Death Cab For Cutie

Following the departure of founding member, guitarist and producer Chris Walla, Death Cab For Cutie singer and guitarist Ben Gibbard tells TG just how his band plan to move forwards…

Ben Gibbard opens up on how big band changes fostered a new creative drive .....

Losing such a vital member – someone who has been there from the very beginning all the way to album number eight – is never an easy thing for a band to endure. Just like any chemical equation, there will be need for regeneration and reconfiguration. But as much as Death Cab For Cutie guitarist/producer Chris Walla’s departure caught fans off-guard, band leader Ben Gibbard felt adamant that the show must indeed go on. With new album, Kintsugi, serving as Walla’s swansong, the remaining three members now stare at the future of the band they’ve spent nearly two decades building and embrace the dawn of a new horizon. For them, it’s an incredibly exciting time, and one that will see them experiment with their sound like they never have before. Singer and guitarist Ben Gibbard explains just how the wind of change was something that truly reinvigorated the creative process…

What kind of creative space were you in when you wrote the songs on / Kintsugi/?

“The songs were written in early 2012. A lot was going on in my life: some of it was very public and some of it not, but I think the record is representative of the painful but necessary transitions and I wanted to document that. When we go through those kind of experiences, I find that writing about them and creating art is the best thing to do. It helps me deal with everything by pulling it all apart and seeing how it all works.”

What was it like making the album knowing Chris was leaving?

“We didn’t know Chris was leaving the band until about a month into recording the music. So none of the songs are a reflection of him leaving the band. Though it certainly is the end of a particular chapter in the band’s lineage… it’s not something that I’d be particularly drawn to writing about. There are more universal things to influence me than somebody leaving a band! But I guess we’ll see… I’ve only written a couple of tunes for what will be the next record. I’m not sure how that will play at this stage.”

And what were the main differences in not having him oversee the production side of things?

“Well, obviously he was our producer as well as guitar player. So with him, my guitars tended to be very clean with little effects, maybe a little bit of reverb or distortion but not much else. When we got into the studio with [ Kintsugi producer] Rich Costey, he started building guitar tones for me, sounds that utilised a flanger or chorus or digital reverb. It was a real eye-opener for me, because I’m not an effects guy, I’m not a pedal collector. And a lot of Rich’s tones that were built specifically for me I found really exciting. A lot of the guitar parts I write have a more arpeggiated or spindly feel, and actually sound better with effects on them [laughs]! Which is something I never realised before. So I was really impressed with the sounds he was drumming up for me.”

So it worked well to have a fresh perspective on your sound?

“Very much so! Also Rich didn’t have an overarching vision for the album or whatever, he just came in with a very signature palette of sound. I don’t think we used anything from my pedalboard, other than the tuner! It was really interesting to work with somebody that had a different grasp on music to the one we’ve had before.”

Which of his pedals impressed you most?

“Some of the effects pedals Rich was using didn’t even have a name on them… the kind of thing they only make one of, and he happened to get it! But it was mainly really boutique stuff. I’ve been playing Fender Mustangs pretty much exclusively over the past few years – and I did use them on a couple of songs – but for the most part I was using a big hollowbody Gretsch through a Maxon chorus and some digital reverb. Not being much of a gear guy, I really did find myself enjoying the space reverb in my chain. So now I own more pedals myself, but still not a lot.” And what were you plugging into? “I recorded all the demos with this Fender Vibro Champ, so I brought it down to the studio for actual recordings, thinking Rich was going to love it. And he was like, ‘Get that thing outta here!’ He wasn’t a fan. So I ended up using a bunch of custom amps of his – and I feel really bad saying this – but they would be in this other room and the engineer would be switching them and dialling in tones. But I do remember there was this Matchless combo we ended up using a lot. And there were some split tones too, mixing different sounds from different amps. It was pretty crazy! Chris played a 12-string on the track

“A lot of my parts have an arpeggiated feel, and sound better with effects”