After a brief stint earlier this year opening for the Arcade Fire, The National are currently on an ambitious headlining tour in support of the band’s latest album, “Boxer.” Berninger sat down with Metromix to discuss his Midwest heritage, the confusion behind his baseball-themed political rant and why he’s been swimming with the alligators.
How did you originally decide to move from Cincinnati to New York?
It wasn’t for the band. We weren’t even playing together when we were in Cincinnati. Most of us moved for work or school, and it was about four years after that when we formed The National.
Do you think your Midwest sensibilities shaped your music at all?
Our Midwestern roots do play a part in the music, at least in the way I write about things. For my perspective, growing up in Ohio, I thought New York was this mystical Gotham. I had a very romantic connection to it from films, and even though I live there, I still feel the same way. Our music is essentially my fascination with the urban life and how surreal it can be.
You lived with these songs on “Boxer” for a few months now. How do you feel they’re holding up?
Really, really good. When we made the record, it was different than [2005 album] “Alligator,” and we didn’t want to repeat ourselves. The songs seem to be connecting, and people are enjoying them. But live, the songs are mutating. They’ve evolved, or in some cases, devolved. They have to—we can’t recreate all that we do on the record, like the horn sections.
Your band seems to be doing extraordinarily well—playing in large halls, touring with Arcade Fire—and yet, I think 99 percent of casual music fans would have a hard time identifying you.
The mainstream has changed. There seem to be a lot more bands like us—we do very well without depending on radio, MTV or any sort of mainstream outlet. The Internet and word of mouth is really helping us. But we’re still underground, too. Of course, we’d be happy with more mainstream success, but we don’t need it.
There’s something on your web site called “Gator Around with The National.” What is that?
Oh, god, it’s so stupid. We were in Florida a year and a half ago, went to Okie Fanokie Swamp and just filmed amongst the alligators. It’s retarded.
Hanging with alligators, huh? OK, so what’s a night like on a National tour bus?
Lately, it’s mellow. I’ve been right to my bunk and sleeping a lot. It’s not Motley Crue. We’re all quiet, respectful of space and we keep the bus clean. We’re not doing lines of coke or anything, that’s for sure.
I randomly discovered you’re a “Battlestar Galactica” fan. Any hopes/fears for the final season?
That was a phase. I binge on TV shows. You can do that with DVDs, and never leave the couch. Now I think I really dig “Big Love.” Oh, and “The Office.”
There’s a documentary about you coming out soon. Can you tell me a little about it?
It won’t come out until January. This filmmaker, Vincent Moon, is sort of a friend of ours—we met in Paris years ago; he does this certain, fly-on-the-wall type of filmmaking. There are not many interviews—it’s just him filming stuff in the background as we were working on “Boxer.” We’d forget he was there, so I don’t know how many embarrassing things he caught. It’s not going to beat out “The Bourne Ultimatum,” that’s that for sure. [Laughs]
How difficult is the writing and recording process for you?
It’s pleasantly challenging. It takes a while to make a record we’re proud of. It takes me a long time to get lyrics together—sometimes they go fast, sometimes [they take] forever. I think it’s frustrating to the other guys, especially when I just have to finish two lines and it takes me three months to do it.
Your lyrics are very fragmented, and you’ve admitted that. But on “Alligator” there was a song called “Mr. November” that seemed to have a few points you wanted to make.
That is a good example. It’s about a few things that were consciously on my mind. It is about politics—it was written during the 2004 presidential campaign, with, um, Jim Carrey…
John Kerry?
Oh, so that’s why he lost! Yeah, John Kerry. And the song is a reference to Reggie Jackson, who was called “Mr. October.” And the song itself is about us just finishing the record. So, yes, it’s about all of those things. That’s the case with a lot of the songs. They’re just about different things on my mind.
FYI, Derek Jeter is known around New York as “Mr. November.”
Really? I don’t pay attention to that Jeter stuff. But now I can use that in my explanation, too.
The National plays tonight at Terminal 5, the Westside club's opening concert.
