Pitchfork

While the TV on the Radio blizzard swirls around him, guitarist-singer Kyp Malone manages to keep a steadfast calm-- a calm that he maintained even as Stephen Colbert stroked his beard on "The Colbert Report" a couple weeks back. After a triumphant 2008, TVOTR is off to another banner year, making their "Saturday Night Live" debut and being hand-picked by none other than David Bowie to contribute a cover of "Heroes" to War Child's Heroes album. (Proceeds from the record will benefit children affected by wars around the world.)

And TVOTR just announced a slew of North American shows that will commence in May, about a month after they hit Coachella April 18 (see dates below). And Malone just put out an album with his other band, Iran. But, talking to him, it seems like the guy has the next four years off. He's like human chamomile tea. But he can still get (relatively) peeved about not-so-great "SNL" sound and senseless global atrocities, as I learned in a brief chat yesterday:

Pitchfork: I read a couple of things online about the sound for your "SNL" performance being subpar, and that show is notorious for having bad sound in general. What did you think when you looked back at it?

Kyp Malone: I never watch any of those things-- it's bad for me. It was a really good vibe, though. But I was immediately told how shitty the sound was by people who were outside the room. All we had power over was the performance; we don't have a sound engineer who's a union guy. I feel like I'm making excuses but we just did what we did. It was fun in the room.

It's funny because I've heard a bunch of people say that the sound is bad there, but they had a lot of great-sounding performances in the 1970s and early 80s-- this one Stevie Nicks performance stands out. There's always things with TV like how you can only play four-minute versions of the singles. But I feel that show has more leeway with the musicians because they can change things around as it goes. The idea that someone can actually get into a performance and not just blow their load in the first two minutes is great. But I guess the 70s were a different time. I don't know what's different about it, but I know that performances on "SNL" can sound good, so it's really frustrating that ours didn't.

Pitchfork: Did you happen to catch the Jonas Brothers last week?

KM: I actually missed that.

Pitchfork: I wonder if they had any sound issues.

KM: The Jonas Brothers probably had Mickey Mouse standing in the control room with a gun. I'm sure it was a handgun, not an assault rifle.

Pitchfork: I'm sure. So were you intimidated to cover "Heroes"-- one of the greatest songs of all time-- for the War Child album?

KM: Since it is one of the greatest songs of all time I think it'll stand on its own two feet regardless of whether or not Bowie's doing it. I hope that we did it justice; I honestly haven't listened to it since it's been mixed because I actually did get intimidated after the fact.

Pitchfork: Have you heard the Wallflowers' version of "Heroes"?

KM: With Jakob Dylan?

Pitchfork: Yeah. They did it for the Godzilla soundtrack in 1998.

KM: No, I've never heard that.

Pitchfork: Have you listened to any of the other covers on the War Child album?

KM: I went to the site and I heard a Clash cover by the singer Lily Allen.

Pitchfork: What'd you think of that?

KM: I think that anyone who's contributing to a cause that's trying to help children affected by war is honorable. I'm not a critic.

Pitchfork: Very diplomatic. Have you guys been approached by other charities to do stuff like this?

KM: I feel self-conscious about waving a flag like, "Look what we did!" It's really gross and outside the point of doing that kind of work.

Pitchfork: Have you had any firsthand experience with people or places War Child would be contributing money to?

KM: I've had friends who were from places where they're doing work-- people who escaped war and have seen the lingering effects of that trauma. I haven't been to Iraq but a lot of my money has-- what we've paid for is pretty much unprovoked mass murder. So anything I can do to try and make that better without picking up a gun is worthwhile.

TV on the Radio:

04-18 Indio, CA - Coachella
05-12 Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall
05-16 Austin, TX - Stubbs
05-17 Dallas, TX - House of Blues
05-18 Oklahoma, OK - Diamond Ballroom
05-22 Oakland, CA - Fox Oakland Theatre
05-23 Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
05-25 Vancouver, British Columbia - Malkin Bowl
05-27 Edmonton, Alberta - Edmonton Events Center
05-28 Calgary, Alberta - Macewan Hall
05-29 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Louis’ Pub
06-02 Toronto, Ontario - Sound Academy
06-03 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis
06-04 Boston, MA - House of Blues
06-05 New York, NY - Central Park Summer Stage
06-08 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club