We both loved music growing up but when he sent me his demo CD I was afraid he would be mocked. Now Interpol is my favourite band – and we’re the best of friends
This story ends at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2018. I’m standing alongside the rest of the sold-out arena, punching the dry ice, roaring along to Lights during Interpol’s sold-out show, as my youngest brother, Daniel, strides across the stage slashing at his guitar, singer Paul Banks leading the throng. “That’s why I hold you,” we all sing, “that is why I hold you dear.”
But that’s not how this story begins. It starts in 1985 in Paris, where I’ve just told my mother that I will not be joining her when she emigrates to Washington DC with my two brothers, Mark, 13, and Daniel, 10. I am 16, soon to be 17. We moved from London four years ago for my father’s work, but my parents are divorcing. I’m going back to London where, I tell Mum, I will become someone who listens to music professionally. Eventually I do, working as staff on NME throughout the 90s.
