Death Cab for Cutie: Doing it Independently

Originally hailing from Bellingham, Washington, Death Cab for Cutie has landed independent rock in the mainstream and on almost every indie music fan’s A-list. The quartet has now released their sixth studio album, Narrow Stairs, all recorded and produced by their own guitarist/keyboardist Chris Walla. When Death Cab visited Vancouver this summer for a tour stop, I had the opportunity to sit down with Chris Walla to talk about some of the challenges of making music today.

Even though Chris records and produces Death Cab’s records, the band still needs to hire people along the way, and that’s not cheap. With LimeWire and illegal downloading, revenue that comes from record sales is severely impacted. “I think the trickiest thing is there’s this perception that people in rock bands are making a brilliant rich living – and by and large it’s not true,” Chris continues. “I mean there are the U2s of the world, but that’s such a tiny, tiny, tiny percentage of who’s actually being creative.”

Nowadays our appreciation of solid records and album art has been replaced by thousands of free downloads on our iPods. “I think that people need to realize that people can’t continue to do this for free,” explains Chris. “The important thing is if you’re a fan of a band, support them in whatever way you can; if you can go to their show, do it. And if you can buy the record, you should do it. And if you can buy a T-shirt, you should do that.”

But it’s not all bad news. Chris admits that advances in music technology have made it possible to produce music much more inexpensively. “The great thing now is that there are so many vehicles for you to actually distribute and sell your music. If you can do it cheaply and you can do it independently, and if you have someone in your band who is savvy enough to actually make recordings, then it works out great.”

And so far it has worked out great for Death Cab, but when asked what legacy he hopes his band will leave in music history, Chris is genuinely surprised by the question. That’s when you know he’s all about the music. After a moment of thought, he replies, “I don’t have any idea,” he laughs. “I hope that our records have a little durability to them. I hope they don’t get bogged down in whatever cool thing people happen to be doing at whatever moment. I hope it’s not totally disposable like so much pop music is.”

Death Dab for Cutie has come a long way from its indie roots and even though the band is now signed to a major record label, its values are still intact – making music with an independent spirit that will keep fans hungry for more of its alt-rock for years to come.