Death Pop

Ominous as their name may sound, Death Cab For Cutie is anything but menacing. As evidenced by their latest release The Photo Album (Barsuk), the emphasis is definitely less on "Death Cab," and heavier on the "For Cutie."
Name jokes aside, the truth remains that since the band's inception in 1997, Death Cab For Cutie have cemented themselves at the forefront of the indie-pop world. Originally begun as vocalist / guitarist Benjamin Gibbard's solo project, Death Cab has since released three full-lengths and an EP, and now consists of Gibbard, bassist Nick Harmer, guitarist / keyboardist Christopher Walla, and Chico expatriate Michael Schorr on drums.
This lineup was responsible for the creation of The Photo Album, a stark batch of elegantly crafted songs carried by the curious lyricism and gentle delivery of Gibbard, and presented in a relative straightforward fashion by the band as a whole who, as opposed to many of their Northwestern counterparts, seemed to have mastered the art of under-playing. This, among other things, is what sets Death Cab For Cutie apart from the teeming hordes of indie-bands; they do not seem to fear being too "poppy," and as a result, offer a refreshingly comfortable listening experience.
As D.C.F.C.'s current tour in support of The Photo Album makes it way to San Francisco for two nights at The Great American Music Hall, the Synthesis recently spoke with drummer Michael Schorr about the world of Death Cab For Cutie.

Where are you right now?
I'm in Greenwich Village. We have a day off in New York today so I've just been walking around. I went down to Ground Zero [formerly the World Trade Center] and kind of checked that out. I've been sitting on my ass for two weeks since we've been on tour, so I'm just trying to get some exercise before we get back in the van.

How's the tour been so far? What are people's thoughts on the new material?
It all seems to be entirely positive, for the most part. The record seems to be selling really well and there's been a good amount of people at all the shows; there's been several sold-out shows. I haven't really heard anything terrible about the record or the live show.

I know Spin gave the album a really good review, and I really like it to. How do you feel about the new record?
I feel like the record's really strong. We had a chance to tour five or six of the songs, so they kind of got really fleshed out.

What songs were those?
On the Spring tour we did "We Laugh Indoors," "Movie Script Ending," "Why You'd Want To Live Here," "I was a Kaliedescope," and we also did the Bjork cover that's on a limited edition double-disc that we're selling on tour. So I think that those songs had a chance to be very confident-sounding in how they were presented and I think we played them really solidly.

Under what genre would you classify Death Cab For Cutie as a band?
I would just say that we're pop-rock.

Pop-rock? Not Indie-pop or Indie-rock?
You could say that. I mean, I don't think any of us wanting to necessarily un-align ourselves with any sort of comparisons to that, because it's fair. But we all listen to a diverse amount of music, and I think it all comes out as pop-rock to me. A lot of people call it emo; I mean I guess it's kind of emotionally driven music, but I wouldn't really call it emo. There's a lot of great bands out there that do that, but we just kind of do our thing…

And not really spend a whole lot of time worrying about terminology?
Yeah, we're just as apt to listen to XTC as we are to the new Pinback. But most people would just consider us a pop-rock band or maybe an indie-pop band. Especially the way we've gone about things; it's been kind of a D.I.Y. ethic, so in that sense we are totally aligned with indie-rock and indie-pop. But musically, our influences are across the board.

So as a band, are you guys happy with the level that you're at right now, or are there aspirations for MTV and platinum records?
I think if this were to end tomorrow, I don't think anyone would really be disappointed with what's happened. I think this band has surpassed anyone's expectations of what it was gonna do and I think it's fantastic that people are picking up what we do and are liking it. But there's no manifesto for Death Cab that states, "By 2002 if we're not playing 3,000 seat arenas then we've got problems." We don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow or next month as far as how people react to us, so we just want to keep putting out music that we like and keep playing live shows. As far as platinum records go, we have very realistic ideas about how feasible that is; I would be stunned and amazed if 500,000 people bought our record. But who knows? It could happen and we would love the hell out of it. No one is opposed to popularity growth at all. It's nothing that we actively seek out, but if it happens it happens and as long as it comes about on our own terms, I think we're okay with it.

But wouldn't you be somewhat afraid of alienating your die-hard fan base?
I think that could happen, that people might not necessarily want to come see us in a bigger venue. If that happens and our music suffered, I think people would have a great reason not to be fans anymore. But if we make a great record that we like, and our older fans don't, there's nothing we can do about that. We're not a band that necessarily tailors our music towards record sales. But I would say that I don't necessarily agree with that as a healthy way to be a fan of a band.

I just say that because I noticed that this tour doesn't have any Chico dates.
It's always been more of a scheduling thing than anything else. I lived in Chico for eight years, so I would love to see some people, but since it's at the end of a long tour, and a few days before Thanksgiving, it seemed like a moot point to show up. I know in February we're doing a tour with The Dismemberment Plan - it's not for sure, but it's in the works - and if that happens I'm almost certain that we'll come to Chico because they always do really well in Chico. I'm sorry if we bummed some people out by not coming to Chico, and hopefully they'll have the tenacity to make the drive to San Francisco. It's a bummer to drive three hours but hopefully as a band, we'll make it worth the trip.

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