own unique part that must be performed perfectly for the song to sound complete.

~ This precision is uniquely combined with cyclical harmonic and melodic motion—much of Interpol’s music could feasibly continue to repeat ad infinitum. That is, it doesn’t demand an ending, and it doesn’t command expectations from the listener, rather leaving us free to exist within the song as we please. And all of this is executed within a rich texture that is highly satisfying, as both the low end (e.g., the bass) and the high end (e.g., many of the guitar riffs) generally receive equal weighting in both the construction of the song and in its production.

~ This precise, cyclical, and rich music is paired with lyrics that are wide open to interpretation; lyrics that in a way tease us with possible narratives or meanings, but which require us to engage our intellect to come up with a meaning that speaks to us individually.

~ That’s all for now. Maybe I’ll pick this topic back up in a later entry, as I feel we’ve only scratched the surface of why Interpol’s music is so compelling.

Love from,

Meg

P.S. Many thanks to those of you who have submitted questions. I’d like to encourage any and all of you to send in questions and also to comment on the answers that I give – let me (and the other fans) know what you think about these entries.

Extra bits:

~ You also may have noticed that during interviews the band often discuss their collective compositional process, and it is my general impression that Paul creates his vocal line and lyrics toward the end of this process, so that his lyrics are woven into—and reflect the content of—an almost-completely formed musical communication (rather than the music communicating the content of the lyrics). Therefore, we could say that Paul is receiving (as well as creating with his guitar line) some sort of musical communication about physicality that inspires the writing of his lyrics.

~ The concept that music can communicate to us without words is an old one (Plato even talked about this), and theorists love to argue about how this is actually achieved. I personally believe that much of the communication we receive from music is contingent upon our culture; this is what makes Interpol a particularly extraordinary band, as their fan base extends far beyond their native USA.

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Welcome to my blog - an introduction to my work

My name is Meghann (pronounced Meg-Ann), but feel free to call me Meg. I am a music theorist, which means that I spend a lot of time thinking about how music is put together, and how it is that music can affect me the way it does. I’m sure you’ve all had an experience with music where you’ve gotten tingles down your spine, or you’ve had some intense libidinal response, or maybe your experience was more spiritually transcendent. Whatever the specific type, if you’re reading this blog, chances are that music has been a mind-altering experience for you on more than one occasion. But how is it that music can make us feel this way? And how can we talk about our physical, emotional and intellectual responses to it?

~ Some of you have recently been exposed to my analysis of Interpol’s song NARC, and I’d like to use this blog as a forum for addressing some of the questions that you have had as a result of this exposure. For my first entry, however, I’d like to describe the path I took in arriving at my analytical interpretation of NARC.

~ Perhaps the most important thing to understand about music theory is that it is indeed a theory of how music is constructed by musicians (perhaps you are one of these) and communicated to you, the listener (I’m hoping all of you are one of these). Music theory is a way of thinking about music – there is no inherent truth to the claim I make about Carlos’ bass line being “in B Phrygian.” Also important to understand is that there are multiple theories of music. Certain Indian musics, for example, have their own, highly sophisticated theories, and even within what is commonly called “Western tonal” music theory (which deals with a style of music whose origins are traditionally located in Western Europe starting around the 16^th century) theorists argue all the time about which is the best way to characterize such-and-such aspect of this style of music.

~ This “Western tonal music theory” is the one from which I draw most of my analytical tools in my examination of Interpol’s music. I have many reasons for doing this, the most basic of which is that I believe that their musical processes have as their basis those processes of the Western tonal style. But this is a whole other topic unto itself.

~ So when I write about the modal qualities and the harmonic content of NARC, I am drawing on a theoretical knowledge of music (one that I have acquired as a result of my particular musical education), and I am using that knowledge to make interpretive decisions about what Interpol are communicating to us via NARC (or at least what they’re communicating to me). And this particular type of theoretical knowledge is one that has a long history, extending essentially all the way back to the ancient Greeks.

~ I hope that this brief description of the path I took to NARC will provide us with a decent foundation upon which we can build a fruitful discussion about this amazing band’s music, and the amazing effect it has on us.

Love from,

Meg

P.S. While I’m guessing that some of you may have quite a bit of Western theory already, if anyone cares to hear me extemporize on the nature of scales, harmonies, etc., let me know and I’d be happy to post something up here along those lines.

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