Tokyo Police Club Happily Remain in 'Stunted, Perpetual Adolescence'

Tokyo Police Club have come a long way from their humble basement beginnings. After bursting onto the scene in 2006 with their 'Lesson in Crime' EP, the four-man squad of infectious Canadian rockers has since unleashed two critically acclaimed albums, 2008's 'Elephant Shell' and this past summer's vigor-infused 'Champ.' Having kicked off 2011 with their biggest headlining tour to date, keyboardist Graham Wright spoke with Spinner about the band's journey and what's in store for the awesome foursome.

Out of curiosity, why is there an interview with Tokyo Police Club on Justin Timberlake's website?

I actually don't know! I think I did that interview via e-mail. I don't believe it was with Justin himself, unfortunately, but I'm a fan, so I was happy to do it. I'd like to assume it was and that he had an underling do the legwork.

Well, the piece addressed how your band name was chosen. (It's derived from a 'Cheer It On' lyric.) Since you guys have been together since high school, are there any former names you ever look back on and flinch?

No, we never had any other names. We were just screwing around in the basement at first, so it didn't seem necessary. We had to come up with one when we burned a CD of our music and needed to write something on it besides the date.

You've obviously come a long way since then. Do you ever venture down to a basement and jam out for old-time's sake, or do you generally hide from your instruments once you have time off?

I might jam on my own from time to time, but generally when we get together, it's to practice or write. We play music together enough.

What was the last day job you ever had?

I worked at a bookstore called Chapters. It's kind of like the Barnes and Noble of Canada. I loved working there. Well, actually, I'm sure I'm romanticizing it now that I don't work there anymore.

Have you ever gotten star-struck by some of the performers you've shared a bill with?

It happens occasionally if there's someone I'm really a fan of, like Arcade Fire. I met those guys and was pretty stoked, but I didn't want to fan out. I'd rather hang with them than get their autograph. Weezer were exciting, too -- they were the second concert I ever saw.

What artists are you really into right now?

Good question. All the bands I really follow put out new records last year, like the National and the Hold Steady. We've also been lucky, though, in that we've toured with almost exclusively kickass bands.

There are a lot of mentions in your songs about being young, as though you're wistfully looking back. In fairness, you guys are still pretty young. What is this point in time you're looking back to?

I was reading this piece recently about how our generation is way more nostalgic than others. Maybe it's because everyone leads such lives of privilege that we don't have anything to worry about other than this nagging feeling that things used to be better than they are now. There's a tendency to forget the shitty stuff and focus only on the good -- like my job at the bookstore. I probably hated that job! When I think back to it now, though, it's all sunshine and lollipops. I think it's easy to do that, and that might be a bit of what feeds into it.

Does your lifestyle have a way of making you feel old beyond your years?

In some ways it does. It's the only lifestyle I've ever really had since high school. There are certain responsibilities, like paying bills, which I was handling before a lot of my friends. At the same time, it's totally like a stunted, perpetual adolescence. I'm in a band with my friends! That's what I did in high school and that's what my job is now: It's pretty immature.

What's the most awesomely immature thing you've done recently?

We had this wicked snowball fight at a truck stop in Germany somewhere. We were driving forever and it started getting snowier. We pulled into this rest station and I was like, "Oh my god, all I want to do is have a snowball fight, but that's so not cool. Restrain yourself." Then suddenly, our tour manager rips open the door, runs out and starts packing snowballs and whipping them at us! It turned into this huge battle! We'd all been watching 'Band of Brothers,' so we were using trench warfare tactics and stuff. It was awesome.

On a different note, have you guys noticed any amusing expansion in your fan base after performing on 'Desperate Housewives'? Any entourages of moms waiting for you after your shows?

No! Sadly, the middle-aged women did not appear in droves at our shows like I hoped they would.

We know you worked on 'Champ' immediately after wrapping up your previous album. How quickly do songs come to you? What's the process like? Are there certain things you'll experience throughout your day that'll make you think, "Wow, this will make for a great lyric?"

Usually, things come really quickly and then we spend months second-guessing them and trying everything other than what we thought of originally. Seventy percent of the time, we'll end up using whatever our first ideas were. But that's important. It's an important journey to let the songs take you down these weird rabbit holes, and that's why 'Champ' was so nice. We afforded ourselves a lot of time to do it, and that allowed us to sort of "chase these waterfalls," so to speak.

Lastly, what's the most memorable comment anyone has ever made about your band?

This is going to sound totally cutesy, but we got this MySpace message two years ago from a girl who said, "I just held hands with my boyfriend for the first time, and we were listening to 'Tessellate.'" I was like, "That's the kind of music I want to make!" Music that is, at that moment, those important parts of your life that are small in the grand scheme of things, but mean so much when they're happening. That's the best music, and still remains the most important kind to me.

Tokyo Police Club's 'Breakneck Speed' Video


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