Ben Gibbard on landmark 20th anniversaries for Death Cab and The Postal Service

nme.com:

Ben Gibbard has spoken to NME about 2023 marking key 20th anniversaries for both Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service – as well as plans for upcoming tours and celebrations.This week saw Death Cab kick off their UK tour in support of their acclaimed 2022 album ‘Asphalt Meadows’.

Later this year, Gibbard will be hitting the road in the US for a double headline tour in which The Postal Service will celebrate 20 years of their cult classic ‘Give Up’ while DCFC will mark two decades of their 2003 breakthrough album ‘Transatlanticism’ – with both records being played in full each night.Looking back on the influential synth-pop gem ‘Give Up’, NME asked Gibbard if he felt at the time like he was making an important record that we’d still be talking about 20 years later .“Of course not, but what if I said I did?” he jokingly replied. “Maybe I could really drum up some hate press!

Really though, it’s important to understand the context of early ‘00s American indie rock.”He continued: “We were making this record before 2004, when indie rock really broke [in the US].

Death Cab felt like we were on cloud nine, having sold like 40,000 records and playing venues like The Bowery Ballroom. We felt like we had made it.