Interpol's Carlos D speaks out on quitting the band

Interpol's Carlos D quit band to become actor, speaks out - interview

Photo: New York University

Former Interpol bassist Carlos D has spoken out on why he quit the band, revealing that he is now pursuing an acting career. Amusingly, he blames being bored watching Coldplay partly for his departure.

Dengler left the band in 2010 following the completion of their self-titled fourth album. Now, in an interview with Bedford + Bowery, the 41-year-old Carlos has revealed that he has distanced himself from his former bandmates and has now totally abandoned music in favour of acting after graduating from NYU - with upcoming projects including a new book and a one-man show featuring music from Smashing Pumpkins.

"I don’t like phrase 'we don’t talk'," says Dengler of his relationship with Interpol. "That’s sort of like someone hammering a plaque into a rock and engraving it: 'Thus they do not speak, in perpetuity'. And it’s a much more fluid situation than that.

"The fact of the matter is that I have not spoken to them in quite some time. I haven’t spoke to Sam [Fogarino] or Paul [Banks] since I left the band, since I actually left our group counseling session together, which is where I announced that I was leaving. That was the last time that I saw them in the flesh."

He added: "I saw Daniel [Kessler] a couple times after that— we actually met up— and then as things got more serious with my training, I just wasn’t ready to continue the friendship."

Watch Interpol discuss the future and life after Carlos with Gigwise below

He also revealed that a turning point came when being bored watching Coldplay: ""I think the moment for me, and it’s funny to think that this is the occasion for it, but when Coldplay— our old manager was Coldplay’s manager— played Saturday Night Live, he offered us tickets . And when I felt so much titillation and excitement over all the skits— Jon Hamm was the host— and looking at how they were being performed. And then when Coldplay came on, I felt bored, quite frankly. I knew then that there was something going on with me, some kind of identity shift, really. It really troubled me."

On his trouble with addiction, he revealed: "I was not really mentally all that well while I was in Interpol," Dengler added. "I had many substance and process addictions that I was coping with. And I was, you know, the classic VH1 Behind the Music story of upward rise and downward fall. The only difference was that— because I didn’t have such a good relationship with my bandmates— I wasn’t willing to be in the band with them while I experienced my crash." Speaking on life after music, he continued: "I mean, that’s one of the reasons why I don’t hang out in clubs or go to bars or really participate in anything that I used to do when I was in Interpol, is that I truly want to start over. And I don’t want any kind of head start. I do and I don’t obviously, because I complain a lot about having to start over, because I’m 41.

"But in terms of my own interest in theater, I consider it to be a necessary part of my process. I don’t want to ever get a gig because the director’s like a fan of Interpol or something like that. I would construe that as a fundamentally corrupting ingredient in the mix. I might be naive or idealistic in wanting this, but it’s an ideal. I want to do this for the art, for the art."

Carlos with Interpol in 2007. Photo: WENN

Speaking to Gigwise about Carlos' departure, drummer Som Fogarino said: "It happens with families when they lose a family member.

"The awful death of whoever will make the unit realise that they were being very trivial and shallow over something. Now that person's gone, they have to remember what's really important and not get caught up in superficiality of making music. Carlos got caught up in that a lot."

Interpol are currently completing a final run of EU festival dates in support of their brilliant 2014 album, El Pintor.

See our Interpol take-over below:
EXCLUSIVE: Go behind the scenes with Interpol on the making of the band's 'new chapter' in this in-depth video EPK