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Cold War Kids' Nathan Willett: The Exclusive Interview By Neon Tommy

Jillian Morabito |
September 15, 2013 | 10:36 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

Willett at the Fonda this past summer. (Photo by Jillian Morabito/Neon Tommy)
Willett at the Fonda this past summer. (Photo by Jillian Morabito/Neon Tommy)
Perhaps best known for hits such as “Hang Me Up to Dry” or “Hospital Beds,” the Cold War Kids show no sign of slowing down. They’ve released four studio albums, as well as a slew of singles in the past eight years. “Tuxedos,” the band’s newest EP, is available for purchase this Tuesday.

Lead singer Nathan Willett took the time to discuss with Neon Tommy their newest work, upcoming tour, and the future of the band.

Neon Tommy: Tell us a little bit about your new EP, "Tuxedos."

Nathan Willett: This is the first time I’ve talked about it but it’s a group of songs where, after making this last record (Dear Miss Lonelyhearts), we recorded a bunch of covers and our friend Richard Swift sang and played backup vocals. Some of the songs from that session ended up being on that album, like “Miracle Mile.” The EP is kind of a combination of a couple of covers, unreleased songs and alternate versions. 

NT: Even though a few songs are covers, was the recording process different this time than before?

Willett: It was kind of a fun thing to do at the end of the album. Something about doing cover songs that make you free of thinking so hard about the chords and everything. It just kind of lets you play someone else’s song and get lost in it. The one’s we put on the EP are the Antony and the Johnsons’ “Aeon” and The Band’s “You Don’t Come Through.”  

NT: You’re tour kicked off in August, how has that been going?

Willett: Really well. We’ve been touring since the record came out in April and so it’s nice to get the EP out. We have a video for “Tuxedos” coming out in the next couple of weeks. 

ALSO SEE: A Cold War Kids Homecoming at the Fonda

NT: Another favorite band you’re working with - what is it like touring with Papa?

Willett: They’re great, and they’re from L.A. also. They really won me over.

NT: What is the favorite song you’ve ever written?

Willett: That’s such a hard one but “Loner Phase” I’ve really been enjoying playing live every night. It’s a fun one and a little bit different than everything else. That’s my favorite for now.

NT: Who has influenced the band?

Willett: So so many, but recently I’ve been loving Frank Ocean’s new album that he put out. That’s been a real go-to for us. A lot of Leonard Cohen as well. It’s just all over the place.

NT: What has inspired your music?

Willett: The album was inspired by the novel written by Nathanael West. I was inspired by the connection that happens between art, reading, music and literature and weaving those things together to make something that is powerful. 

ALSO SEE: Cold War Kids Evolves Their Sound With 'Dear Miss Lonelyhearts'

NT: What is your favorite part about what you do?

Willett: Right now, it’s just thinking about new music. Being in a place where this is our fourth record and we’re touring, we’re just in that phase where we’re starting to work on new songs and that’s the most exciting thing.  

NT: How are the relationships with the other band members?

Willett:We met through a big group of friends that were kind of all around Long Beach and LA. It was kind of after we were all done with school where we were kind of working, but not really sure what road we were going as far as our career. It was in that weird time of our lives in our twenties where we just started playing together and seeing what happens just for fun. We wanted to hang out, but we didn’t have that much time so we figured we’d just start playing music together. Then, a lot of crazy stuff started happening so we toured a lot, just kept releasing music, and never really looked back.

NT: Have you had any adversity or setbacks? And how have you dealt with that? 

Willett: Yeah, a lot. You have a group of guys that have a different vision for the band and I think it takes a long time to kind of sort out what that’s going to be. It’s hard to do this and we’ve been doing this for about eight years, with touring, recording and everything. It’s the stuff that everyone experiences—figuring out how to live your life on the road with other people and also stay somewhat normal.

NT: Cold War Kids has obviously done so much already, but what do you hope to accomplish in the future?

Willett: As a band early on, we were able to get a lot of attention and fans and we were able to put our records out. We’ve always had good exposure and we’ve been very fortunate with that. I think from early on and the time we had our first record, we had a sense that we had almost more to live up to than what we’ve done so far so I think we have a lot to prove for the next record. 

SEE ALSO: Neon Tommy's Full Music Coverage

The Cold War Kids play at the Wiltern this Thursday

See other concert dates here

Reach Staff Reporter Jillian Morabito here.



 

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