Pitchfork

Interpol bassist Carlos Dengler (aka Carlos D) is well known for being an eccentric guy, but as a musician, he's pretty underrated. So it makes sense that he'd want to gain some respect and musical props in a purely functional role as a composer for film and television. But in his attempt to do just that, he set up a website dedicated to his composing career that reinforces everything we've come to believe about what a weirdo he is.

Exhibit A: His surprisingly adorable bio:

"Carlos is an aspiring film and tv composer in addition to playing bass and keyboards in Interpol. His understanding of harmonic principles and an ear for colorful orchestration have contributed notably to the Interpol sound and are integral to his work as a composer. Although working in a different musical environment, Carlos utilizes the same skills in scoring as he does in Interpol.

Carlos' influences include film composers Angelo Badalamenti, James Newton Howard, Alexander Desplat, and classical composers Henryk Gorecki, Arvo Pärt, and Dmitri Shostakovich.

Carlos resides in New York City with his Italian Greyhound, Gaius. [SEE PHOTO] He works from his home studio on Logic Pro 7 and uses the Vienna Symphonic Library and MOTU Symphonic Instrument to simulate the sound of the symphony orchestra; one day he hopes to work with the real thing. He has scored one short film (The National Anthem) and is currently working on a Randall Poster/Search Party project for HBO to be announced late spring."

See? Even rock stars need resumes.

Exhibit B: The "Works" section of the website includes several samples of Carlos' work available as audio streams. "Goofballs in Kindergarden" (sic), which is "inspired by [the] 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' theme song and Danny Elfman scores for Tim Burton films" is, um, goofy, and vaguely creepy. "Opening Credits", "inspired by John Carpenter," would fit in an action movie starring Michael Douglas. In 1987. "Car Chase", also "inspired by John Carpenter," is a slightly more threatening take on "Opening Credits". So basically it's for the scene in which Michael Douglas chases the bad guy through the dark, rain-slicked streets.

Exhibit C: Golgotha. It's a short film written, produced, and scored by Carlos and directed by his friend Daniel Ryan, prominently featuring Carlos' menacing, Vangelis-like soundtrack (there is no dialogue). It can be summarized by the follow four themes, listed in chronological order of appearance:

1) Look, some buildings!
2) Homeless people exist.
3) White people sometimes gather in large numbers.
4) This church sure has some crazy shit!

Exhibit WTF: The "Works" section also features video clips from the films The Devil Wears Prada and Ice Age 2, the TV shows "Deadwood" and "The West Wing", and a commercial for planting trees in Atlanta. What, you thought Carlos D only watched foreign language thrillers from the 1940s or something?

However, none of the music in these video clips is what actually appeared in the films/shows/commercial. It's been replaced by Carlos' own interpretations of the sounds that would have fit the moments. Since the Pitchfork office copies of The Devil Wears Prada and Ice Age 2 are currently on loan to our Editor-in-Chief [God, Ryan, bring them back already! Other people want to watch Anne Hathaway make out with Adrian Grenier too!], we couldn't compare his work to the originals. But it seemed perfectly functional (read: not noticeable at all).

Apparently, the bass player in Interpol simply dreams of nothing more than what music would go best with an animated woolly mammoth's moment of introspection.

Don't expect Carlos to be able to do much work any time soon. Interpol's new album Our Love to Admire comes out July 10 on Capitol, and the band is going to be on the road pretty much straight through 'til September.

Interpol tour dates:

05-19 Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (KROQ Weenie Roast)
05-27 George, WA - The Gorge (Sasquatch!)
05-31 Dallas, TX - The Palladium
06-02 Atlanta, GA - HiFi Buys Amphitheatre (99X Big Day Out)
06-03 Chicago, IL - Metro
06-07 Toronto, Ontario - The Guverment
06-09 San Francisco, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre (Live 105 BFD 07)
06-10 San Diego, CA - Devore Stadium (94/9 Independence Jam)
06-21 Dusseldorf, Germany - ISS Dome *
06-23 Scheesel, Germany - Hurricane Festival
06-24 Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany - Southside Festival
06-25 Dresden, Germany - Dresden Alter Schlachthof
06-27 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
06-28 Arendal, Norway - Hove Festival
06-29 Stockholm, Sweden - Accelerator
07-01 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter
07-05 Lisbon, Portugal - Super Bock Super Rock
07-07 Naas, Ireland - Punchestown Racecourse (Oxegen)
07-08 Balado, Scotland - T in the Park
07-19 Rochester, NY - Harro East Ballroom
07-20 Atlantic City, NJ - Music Box @ Borgata
07-21 Norfolk, VA - Norva
07-23 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
07-24 Pittsburgh, PA - Byham
07-25 Columbus, OH - The LC Amphitheatre
07-27 Grand Rapids, Michigan - Orbit Room
07-28 Detroit, MI - State
07-30 Milwaukee, WI - Rave
07-31 Indianapolis, IN - Egyptain
08-01 St. Louis, MO - Pageant
08-03 Covington, KY - Madison Theatre
08-04 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-05 Baltimore, MD - Pimlico Race Course (V Festival)
08-11 Tokyo, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-12 Osaka, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-24 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-25 Leeds, England - Leeds England
09-08-09 Montreal, Quebec – Osheaga Music and Arts Festival