Insights into the anniversary tour of Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service

Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service frontman Ben Gibbard spoke with NME about the joint 20th anniversary celebrations of “Transatlanticism” and “Give Up” – which opened in the UK this week – and about the future of both bands.

Death Cab and The Postal Service will play both of their groundbreaking albums in full in back-to-back sets, headlining London's All Points East Festival on Sunday (August 25), as well as dates in Cardiff, Glasgow and mainland Europe. Following extensive celebrations in the US, these dates mark the conclusion of the band's highly anticipated anniversary tour and the second reunion of The Postal Service, who have not released music since 2003's 'Give Up'.

“Once we got going, it was like riding a bicycle,” exclaimed Gibbard, who told NME how old Postal Service keyboard sounds had to be rebuilt from scratch. “Because Death Cab is an active band, we've used all the material from 'Transatlanticism' in our sets for 20 years, but getting the Postal Service machine up and running was quite a lot of work beforehand.”

“I never really appreciated what 'Give Up' and 'Transatlanticism' meant to the general public, particularly in the UK,” he explained, as All Points East is set to be the biggest show in the UK for both bands.

“2003, folks, [were] I freak out about The Strokes, The White Stripes, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs – damn good bands, right? If you've heard [Death Cab’s] Music, we don't really fit in there. Until five or ten years ago, we never really found a cultural direction in Britain.”

Read our full interview below, in which Gibbard also spoke with NME about the anniversary celebrations, plans for Death Cab's 11th album, and whether the tour has changed his stance on a second album from The Postal Service.

NME: Hi Ben. You've brought The Postal Service back for a second time. How does it compare to the 2013 reunion?

Ben Gibbard: “It was even more pronounced this time. There are certainly people who were too young to see the 2013 shows and who are seeing The Postal Service for the very first time. If you look at the audience – obviously younger people tend to be in the front rows – there are some people in the front row singing along who 100 percent weren't born when this record came out. The rapid growth of enthusiasm from these different people who have developed a relationship with 'Give Up' has driven these shows absolutely crazy.”

Was there a moment in 2003 or so when you realized that with “Give Up” and “Transatlanticism” you had recorded two records that would stand the test of time?

“I don't know if there was a reason for it, at least not that early on. 'Give Up' became a cultural phenomenon in the sense that there was no band. There were no shows, interviews or TV appearances – the records just sold like crazy… without us doing anything except making the album. In hindsight, I think it was definitely a result of the early internet, word of mouth. There was this cultural shift where indie rock went from being people's secret music to being a more mainstream style of music. Riding that wave was exciting and sometimes scary.”

Did the tour influence your feelings about these albums?

“It was really eye-opening. It makes me rethink some of the choices I'm making musically at the moment. Not so much that I want to remake 'Transatlanticism' or 'Give Up'. Sometimes you move so fast as an artist, [pace] that you can lose sight of what you do best. It's not so much that I want to recreate the past, I want to make sure I challenge myself more often creatively. The best artists are the ones who know what lane they're on and whose detours over the course of an album or a song keep bringing them back to that path. It was more informative than nostalgic.”

You've mentioned the organic growth of The Postal Service. In an age where artists are expected to constantly produce new music, what do you think is the beauty of leaving something untouched for 20 years?

“I am in a band that has been actively making music for 27 years, and I am also the co-author of a unique cult record. As a member of Death Cab, I have lived with the criticism that comes with being an artist, where people [ask]”Why can't you make another record like 'Transatlanticism' or 'Plans'?”

“Then I also have… let's call it 'the Neutral Milk Hotel perspective' – I know they have a couple of records, but for the sake of argument. When you put that record out, it becomes a cultural phenomenon and you leave people in a position where they can dream about what a follow-up would have sounded like, but there's always going to be untapped potential. But they have that one record. For me, it was really fun to have my cake and eat it too, where I can be in the chaotic band too [Death Cab]: We made a bad record, but then we made a good record.”

We know you've had a strong stance on this issue for two decades, but has the tour given you a newfound desire to write new music for The Postal Service?

“I think the main reason a second Postal Service album never happened – and never will happen – is the amount of time Death Cab ultimately took, which actually started with 'Transatlanticism' and never really let up. There just isn't enough time, let alone enough creative juices, to make a proper follow-up. [to ‘Give Up’]I think anything we would try now would be thoroughly disappointing.

“The stakes are simply lower [in Death Cab] if you put out an album every two or three years. If people don't like that one, another one comes later. But after 20 years, there's no way we can ever continue this in a way that will satisfy people. I'd rather focus entirely on Death Cab than dilute both projects. I just don't have the capacity to do both. Some would say I barely have the capacity to do one!”

Speaking of Death Cab: Two years have passed since the acclaimed “Asphalt Meadows”. Have you already started working on the 11th album?

“The band has been writing intermittently for the past few years. I can't give you a release date for a new record – nor would I – but I think we're going to take a break from touring and the spotlight. We've asked a lot of our fans over the last two years. Strategically, it's in our best interest to stay out of people's way! We come from a time when artists would go into the woodshed for a while…”

How are you feeling ahead of All Points East – your biggest UK show to date?

“I am cautiously optimistic. There are some old friends of ours [on the line-up] — The Decemberists, Sleater-Kinney. That's a lot of Americans turning up in London, we'll see how that turns out…

“There's obviously a long-standing playbook where a US band goes to the UK before their first record comes out and makes a splash there. We never did that, we didn't play a show in London until our third album. At that point we might as well have been 75 years old compared to the speed at which things are moving culturally there! Although we were certainly well received by people in the UK. I'm not going to play the underdog card.”

Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service headline All Points East on August 25th, performing “Transatlanticism” and “Give Up” in full, respectively. Full tour dates are below. Tickets and more information can be found here.

AUGUST
23 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow
24 – Utilita Arena, Cardiff
25 – All Points East Festival, London
27 – Poble Espanyol, Barcelona
29 – KALORAMA, Madrid
30 – MEO Kalorama, Lisbon
SEPTEMBER
21 – HSFstival, Washington DC