The Postelles Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 4th 2010 9:50AM by Chasity Goddard
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Called "a band to watch" by Rolling Stone in July 2009, the Postelles are making a name for themselves with a sound "like the wound-up early hours of what will be a long Saturday night." The Postelles released their latest EP on March 2, 2010, which features the highly anticipated single 'White Night.' The full debut album is expected to be available later in 2010. Weaving garage pop with post-punk, the New York quartet has a busy year planned with back-to-back gigs from Pennsylvania to California and back again. Recently, frontman Daniel Balk paused a moment to speak with Spinner about the band's upcoming visit to SXSW.

How did your band form?

We all met in high school in New York City. We decided halfway through school that we wanted to start a band because we all had the same love and passion for music. We started young, and have been doing it ever since.

How did you come up with your band name?

Postelles is a play on the Phil Spector era bands [like] the Rondelles and the Shirelles. We wanted to give a little back to that era, and the post means after that era. It's a little nod back to the '60s. We can carry the torch back to this modern time.

How would you describe your sound?

We're a four-piece band. We just play guitar and rock 'n' roll, rock pop. We really love the classics and the pop songs of Motown and a lot of '70s punk. We like get-to-the-point rock pop. I think that's how we sound.

What are your musical influences?

Our influences range all over the place. We were really influenced by Phil Spector, Motown, the Temptations, Buddy Holly and the Beatles, and from the late '70s -- the Ramones and the Clash. I think we grab from all time periods. We like guitar driven rock and the attitude that those bands had.

What is your biggest vice?

When we're on tour we can't get carried away drinking too much. It will catch up to you about the second week of the tour. I think one of the biggest things that a lot of bands don't think about before going on [tour] is eating healthy. You're going across the country and [there are] these fast food places everywhere, and that really takes its toll.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Water. Drink a lot of water. You drink a lot of alcohol -- a lot beer and a lot of liquor -- when you go to SXSW, so you really need a charge up with water. We played last year and someone told us that, and we ignored them. They were definitely right. Drink a lot of water.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

That's a good question. Wow. I would say I remember being young, [in] like 4th grade, and having a crush on Cindy Crawford. I definitely remember that.

Beatles or Stones?

That can change weekly or daily. John Lennon and Paul McCartney are the greatest songwriters of all time. I think no one will ever touch them in terms of their musical ability to create amazing, patchy, melodic music. On the other hand, the Rolling Stones are the greatest rock 'n'roll band. No one could make a sound like the Rolling Stones. I think that with the Beatles, a lot of bands tried to create the Beatles. You can make a song and think that's really Beatles-ish, but no band can ever sound like the Rolling Stones. No one can ever sing like Jagger or play guitar like Keith Richards. They're by far the two greatest bands of all time. I go back and forth.

Do you have any musical guilty pleasures?

You mean bands that I'm in to I'm sort of ashamed of? I really like the new Alicia Keys song ['Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart']. It's a really good song. I'm sort of jealous. I think she's talented. I'm not gonna go onstage and try to emulate her or anything, [but] I think she's a great songwriter. She gets too much of a bad rap.

What is the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

We've seen a lot of crazy stuff. We played Iceland Airwaves [Music Festival]. They gave us this drink called Black Death, which is extremely potent. We waited until the last night to do it, but we knew we had to. It hit us pretty hard. The craziest thing I ever saw was in England a year and a half ago. One of our English friends who was showing us around London decided to completely take off his pants and peed all over the street. His friend came up to him and said, "Stop, the police are coming," and he turns around and pees all over his friend. I've never laughed so hard. It was pretty amazing to see that. That's the craziest thing I have ever seen, at least [the craziest] that I can say in an interview.

Chasity Goddard is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.