The Postal Service is two people: Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel and Figurine manning the electronics, and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie providing vocals and guitar. On their debut record, Give Up, Jimmy's icy new-wave synths provide an unlikely match for Ben's warm songwriting, but the combination works - resulting in one of the best, most beautiful indie records of the year. I was pleased to discover recently that, over the phone at least, Jimmy is as soft-spoken as his music:
Keith Daniels: What are you working on now?
Jimmy Tamborello: I've got a couple of remixes to do under the Postal Service name, and then I'm going to start working on a new Dntel record.
KD: Who are the remixes for?
JT: Right now I'm working on one for the Flaming Lips.
KD: What song?
JT: It's called "Do You Realize?" We'll see how it turns out, and then one for Her Space Holiday. I think that's it for now. It's always nerve-wracking, doing remixes.
KD: When you go back in to make a new Postal Service record, will you use the same method you did before? [edThe band takes its name from the by-mail collaboration between Ben and Jimmy which resulted in the record.]
JT: Yeah, I think so. I bet we'll get together a little bit more often during the recording, but it's still the best way, I think, for making demos and writing the songs - developing them, getting them ready. I have a feeling that we'll mix the record more together, and also maybe record more of the vocals together.
KD: Why not use the internet?
JT: [laughs] I don't even know how to make MP3s. I just don't trust it. It's not like it's a big rush, y'know. It's kind of nice just having it in the mail.
KD: So tell us your life story. Where did you grow up? How did you become interested in music?
JT: I grew up mostly in Santa Barbara, and my dad was always doing music as a hobby. When I was probably twelve or thirteen he bought a keyboard, a sequencer, and a drum machine - and an eight track. I started using that stuff. I'd taken piano lessons before, but had never been really serious about it. In junior high I realized that we had a little setup and I could make my own band, and me and my friends would get together and do music.
KD: What sort of music does your dad play?
JT: He plays jazz. Saxophone and flute.
KD: But he thought electronic music was interesting.
JT: Well, for him it was more like he got a drum machine that had real-sounding drums, and he wanted to write his music by himself. So it wasn't because it was electronic, it was because that was the best way to do it by himself.
KD: What do you like about making electronic music?
JT: I do like that you can do it on your own. That's probably the best part. It's limitless, exciting, to be able to do whatever you want and work on something totally different every day. You don't have to scrap a whole band just because you decide you want to change styles.
KD: Were you always interested in technology?
JT: No. I'm not very good with computers, or anything like that. I just use it more as a four-track or something. I've always been kind of scared of technology. I'm not very good with it. I have trouble learning it.
KD: So, over the years, the way that you make music probably hasn't changed very much.
JT: [laughs] It changes only when it has to. Eventually something will get so out of date that I've got to update, and I'll have to buy a new computer. I only change like every five years. I think I'm about to change again. It's time to upgrade.
KD: What do you think you'll get?
JT: I want to get one of those new G5s, and I think I'm going to switch... the main program I use right now is Qbase, and I think I'm going to switch over to this one called Logic.
KD: The G5s are badass.
JT: It's dumb though, one of the main reasons I need a new one... The computer I use now is a G4 laptop, and it's kind of getting full of stuff - but I don't want to take anything out of it. I don't trust external hard-drives that much, so I kind of want to get a new computer and just use the laptop for [playing] live.
KD: When you first started playing live, did it ever feel a little odd to be up onstage with a computer and lots of buttons instead of say, standing up with a guitar?
JT: Yeah, there's some things about it that are. I've played in bands in the past, and it's kind of exciting being responsible for all the music that's coming out of you and your band - playing every note, y'know? So when you get behind a computer, all of a sudden a lot of it is playing back, there's no way... you'd have to have so many people onstage to play every part.
KD: Were you surprised by the success of the Postal Service record?
JT: Yeah. The whole time we were making it as a pop record, watching TRL, and watching how pop music works; Avril Lavigne and stuff, what makes a song stick with you, but we were still making a homemade, fun album. We weren't going for any sort of big hit. It was really random that it happened. I mean, not really full-scale, but...
KD: That's interesting that you had to study how...
JT: [laughs] Well, that's kind of a strong word. It was more like when we were recording we'd have MTV on in the other room, and just kind of joke about what was on.
More than learning, or taking notes on it, it was more like learning to respect that kind of music that you basically want to bash and say it's disposable. It was like getting a respect for how to make such an efficient, effective song.
