ACL preview: The National

The National has been on the rise since 2005’s Alligator and seals their relevance with this year’s Boxer. But what you may not know is that they’ve released three other records and are connected to nearly every other band in today’s indie scene. Makes your six-degrees game a little easier. We spoke to Aaron Dessner (bass, guitar), the long-haired, raucous twin (His brother has shorter hair and is classically trained) about touring with family, Sufjan Stevens guesting on the new album, and middle school dances.

That Other Paper So you’ve been to Austin before.

Aaron Dessner Yeah, we’ve been a few times for South by Southwest, and I think we played a headlining show there a few years ago.

TOP And now you’re coming to play the festival. Tell us a little about your live show.

AD A lot of the songs, even the mellower ones, come to life. They’re more dynamic and we bang ’em around a little bit more. We’ve played a lot of festivals in Europe, and everything seems to work just fine. Audiences seem to be respectful of the quiet songs, and then we have the loud ones, too.

TOP You’ve been touring around Boxer. It got a great reception.

AD Yeah, it’s really exceeded our expectations. There were a lot more people listening and paying attention when it came out, and the response has been really positive. We’re grateful for that.

TOP When your last album, Alligator, came out, a lot of people were talking about it like it was your first album, even though it really wasn’t. Are you worried the same thing will happen with Boxer?

AD Well, people have been saying, “I got your second album, Boxer, but I haven’t picked up your first one yet.” And then I always laugh and say, “Well there’s three more before that.” It’s amusing to us because we’ve been doing this for quite a while. We’ve been writing the songs we want to write, and it’s exciting now to have more people listening to us. But whenever someone makes that mistake, I just wanna say, “You need to go and read our Wikipedia entry.”

TOP Do you feel like there’s a trajectory, then, to the albums?

AD I feel like the band’s gotten better, especially live. We’ve been writing better songs and capturing better performances on record. It makes sense that we’ve grown in popularity, but it’s just our style to fall in love with the songs that are a little bit off-center, a little bit awkward or odd. So the songs we put on our albums aren’t always the most immediate. The music we make just creeps out there. Alligator was this really underground record, but it caught on and got to be quite popular in some places, but it took a really long time. That’s been the case with our records. It’s a gradual arc.

TOP And now you get compared to U2.

AD Someone asked me that recently: “How does it feel to be the next big thing? Did you ever think you’d be as big as U2 and Coldplay?” And I thought, “What are you smoking?”

TOP Have you gotten comparisons that you actually like?

AD Creatively, it’s tough, because there’s a range of artists that might be relevant. We all grew up obsessed with songwriters like Bob Dylan and Neil Young, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen, and bands like The Smiths and Joy Division and The Grateful Dead. But obviously we have influences outside of rock ‘n’ roll, because my brother is a classical guitarist. And Padma Newsome, who collaborates with us, is a composer for chamber music ensembles. So there’s a lot of non-rock influences and sensibilities that creep into our music. The five of us working together, we have our own chemistry.

That being said, I love being compared to bands we enjoy listening to. The one we get a lot that’s not really relevant is The Tindersticks, which I think is just because of Matt’s voice. But more recently we’ve gotten compared to Wilco, which is really humbling, though I don’t think we’re that similar.

TOP And Wilco is going to be at the festival as well.

AD There’s so many people at the festival that we’re excited to see.

TOP Bob Dylan.

AD Yeah. I’m hoping to get within 20 yards of Bob Dylan.

TOP What will you do if you get to meet him?

AD I don’t know. I’d almost prefer not to meet him, because of the myth and having listened to him all my life. We’ve gotten to meet other people like that — Bruce Springsteen, Michael Stipe — and it would be great. I’m just not sure what I would say.

TOP Speaking of star appeal, everyone’s making a big deal about Sufjan Stevens playing on Boxer.

AD Bryce [Dessner] plays in his touring band, and he lives in our neighborhood in Brooklyn. He was also a fan of my brother’s old band, Clogs, and that’s how we met. Then we figured out we lived in the same neighborhood and became pretty close friends, so he’s just someone that made sense when we were looking for piano playing that was more expressive on two songs. But there’s so many great artists that we collaborate with: Thomas Bartlett does some keyboards and piano. Sufjan’s just one person we worked with, but he’s a really sweet person and a good friend, not to mention an amazing musician.

TOP Yeah. What I was going to ask, though, was if you thought he was getting a disproportionate amount of attention because of the name?

AD Not at all. We’ve played it down, if anything. It’s in the bio, but it’s not something we broadcast, and I think The National has had its own audience before that became an issue. I don’t think all of Sufjan’s fans are buying the record, though obviously it holds interest to people who are into independent music. I don’t think people are buying the record because of that, though.

TOP How does having your twin brother in the band affect your experience?

AD It’s a big part of The National’s music and the way we play songs together. It’s really gratifying to be out here with him, and I think for Scott and Bryan [Devendorf]. We’ve grown up playing music together, and now we’re in this band together. My brother and I have known Scott and Bryan since we were fourteen, since we saw them play at our middle school dance when they were in 8th grade. They played Led Zeppelin covers. We’re having a lot of fun, and there’s a lot of history.

TOP I have to ask, have you ever tried to trade places with Bryce on stage to fool people?

AD [laughs] I think if you saw us in person, you’d see that we look less alike than we do in pictures. But if someone sees me and mistakes me for Bryce, I won’t correct them. I always feel bad about it. It’s particularly embarrassing when it’s a cousin, because we have a lot of cousins we hardly ever see. So they’ll be like, “Oh, hi Bryce!” and they’ll introduce me to their children as Bryce, and then I’ll run away as quickly as possible.

TOP You’ll be playing with Blonde Redhead at an Emo’s after show. Also twins.

AD Yeah, there’s also twins in Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. We used to tour together and we’re all good friends, so we joke about joining the circus together. Hopefully we can get a big group picture. But I’ve never met Blonde Redhead. I’ve always enjoyed their music, so I’m looking forward to it.

TOP You toured with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah right around the time they exploded.

AD There was a big hubbub about it right around the time we left, but really we just all had a blast. Probably the most fun we’ve ever had. We all got along, and the shows were packed. It’s true that in some places the audience was clearly there for them, but usually people stuck around, and it was a great bill. That tour created a lot of attention for Alligator than we may have received otherwise. We’re still friends with them, and we actually share a rehearsal space. I think they’re a great band.

TOP So they’ll be playing at the festival, as well as another band you took out, The Broken West.

AD Those guys are great, too. They’re on Merge, and we love all those people, even though we’re not on Merge. We’re playing tonight in Scarborough at Cat’s Cradle and we’re going to walk down the road and see Mac [McCaughan] and his wife — you know, founded the label and also in Superchunk — and they have a restaurant we’re going to go to. But, yeah, the Broken West. They’re a really great band and lovely people.

TOP But you’re scheduled up against them at the festival.

AD Oh no!

TOP So who should people go see?

AD You’re putting me in an awkward position. I think people should follow their hearts. But The Broken West is a great band who deserves more attention, so I wouldn’t be offended if people decided to check them out.