Did you get any time to explore Sziget?

Bryce Dessner: Yes, we took a look at it. We are going to have more time after the show though, so we really hope we can see the gig of the legendary singer Cheikh Lo from Senegal... we really admire his work. As for the festival, well yes, I have heard of it even before the band got the invitation to play here, people do talk a lot about it – indeed the comparision with Glastonbury is correct. Besides Glasto, this is the greatest European festival. We are very excited to play here, this is the last day of the festival... but we really hope you are not too tited yet and will choose our gig tonight.

Have you decided about the songs you are going to play for us tonight?

BD: The catalogue is not yet finished, but we have some drafts about the plan... You know, there is the chance for some spontaneous changes right before the show...

You are going to be followed by Manic Street Preachers on the Main Stage. Do you like their music?

BD: I'm not a fan, but I have to admit that Manic Street Preachers is an important band. It is a typically British thing by the way, it's not saying much to Americans, I guess.

We talked with Daniel Kessler the guitarist of Interpol the other day, and he mentioned that you are pretty good friends. Do you think there is a chance for two bands to work together? It would be awesome to see Interpol co-operate with National.

BD: It would definitely work because the two bands have a lot in common, for example our music has a similar sound and we both have gloomy lyrics. On the other hand, we use a whole lot more instruments than they do, they prefer to do simple songs... so I can imagine working with Daniel and perhaps their drummer Sam (Sam Fogarino – ed.). We are really good friends, by the way. Anyway, if we decided to work together, we would definitely not make a supergroup.

So you are not crazy about supergroups? It is quite a trendy thing nowadays...

BD: Not quite, because in a supergroup there is no chance for a musician's individual qualities to stand out, so it is very likely that important characters and characteristics of the band might get lost. I am not saying that gifted musicians mustn't work together, if I said so I would talk against myself... as you know, we have worked with Panda Bear, Dave Sitek and David Byrne.

Once I read an interview with Matt, and he said that he was kind of like a father-figure in the band, making decisions about which songs would be on the album and which wouldn't. Do you guys always respect and accept his decisions?

BD: Well, the hierarchy within the band is more like this: Matt is our president, and we are his congress. The reason why Matt can make more decisions is simply because he is the one who has to write the lyrics for the music we create. If he decided not to do it, the whole stuff would just stop and fade. He is an incredible songwriter, but he does make mistakes, too, every once in a while.  If something like that happens, we always let him know about the problem, and since Matt is always open to a dialogue, he pays attention to our notions.

What are the musical influences that inspired the album High Violet?

BD: It was mainly stuff by John Cale and Velvet Underground, but we didn't expect stream-of-consciousness-like High Violet to turn out to be so much like an album from New York: it a whole lot rougher than our previous works. Besides John Cale, we also like Michael Stipe, we have spent a lot of time on tour with R.E.M. We are on really great terms with Michael, he always stood by our side and encouraged us. But of course we could not say that High Violet consists of R.E.M.-songs. 

Music-journalist all seem to adore National. Have you ever received any negative criticism? Would you really be under the weather if you made an album everybody hates?

BD: No, because unlike music journalists, we are very critical when it comes to our albums. This way, they cannot really say anything bad about our stuff we have not pondered about before. On the other hand, we do not receive too much positive feedback because Americans are obsessed with innovation and they always expect a band to re-invent rock'n'roll. For example, jazz-critics are not particularly fond of us, and people who do not think that lyrics matter are not out biggest fans either.   Generally speaking, guys who get turned on by the prettiest girls wearing the trendiest outfits do not like us...

So far, you have won nearly all important professional awards. High Violet was chosen to be the album of the year in 2010 by the readers of Q magazine, and it was Bernand Sumner, the legend of Joy Division and New Order who handed you the award. Is there anything more than this? What is still missing from your collection?

BD: It would be nice to get a Grammy, that would really mean a lot to us, but we know that bands like us rarely get a Grammy... so we are not really toying with the idea. We would love to create a musical collection that speaks for itself. We will definitely need to make three or four further albums to reach this goal...

Dániel Nagy