Anyone knows how to get in touch with the band's management? Hehe, I'd like to send them the above jpeg of the article.

The full interview including other additional snippets that didn't make the cut (in the above article) because I had only two pages to play with:

You have a new look!

The sideburns are new! I haven't had them for a while; my hair got long so I figured I could look younger. It's pretty cool [smiles]

There seems to be many facades to who Ben Gibbard is: a poet, writer, lead singer to a few bands and even an actor. Could you tell us who the real Ben is?

I don't know. I mean, my mother knows who I am [smiles]. I like to think that my professional persona is close to my personal persona if possible. I am a human being and I have troubles like everyone else. But, I don't necessary think that's much separation between me and music.

When it comes to song-writing, how do you vision the characters that you are going to sing about; like the single 'Cath'?

You know, I feel like I do best in my writing when I can see the whole song kinda like a movie; like how every detail is specific and very real. I just like to see the whole scene and make the song a lot easier to write for me.

It sounds like you're a storyteller too.

A little bit, maybe. I like to just think myself as a songwriter and kind of live by that. I think that poets only write poetry, novelists write novels and songwriters write songs; but I like to think that there is a poetic element in the way I write songs and that is the very core of me being a songwriter.

A lot of Death Cab For Cutie's songs circle on the theme of love.

The majority of songs out there are about love songs and it's the one thing about life that you can't figure out. You could figure out schooling, classes and everything else but love is an unending well of inspiration; it's something that we all would be dealing with and it's what we all need as human beings.

Are they necessary based on your experience or stories you've heard from people that you think it would make a great a story to sing to the world?

I don't ever feel like I have to steal other people's stories but I do think the songs that most people could relate to are love songs. So, whenever anybody talks about my songwriting and how personal it is [pauses] of course there are things that I choose to not write about yet I won't write about things that people can't relate to.

You guys took time off to pursue solo projects; was it difficult to get back into the momentum as a band?

It really wasn't; I actually really like it [that I took time off]. We've been doing this as a band and these few months of constant touring prolonged everything and by the time you get down to work, the last you want to do is go straight into the studio and do a record. We have to go and live our lives and enjoy the fruits of our labour and for me, as a songwriter, I kind of go out and live my life. But, not necessary on having the sole purpose to write about but certainly to feel alive for all the time for spending together as a band.

It's like, you need a break from the guys…

Yeah, of course! We all need a break from each other but it's not the kind of break that we would kill each other; it's the kind of break that we need to go out and realise what we do is incredibly extraordinary, not normal and we need to balance our lives with some normal things. We can't be living on the tour bus and on stages; that's crazy!

And imagining yourself waking up in a different country and time zone and wondering where and what you are doing…

Exactly! I don't want to live like this everyday for my life.

Tell us, what are some of the normal things you missed doing when you head home?

Well, to me, going to the grocery store, making dinner, go and see movies and waking up in the morning to work on songs; kind of having my day to make whatever I want with it. It's hard to go back to that structured life of touring to going back home and not having to wake up to do anything; it's strange but what I could find myself doing is, running errands, you know?

That's so normal!

It is normal [laughs]. I mean, our lives are normal lives with increasing levels of extraordinary and surreal things slipped in between cracks. But you see, that's what's everybody's lives is about; you have to deal with a level of notoriety if you're a celebrity, writer or whatever else. For some people who are more successful or famous, their surreal life surpasses their real life; I try to keep mine as normal as possible. I don't want to be Bono [laughs] I'm sure Bono loves being Bono but I like my life!

How do the folks back at Seattle treat you?

We're a popular band but the thing about being in a popular band is that there are more people who know your music than how would you look like. Unless you are super famous, which we're not, it's pretty fairly easy to go about my life and do my business. I'm also immune to being recognised; it's not like we're the Beatles in 'A Hard Day's Night.' I live in a densely populated area of town and nobody bothers me; a lot of people in Seattle are cool and even if people recognised me, they won't bother much.

What's the best and worst thing about doing what you do?

The best part is that, we end up in a place like this that we've never done before and we're playing sold-out shows, which is really exciting. It's amazing to think about how we wrote this music in a bedroom and we did it then in a studio. Suddenly, we're going nearly half around the world to play for people who are excited to hear it. The worst part of is missing a lot of our families and it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain relationships with people because we're always away. But, it's worth it if you can find the right balance.

