Interpol, ready to be worshiped in the Zócalo of CDMX

Tomorrow, Interpol has a date with history: they expect the largest number of people at their free concert on the Zócalo plateau.

Paul Banks, the voice of the New York group, attended an interview with Excelsiorwhile, in her room in a capital hotel, she took care of her one-year-old baby, Sailor Maxwell.

“Come say hello,” said the singer, visibly dedicated to fatherhood at 45 years old. Together with his girlfriend, Juliet Seger, he seeks to share the emblematic moment of thousands of Mexicans gathered.

Taking advantage of the fact that in his youth he lived for three years in the capital, we asked him about his relationship with the Plaza de la Constitución.

“If I’m honest, I don’t think I ever went. I was only around, I remember visiting many restaurants. I think I remember one, the Miraflor (perhaps he was referring to the Miralto, of the Torre Latinoamericana) and it may be the only time I was in the surrounding area.

“I also didn’t know that it was such an emblematic place where women went out to march and protest. Recently, I started researching and found out that it was the center of Aztec culture and in the end that makes stepping into that territory much more meaningful and profound,” she shared.

Although several fans really want the show to take the shape of the album’s 20th anniversary Antics (2004), Banks does not feel it that way, because Mexico is the country that consumes his music the most and is faithful to him in each of his stages, from Turn on the Bright Lights (2002) until The Other Side of Make-Believe (2022).

“I think we achieved a set to get everyone in the mood,” he said, in Spanish.

As announced a few days ago, the original drummer, Sam Fogarino, will not be part of the presentation due to his recovery after cervical spine surgery.

Banks apologized again because Sailor was quite restless, but she didn’t ignore him. He said Sam is doing well and should focus on healing.

Along with him and Daniel Kessler (guitar) will be Chris Broom on drums, Sam’s own technician, who had already played with the group in CDMX, as shared by Banks.

“What I didn’t know is that Madonna would be playing the same day,” he said, amazed and asking what venue. His smile evoked that satisfaction of knowing that pop and rock can coexist.

Their relationship with the Mexican fan dates back to 2005, when they played at the Salón Mexica at the WTC. Those who went will not lie, the apartment gave that feeling of not being able to bear that euphoria of hearing for the first time Slow Hands, Obstacle 1 y Say Hello to the Angels.

And that momentum is maintained and has the singer hopeful, who knows that in this country Interpol is revered.

So taking advantage of that spirit, we ask if Mexico and the rest of Latin America are the last bastions of rock at a public level, since the claim that Damon Albarn made last weekend during Blur’s presentation at Coachella was taken into context. , where the fans were very subdued.

“I saw comments from several fans saying that Gorillaz would have been better off playing. I love Blur, it’s one of my biggest influences, I just think Coachella is a little skewed towards the young audience and for kids, Damon Albarn is related to Gorillaz.

“Blur, again, I love them, they became relevant in today’s music with their return and if I had been (as an audience) at Coachella I would have screamed and danced a lot to their songs… I imagine that if we gave a concert with Blur in “Mexico and Latin America would be crazy for energy, but, no way, what can we do?” he said.

Paul is a man totally dedicated to Interpol. He was even asked about resurrecting as Julian Plenti, Banks or Banks & Steelz, the side projects he has done outside of the group.

“But each one means an evolution, I don’t think there is a kind of resurrection of each one. They are present, but right now we are about to present a new project,” he explained.

Can you tell what type of project? he asked. “Not yet, but let’s say it will be a kind of supergroup,” he concluded that part, leaving his next step to be expected.

He was open to talking about everything. Being a man dedicated to the music business, Gene Simmons, former leader of KISS, says that he no longer allows a rock band to live on its own, which is why he decided to recently sell his catalog to Pophouse Entertainment.

Putting Banks in context, he smiled and responded:

“I won’t use my rock band in response to your arguments, but there are others after KISS that were responsible for keeping the genre afloat.

“It is true that it does not have the popularity that it once had and I do not believe that it was always like this, I believe that the path the music business is heading towards is to give the public the joy of seeing musicians playing their instruments live on stage.” due to the experience that isolation gave,” he said.

He believes that we are on the way to seeing many soloists who will begin to develop their paths from the creative depth that can be achieved in the privacy of the home, whether strumming a guitar or creating from a computer.

“Keeping that hope alive through individualism will mix with the tradition of forming a group of friends forming a band. “It’s the way I think rock is growing,” he said.

He has even thought about producing some bands, the issue is his time and dedication to everything mentioned. “But I think it would be great and I could learn a lot more,” she added.

His mind is on going on stage tomorrow and carrying that image for the rest of his days and making it truly a milestone in his career, which dates back to 1997.

Interpol may not release some documentary style Meet me in the Bathroomin which they participated with The Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, among other lineups from 2000, but on another occasion they will find the pretext to visually narrate their relationship with Mexico, because they will film something to be used in some way.

Finally, we ask Paul if he knows what the local joke means: “Interpol should already pay property and taxes.”

“Of course!” he laughed, “and we will continue coming as long as the Mexican maintains that spirit for the band, even buying the house may be a possibility,” he concluded.