MC: Approximately four years passed between the release of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and Bankrupt! Why so long?
Branco: There were two years of touring and then two years of songwriting and recording. For us, it’s scary to say that but it’s the usual time we need for an album. I know it’s too much but there’s nothing we can do about it.
MC: What do you think is one of the keys to being a successful band?
Branco: I have no idea, of course. Our goal is not to be a successful band. Our goal is to be a good band. And that’s very hard, actually. It’s much harder than being successful. I don’t know if that’s a good thing but that’s our goal. We have this naïve approach and we think that if [the music] is good, it will be successful. We know that’s not always the case but we have this idea of doing something great and hopefully people will like it.
MC: What advice do you offer to bands that are just getting their start?
Branco: They should do the opposite of what a lot of people or bands do. The worst habit is trying to recreate whatever people are doing right now because that’ll be different by tomorrow. Do something different; something new that has yet to be done. The goal is to create the desires of the future and not to recreate the desires of the past.
MC:What was one of the biggest challenges you encountered while writing and recording Bankrupt!?
Branco: The challenge was not to do a record like our previous one. And then there were some technical challenges because the sound was very full at some moments and to me it was something that was very cool. To make this balance was difficult because it was like a combination of completely different styles—like doing jazz with heavy metal. That was a challenge but it’s also what we liked about this record. It’s hard to create something new. But if it weren’t hard, it would be very boring.
MC: How was “Entertainment” chosen as the first single?
Branco: We love every song on the record and when we write an album we really think of it as a whole. We never think about singles. We as a band have a brief conversation and try to choose a song that sums up the vibe of the record. Actually, for me, there are eight songs that we could have picked. But it’s like trying to choose your favorite child. This wasn’t an easy decision. We liked this one because it conveyed some kind of picture or image of the album. We wanted to show the fans that we needed to evolve. We didn’t want to reconjure the same songs again.
MC: Were other songs considered or was it pretty clear that “Entertainment” was going to be the single?
Branco: As I’ve said, there were a number of songs that we could have gone with; it could have been a lot of other ones. Perhaps the decision was arbitrary but it was our instinct. Usually when we follow our instincts, it leads us to very real places. We think it’s the best decision. To do something right, you should follow your primary instinct.
