Interpol is a New York City band formed in 1998. Their debut album Turn on the Bright Lights was critically acclaimed, while the follow-up, Antics, has also been a commercial and critical success. The members of the band are Paul Banks on vocals and guitar, Carlos Dengler on bass and keyboards, Sam Fogarino on drums, and Daniel Kessler on guitar and background vocals.
The band's sound is a dark mix of bass throb and choppy, sparse guitar. Interpol has been likened to Joy Division, whose stark, sombre music and sometimes perplexing lyrics it is thought to echo. Where Turn on the Bright Lights had been spare and tentative, Antics used a fuller, more confident sound.
The band formed when Daniel Kessler met with Greg, a drummer, on the New York University campus. Kessler later added Carlos D., an ex-guitar player, on the bass, after meeting him in a history class. The line-up was complete after Kessler remembered an old friend he met whilst in Paris. Banks and Kessler ran into each other on the street, after losing touch since Paris, and Banks became lead singer. In 2000, Greg left the band, and Daniel recruited Sam, whom the band knew through his job at a local record store.
Discography
Albums
EPs
Singles
from Turn on the Bright Lights
from Antics
Trivia
Daniel Kessler has stated in an interview that the band "(...) had played shows with no name and then I got to the point where I was like, "Guys, we're getting decent crowds, but like... we don't have a name so no one knows who to go see again.". One of the other names the band considered was Las Armas ("The Weapons"). http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/interviews/i/interpol-02/