Q&A: Tokyo Police Club

Tokyo Police Club, from L to R: Josh Hook, Graham Wright, David Monks and Greg Alsop. (Credit: Chrissy Piper / Special to Metromix)

The last time Tokyo Police Club played Indy, they weren’t even allowed to enter Birdy’s before their set. Instead of getting a pre-show buzz inside, the Canadian indie rockers, who weren’t 21, were recruited by the Army while playing sidewalk hockey. But it was still a really fun time, says drummer Greg Alsop.

This positive attitude seems to serve the up-for-anything, garage-meets-pop band well. Tokyo Police Club is moving up in the world, with the June release of its second full-length album, “Champ,” and a spring tour with Passion Pit. The band takes on Indy again July 29, this time at the Vogue.

Alsop caught up with Metromix from the road, in the middle of the band’s tour alongside Freelance Whales.

Give me the run-down on your new album, “Champ.” What changed this time around?
The main difference this time compared to every other time is that we gave ourselves as much time as necessary to complete it. Previous EPs were recorded within three days, and our first album, “Elephant Shell,” took two and a half weeks to record. This time we were able to afford ourselves an unlimited amount of time without a deadline, which gave us the freedom to explore ideas fully.

Tokyo Police Club’s songs are always such mood-lifters. What sort of music puts you in good spirits?
There are certain songs that I listen to on the road when I start to feel homesick, but it’s actually melancholy songs that lift my spirits. The idea that someone has been through those emotions before — that the songwriter is empathizing with you — is comforting to me. I think my favorite is “Summer In The City,” by Regina Spektor.

You have been touring non-stop for several years. What do you like most about the touring lifestyle?
The fact that I get to play music every night with my best friends, which is hindering at times, too. Being in a band requires business decisions, and that part can inspire disagreements that shouldn’t really matter. You’re in relationship, not just with your band but everyone who is touring with you. It’s like being on the “Real World.” Everything is amplified, and even small things can set you off. Like, “Ugh, someone ate my pretzels! Who would eat my pretzels?”

The tour you’re doing now is called the “Champ Championship,” so you’re inviting fans to challenge you before your shows. What sorts of challenges have you faced?
In Baltimore, a couple challenged us to a crab-picking contest. They brought us a bag of steamed blue crabs and explained how to clean the crabs and separate the guts. They basically judged us on who could pick crabs the best, and we got really great beers and crabs. To have people come out in every city and share a tradition of the city is the bonus of the “Champ Championship.”

I want to challenge you to something, over the phone, but I can’t think of anything besides saying the alphabet backwards. Go!
That’s the one thing I can’t do! I’ve tried! I remember we were talking about that one time, and I couldn’t remember where the letter “Q” comes — if it’s before “P” or after. So you win! I feel like being able to say the alphabet backwards was a past generation’s tradition because there was more drunk driving.

Which was a bigger thrill, playing “Letterman” or performing at the Olympics?
They’re really different feelings, actually. When we played the Olympics, they were just kind of normal shows alongside the Olympics, not a main event, but it was amazing to be a part of it. We went from finishing our album in L.A. to Vancouver for the last two days of the Olympics. You could feel energy in the city. We were removed from Canadian events because we were watching in the U.S., but just to go over and be immersed right when Canada won the curling and hockey titles was more than we could ever ask for.

Our most recent time playing “Letterman” was the first time we were really ourselves in front of the camera, which comes from being a band for five or six years. It affirmed something for us — not just that we’re “young indie up-starts” like we’ve been called. Maybe we’re a real band who can, uh, be a real band.

Besides “young indie upstarts,” are there any other labels that Tokyo Police Club has been pegged with that drive you crazy?
It’s mostly just that label that drives me crazy. It feels like for the last five years we’ve been pegged as a band that’s just starting out, not that we’ve arrived as a permanent entity in the music world. We’re labeled with precarious or stalling our motor. For us, it’s been four years of just going.