KD: Ok, I first got into music by listening to the bands that the bands I liked listened to. If someone liked the Postal Service, who would you also recommend to them?
JT: Well, newer bands... there's a connection between the Postal Service stuff and the bands on this label called MorrMusic in Germany. It's kind of simple, electronic pop. A lot of it is instrumental, but they have groups that also have vocals. Also, this band the Notwist that we've been getting compared to a lot. It's a really different thing, but still I can see the people who like the Postal Service liking it. Magnetic Fields, Pet Shop Boys...
KD: Yeah, I keep reading a lot of comparisons like Pet Shop Boys, New Order.
JT: All that old stuff is an easy reference, and a lot of it was a big influence back then - even though I don't think we were trying to replicate that early inspiration.
KD: So how do you work? Do you work on your music every day?
KD: Or just when the inspiration hits you?
JT: More just like that. It's starting to be more where I have to be sure I work pretty often because of deadlines and stuff, but it's really hard for me to do it when I'm not feeling like it; nothing really sounds that good. It was really nice, with the Postal Service, because we spent maybe eight months doing the songs. I'd do maybe two songs every couple of weeks, and then I'd mail them off and have a bit while he worked on them and getting them back. It was really casual. I liked that.
KD: What was the worst thing you ever did to get by when you were first starting out in music?
JT: You mean surviving?
KD: Yeah, like eating ramen noodles for a month.
JT: [laughs] Y'know, I'm pretty spoiled I guess. I went to college - my parents helped me with that - and so a lot of developing the music was done in college when I was supported. I'm still just starting to get by on the music, but I've never had the ramen years.
KD: What was your major?
JT: Recording arts.
KD: So you knew when you went in that music was what you wanted to do.
JT: Sort of, yeah. I was already into it.
KD: Do you think you might have a career in production later on?
JT: Maybe. I like all that stuff, but I don't feel confident enough in my production skills to work with strangers. I like to be comfortable with the people that I'm working with, and I still don't know if I'm technically skilled enough to make everybody happy.
KD: And that's another one of those things where you'd have to show up every day and work hours and hours.
JT: It's more of a job. I try to make it so it never seems like I have a job. [laughs]
The Postal Service have released two new EPs, Such Great Heights and The District Sleeps Alone Tonight, the former boasting one previously unreleased track, and both featuring remixes by other artists of songs from Give Up. More info can be found at Sub Pop record's Postal Service page.
Keith Daniels
Keith Daniels: What are you working on now?
Jimmy Tamborello: I've got a couple of remixes to do under the Postal Service name, and then I'm going to start working on a new Dntel record.
KD: Who are the remixes for?
JT: Right now I'm working on one for the Flaming Lips.
KD: What song?
JT: It's called "Do You Realize?" We'll see how it turns out, and then one for Her Space Holiday. I think that's it for now. It's always nerve-wracking, doing remixes.
KD: When you go back in to make a new Postal Service record, will you use the same method you did before? [edThe band takes its name from the by-mail collaboration between Ben and Jimmy which resulted in the record.]
JT: Yeah, I think so. I bet we'll get together a little bit more often during the recording, but it's still the best way, I think, for making demos and writing the songs - developing them, getting them ready. I have a feeling that we'll mix the record more together, and also maybe record more of the vocals together.
KD: Why not use the internet?
JT: [laughs] I don't even know how to make MP3s. I just don't trust it. It's not like it's a big rush, y'know. It's kind of nice just having it in the mail.
KD: So tell us your life story. Where did you grow up? How did you become interested in music?
JT: I grew up mostly in Santa Barbara, and my dad was always doing music as a hobby. When I was probably twelve or thirteen he bought a keyboard, a sequencer, and a drum machine - and an eight track. I started using that stuff. I'd taken piano lessons before, but had never been really serious about it. In junior high I realized that we had a little setup and I could make my own band, and me and my friends would get together and do music.
KD: What sort of music does your dad play?
JT: He plays jazz. Saxophone and flute.
KD: But he thought electronic music was interesting.
JT: Well, for him it was more like he got a drum machine that had real-sounding drums, and he wanted to write his music by himself. So it wasn't because it was electronic, it was because that was the best way to do it by himself.
KD: What do you like about making electronic music?
JT: I do like that you can do it on your own. That's probably the best part. It's limitless, exciting, to be able to do whatever you want and work on something totally different every day. You don't have to scrap a whole band just because you decide you want to change styles.
KD: Were you always interested in technology?
