Their own style: Interpol reaching new audiences 20-plus years into career

After two months of touring in Europe, Daniel Kessler does get some time off.

“We’re taking the week off,” he says with a laugh. “You can do a lot in a week if you plan right.”

Kessler is a member of rock band Interpol, a part of his life that has been going strong since the band formed in 1997, when he was a student at New York University.

Since then, the band has toured the world, gaining fans along the way.

Interpol — Kessler, Paul Banks and Sam Fogarino — is known for its continuous touring practices and putting out music every few years or so.

The band is currently opening for The Smashing Pumpkins’ “The World is a Vampire Tour,” which is slated to make a stop in Albuquerque on Sunday, Aug. 13, at Isleta Amphitheater.

The band’s most recent album is 2022’s “The Other Side of Make-Believe.”

Over the course of its 20-plus-year career, the band has been able to stay true to its rock roots.

“It’s not something that we think about or discuss,” Kessler says of the band’s sound. “There are going to be the same aspects of how we put songs together. I can think that in 20 years of doing something, you’re going to get experience and mature from it. You’re going to understand what you are doing. For everything that we do, it informs the next.”

When on stage, Kessler has always dressed to the nines when he performs.

“I’m very stubborn, and I haven’t changed that since we started,” he says. “I wear a suit every day. It’s an unhealthy tolerance. I don’t know any better. The suit does get hot when I’m performing on stage. Fortunately and unfortunately, I’ve never played a show in a T-shirt. Some days are harder than others. That’s where I’m comfortable. Being in jeans just isn’t me.”

When it comes to writing, the process has evolved because each member doesn’t live in the same area anymore.

Kessler usually starts the songs. During the process for “The Other Side of Make-Believe,” it was in the middle of the pandemic and each of the members were living in different countries.

The trio began to work on songs and send them to each other.

“We had no choice other than to use that time to create,” Kessler says. “I didn’t know how that was going to work. You can’t take things for granted and being in that time, it gave us something to put our energy to and focus. I basically start the songs and Paul does bass and vocals. Sam then adds drums. We weren’t in the same room and strangely, it felt like it was a rehearsal. It confirmed our chemistry.”

Seven albums into its career and Interpol continues to find new audiences, as well as build up the fanbase that’s been there since the beginning.

“It does feel like we just made our first record,” Kessler says. “You can’t just assume that there will be more than one. It’s amazing to find, years later, that we’ve made an impact on people. I feel fortunate to hear songs from all the records. I’m as proud of these as when we put them out. When I was a kid, I didn’t like when bands dismissed their earlier work. I draw great pleasure from playing those albums. It is difficult for us to put a set together. You just try to find some way to represent those albums.”

A lot has changed in the music industry in the last two decades.

The band members in Interpol have been living a dream the entire time.

Interpol was a band for five years before releasing its first record, and getting a record deal made Kessler happy because he’s been playing music since he was a teenager.

“This is my dream,” he says. “We’ve been able to navigate through piracy and downloads. For me, when we play now, I love seeing people in the crowd. There are teenagers in the crowd, and it becomes a great moment because we’re finding a new generation. I don’t mean that the kids are singing along to our singles, but the deep album tracks. We’re still an album band. It’s really cool to see that new generation showing up and enjoying themselves with our music.”