Frontman Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service is getting all of his ducks in line in preparation for an ambitious North American tour coming this fall featuring himself pulling double-duty in both beloved bands as a 20-year celebration.
LISTEN NOW: Kyle Meredith With... Ben Gibbard
On this episode of the Kyle Meredith With... podcast, singer and songwriter Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service catches up with host Kyle Meredith, discussing the creation of DCFC's latest release, Asphalt Meadows, as well as his ambitious plan to pull with Death Cab For Cutie while also reuniting his beloved side project The Postal Service.
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Later this year, to celebrate 20 years since The Postal Service's 2003 album Give Up, as well as Death Cab’s fan favorite Transatlanticism. the bands, both fronted by Gibbard, will hit the road beginning in September to perform both classic albums in full plus some additional surprises.
"Ill say two things on it and why people should not be concerned for me," Ben explains. "Number one: the total runtime of this show will be comparable if not less than how long Death Cab is currently playing. Death Cab tends to play between 22 and 25 songs a night; 'Give Up' is ten songs, 'Transatlanticism' is eleven. It's not as if I'm doing more work, so to speak. The plan is to play the records, in order, in their entirety, just for clarity... Secondly, I'm an ultrarunner -- endurance is not a problem for me... It's gonna take a lot more than this to make me tired."
As far as top billing is concerned in his mind, Ben says it makes sense for The Postal Service to perform last not only because it's been 10 years since the band has taken the stage, but also because of the nature of the music itself. "It's a dance record, or at least a lot of it is," he explains, "so it would seem a little anticlimactic to go from playing 'Give Up' and then going into 'Transatlanticism,' which obviously is a record that we love and that people seem to really love too, but it has a lot of down moments in it. So, it just made sense that this would be the order that things would go."
Also during their chat, Gibbard looks back at the indie rock movement of the early 2000s, reflecting on how collaborating with Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel led to The Postal Service, the Give Up LP’s legacy and mythology, and the way his writing and recording has changed over the last two decades.
Listen to the full chat with Ben Gibbard on Kyle Meredith With... -- now streaming on Audacy -- an interview series in which WFPK's Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians, digging deep into the artist's work to find out how the music is made and where their journey is going.
Listen to more of your favorite music on Audacy's Death Cab For Cutie Radio, Emo Kids, Alt Now, Rockternative, Drivin' Alt, New Wave Mix Tape, 90s and Chill, Alterna 00s, and ALT Roots stations -- plus check out our talent-hosted Kevan Kenney's Music Discovery, Megan Holiday's My So Called '90s Playlist, and Scott Lowe on the Go's Post Modern Music Box!
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