JT: No. I'm not very good with computers, or anything like that. I just use it more as a four-track or something. I've always been kind of scared of technology. I'm not very good with it. I have trouble learning it.
KD: So, over the years, the way that you make music probably hasn't changed very much.
JT: [laughs] It changes only when it has to. Eventually something will get so out of date that I've got to update, and I'll have to buy a new computer. I only change like every five years. I think I'm about to change again. It's time to upgrade.
KD: What do you think you'll get?
JT: I want to get one of those new G5s, and I think I'm going to switch... the main program I use right now is Qbase, and I think I'm going to switch over to this one called Logic.
KD: The G5s are badass.
JT: It's dumb though, one of the main reasons I need a new one... The computer I use now is a G4 laptop, and it's kind of getting full of stuff - but I don't want to take anything out of it. I don't trust external hard-drives that much, so I kind of want to get a new computer and just use the laptop for [playing] live.
KD: When you first started playing live, did it ever feel a little odd to be up onstage with a computer and lots of buttons instead of say, standing up with a guitar?
JT: Yeah, there's some things about it that are. I've played in bands in the past, and it's kind of exciting being responsible for all the music that's coming out of you and your band - playing every note, y'know? So when you get behind a computer, all of a sudden a lot of it is playing back, there's no way... you'd have to have so many people onstage to play every part.
KD: Were you surprised by the success of the Postal Service record?
JT: Yeah. The whole time we were making it as a pop record, watching TRL, and watching how pop music works; Avril Lavigne and stuff, what makes a song stick with you, but we were still making a homemade, fun album. We weren't going for any sort of big hit. It was really random that it happened. I mean, not really full-scale, but...
KD: That's interesting that you had to study how...
JT: [laughs] Well, that's kind of a strong word. It was more like when we were recording we'd have MTV on in the other room, and just kind of joke about what was on.
More than learning, or taking notes on it, it was more like learning to respect that kind of music that you basically want to bash and say it's disposable. It was like getting a respect for how to make such an efficient, effective song.
KD: Ok, I first got into music by listening to the bands that the bands I liked listened to. If someone liked the Postal Service, who would you also recommend to them?
JT: Well, newer bands... there's a connection between the Postal Service stuff and the bands on this label called MorrMusic in Germany. It's kind of simple, electronic pop. A lot of it is instrumental, but they have groups that also have vocals. Also, this band the Notwist that we've been getting compared to a lot. It's a really different thing, but still I can see the people who like the Postal Service liking it. Magnetic Fields, Pet Shop Boys...
KD: Yeah, I keep reading a lot of comparisons like Pet Shop Boys, New Order.
JT: All that old stuff is an easy reference, and a lot of it was a big influence back then - even though I don't think we were trying to replicate that early inspiration.
KD: So how do you work? Do you work on your music every day?
KD: Or just when the inspiration hits you?
JT: More just like that. It's starting to be more where I have to be sure I work pretty often because of deadlines and stuff, but it's really hard for me to do it when I'm not feeling like it; nothing really sounds that good. It was really nice, with the Postal Service, because we spent maybe eight months doing the songs. I'd do maybe two songs every couple of weeks, and then I'd mail them off and have a bit while he worked on them and getting them back. It was really casual. I liked that.
KD: What was the worst thing you ever did to get by when you were first starting out in music?
JT: You mean surviving?
KD: Yeah, like eating ramen noodles for a month.
JT: [laughs] Y'know, I'm pretty spoiled I guess. I went to college - my parents helped me with that - and so a lot of developing the music was done in college when I was supported. I'm still just starting to get by on the music, but I've never had the ramen years.
KD: What was your major?
JT: Recording arts.
KD: So you knew when you went in that music was what you wanted to do.
JT: Sort of, yeah. I was already into it.
KD: Do you think you might have a career in production later on?
JT: Maybe. I like all that stuff, but I don't feel confident enough in my production skills to work with strangers. I like to be comfortable with the people that I'm working with, and I still don't know if I'm technically skilled enough to make everybody happy.
KD: And that's another one of those things where you'd have to show up every day and work hours and hours.
JT: It's more of a job. I try to make it so it never seems like I have a job. [laughs]
The Postal Service have released two new EPs, Such Great Heights and The District Sleeps Alone Tonight, the former boasting one previously unreleased track, and both featuring remixes by other artists of songs from Give Up. More info can be found at Sub Pop record's Postal Service page.
Keith Daniels
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Flashback.