Your album, Narrow Stairs peaked at number one of the Billboard Albums chart. Were you guys psyched about it?

Of course! Yeah, we were excited; it was crazy. A lot of bigger records came out the week before; we really didn't have a lot competition that week but it's really exciting. It's something that I, never in a million years, would expect that. It was pretty wild!

If you could describe Narrow Stairs using just adjectives, what would they be?

[thinks] It's dark, honest, truthful and I think it's also beautiful. A lot of people took a big deal out of it being a dark record but I think there are a lot of rays of sunlight in our record too and people need to look a bit harder to find it.

We think a lot of bands like yours seem to mature over the years and you've produced such an amazing album. Do you ever feel the need to push yourself musically?

Thank you! We don't necessarily think ourselves as pushing; every record that we make is a reflection of things on my mind and the kind of music that are influencing me and all of us. I think that when the band is done, whenever that would be, I think we would be able to look back and really have a better idea of which record is the best. At this point, I feel like we have a lot of music to make and for me, it's really great that we never ran out of ideas; they may not always be good ideas but we've always have ideas [laughs]. I can't remember the last time when we didn't have a lot of songs to record.

Your band's ten years old and you've churned out six albums. With the rise of so many upcoming bands, do you ever feel old?

I [pauses] recently turned 32…

Oh, happy belated birthday!

[laughs] Thank you. If anything, I feel about the same when we just started. I don't feel any older but it's interesting and exciting to see young bands coming out now, who are starting their journey. But for us, until today, we feel like we've accomplished so much more and we're continue making records as long as we're inspired to do so.

You'll have stories and accomplishments to tell your grandchildren some day…

[smiles] Exactly, it's my life's work! At this point, we all are so much invested in each other and unless there is a reason to stop what we're doing; I don't see a reason to…

Some of your fans have admitted that they've listened to your band way before your songs were made popular on hit shows like The O.C. Was that ever a curse or a gift that your band went from this special unknown indie band to hitting it big mainstream?

There is no graceful way to go from being unknown indie band to a mainstream band. It's awkward but I think it's a chapter of the band's history. I don't have any ill feelings about it and it's an interesting turn of events. I don't think there's anything wrong with it; maybe it's like, not cool for indie kids. Those people, a lot of them have stopped going to our shows…

Your fans stopped going to your shows?

I think those who take the most issue out of it have stopped.

Well, they are missing out!

I know! They are!

Do you ever go online to read the reviews about your albums?

If somebody sends us one that is really good, I'd read them [laughs], but I really don't read reviews of our records. I just realised that my sense of satisfaction in the work that we do is far more valuable to me than what someone else thinks about it. By the time the record is already done and sold in stores, we've already had plenty of time to fix it the way we wanted. If somebody doesn't like it, we won't change the way of making a record the next time. Having this sort of opinion, someone's random opinion in my brain, doesn't affect the way I make music because it's not going to shape the way I do my job. That said, it's always nice to hear someone likes the record. But I cease from reading reviews online; I feel calmer now.

If you weren't making music, what would you be doing?

I can't really say at this moment; I've been doing this long enough that I [pauses] don't want to think about what my other alternatives would be; I rather just enjoy it.

No plans even if you retire from the music industry one day?

I need to get some hobbies. I don't have any hobby; maybe I'll start collecting stamps [smiles].

-end-

A friend once asked, "Now that you've met some of your favourite musicians face-to-face, have you any that you wished you could've meet?"

I thought long and hard. I did meet Brandon Boyd but I didn't get a one-to-one so that doesn't count.

I couldn't give a proper answer.

I figured I really must have met some of these people who left an impact on my life with their music. It didn't dawn upon me until I met some DCFC fans who saw the picture I took with Ben on my Facebook profile and was utterly excited about it. It was like a monumental point which I still have not come to terms with. We all know how huge DCFC is and meeting him brought me (sort of) back to earth.

But I do wish for one thing: that I could've interviewed Jeff Buckley before his passing. And then, I'd probably die in music heaven happily.