INTERPOL’S “NYC” DOCUMENTARY CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Last week, I have seen this surprising post appear on Interpol’s Facebook page. Here is the content :

Interpol is looking for fans who have compelling stories about their connection to the song “NYC” for a documentary to be shot this fall. Maybe the song helped you through a hard time in life, or perhaps you walked down the aisle to it; whatever your relationship is with “NYC”, we’d like to hear about it. Fans chosen will be interviewed and tell their stories on-camera for a documentary that will also include the band.

Please email your story to interpoldocumentary@gmail.com and include your name, age, location, photo, and contact information. Thanks!

So I decided to participate as I thought it was a unique occasion to write down the expression of my feelings about their music, and maybe to be read by Interpol’s members themselves! I could not miss that opportunity! Here is below the submission I have sent to the Interpol’s P.R. team. I hope it will please the band! Fingers crossed…

Dear Sam, Daniel and Paul,

Here is my submission for your exciting documentary project.

My name is Dorothy P., I live in Nancy in eastern France (often called NYC in town as a French pompous reference to Big Apple!), I was 20 in 2002 when TOTBL was released and I can say that I first met Interpol in dreams. Let me explain…

I remember I was with my high school boyfriend in a tiny flat, we were chilling and talking about our common musical tastes late in evening while listening to some playlists, I gently fell asleep in his arms and then I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with the first guitar notes of “Untitled”. I was immediately immersed in that song, Carlos Dengler’s loud bass lines resounded inside of me and I could even feel tears in my eyes. What a great emotion! I said to myself “Who is that voice?” and I wanted to imperatively know who was singing. When I realized it was a new band called Interpol, I did some research and I discovered the LP soon after. From that point on, I listened to “Turn On The Bright Lights” front to back and dived back into the eleven dark and tense pieces of this original record.

“NYC” early became one of my favorite tracks because that song was quite melancholic and just mysterious enough to please me at that time of my life. As a French spoken girl, I obviously tried to translate the lyrics in order to be able to understand the meanings but poetry can’t be translated properly in any language… It didn’t matter I could nevertheless feel the sense of the words Paul Banks was singing. Furthermore I’ve always had a particular tenderness for New York City, I went there twice and this city has fascinated me for a long time. So when I listened to the sad lyrics, it was as if I could watch the movie of the storyteller : subway, streets, sidewalks, skyscrapers, Brooklyn bridge and so on. I could easily imagine the atmosphere of the city through the verses and feel the languor of the narrator.

For my former boyfriend and I, “NYC” was finally like an anthem for us, it was the soundtrack of our burgeoning lovestory, we were young and the song was just telling the obstacles we went through to live together, the loneliness you can feel when you love someone in secrecy, the hesitation between good and evil and beyond, the prospect of a new hope (“Got to be some more change in my life”). That is what “NYC” always meant to me, even if things in my life have changed a bit in the meantime… But that song still accompanies me over the years, and that’s not going to change!

Since that time I have to say that I am following Interpol whatever their members do.
I have seen you guys 5 times in concerts : my first time was in Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, on July, 2008, an amazing memory for me and a huge “slap” musically speaking! It was such an intense gig! I had traveled so far from home to get in! My second time was in Luxembourg on March, 2011 (the day of my birthday, oh what a gift!). Then I attended Rock en Seine festival in Paris twice (the 2011 and 2015 editions) only for Interpol. And I saw Julian Plenti in Brussels, Belgium, once for “Skyscraper” on December, 2009, another pretty good musical discover of my own.

In my head and in my heart, “Turn On The Bright Lights” has remained timeless 15 years after its release for a host of reasons. That’s why I came to see the TOTBLXV anniversary concert in Den Atelier last week in Luxembourg. One thing I know about your gigs is that the first rows (where I was for sure) love to hear the same old tunes! So I was more than happy to hear and sing along with you on “NYC” and “Evil” respectively from the first and the second albums, masterpieces as far as I am concerned. And I had the great honor to meet Paul and Daniel at the end of that show. They nicely signed my setlist and now it’s like my treasure!

As I am obsessed with live music, everytime I attend a concert, I try to write a review about the event on an New Yorker blog called RockNYC. I am not a professionnal journalist at all, I’m just doing it for fun, only to remember, relate and share my experiences with other fans. Here is a link of what I wrote about your performance at Rock en Seine, 2015 for example :
http://rocknycliveandrecorded.com/interpol-at-rock-en-seine-saturday-august-29th-2015-reviewed.html

Please be indulgent with my english!

You will find attached some pictures I wanted to show you.

I don’t know if you’re gonna read this lines guys and if my feelings about your music are interesting for the documentary you are going to do, but be sure you will always stay my beloved idols.

Best regards,

Dorothy P.