Lots of my readers know the name of my favorite band: Tokyo Police Club

Well, a few weeks ago, right before SXSW, the guys got a couple of Zunes.  Now, some 6-8 weeks later, I caught up w/ them (on email) and asked them:

CM: For those that don't know, tell us a little about how you formed:

TPC: We formed in January of 2005. We had all played music with each other before in previous bands but they all sort of dissolved over time. Then Dave started writing some songs and needed people to play on them and we all missed making music together, so we started getting together in Josh's basement just for fun to see what we could come up with and this band is what came of it.
 
CM: Cool! And what's new with you guys lately? Are you touring right now?

TPC: We actually have about a month and half off from touring right now, which hasn't happened for a long while, so that's pretty new. We've all just moved out of our parents houses and are living in the city which is a huge adventure for everybody. Also, we're writing new songs!
 
CM: What was it like being on Letterman?

TPC: The Letterman performance was actually the first show I've been nervous about since we started playing live over a year ago. I've always been a huge fan of the show, so it was really exciting to see the set in real life and shake David's and Paul's hands afterwards. Once we got on stage though for the taping and started playing, we all kind of just forgot about the circumstances and it was just like playing the song every other time we had done it. The one bit of advice we had gotten from a band who had been on Letterman previously was to just forget about the cameras and play like you do normally in a club setting. I think going in with that mindset helped a lot.
 
CM So I'm curious – what did you guys name the Zunes you got? Mine is called "More Awesomer" which is. . . um, ironic.

TPC: That name's much more awesomer than mine... I set mine up in the few hours I had in the middle of the night before leaving again on tour, so I think I just named it Greg's Zune and was done with it. Maybe I'll re-christen it properly now that I've had some time to think about it.
 
Did you guys send songs? Which ones did you send?

TPC: We always share music that we've discovered with one another, so this has definitely made it easier to do so. I got the song "Punk Rocker" by the Teddybears from Josh, which has Iggy Pop guesting as vocalist on it. I thought it was pretty rad. I sent him Adopduction by Les Savy Fav, which is currently my favourite song... I haven't found out what he thinks about it yet though.
 
CM: It seems like a lot of great music is coming out of Canada – you guys, Arcade Fire, You Say Party, We Say Die, Shout out out out. . . I suppose that's not really a question, just more of an observation. . .

TPC: I think we can all agree, Canada has a bunch of really talented bands and artists that are springing up all over the country. That's one thing we've definitely missed with touring so much are going to local shows and seeing new bands that are forming in the city. It's always great to find a new local band to love.
 
CM: And finally, a question that all my readers *definitely* want to know: you've been all over the world: Australia, the U.S., Japan, and of course Canada. So let me ask this: Canadian girls. . .prettier than American girls? Discuss.

TPC: Our girlfriends are all Canadian, so as far as we know they're definitely prettier than American girls.

<end of interview>

Ok, there you have it, dear blog reader - hope you enjoyed it! As a special treat - here's a Tokyo Police Club  240x320 image, in case you want to change your background.