tunesday - the national interview and album giveaway

"Big fans" is an understatement for the way we feel about the National – in fact, it took everything we had not to blow a gasket while having a pow wow with songwriter and guitarist Aaron Dresner recently.

With their new album Trouble Will Find Me due out this Friday, the Brooklyn-based bunch are Byron bound to play the new-and-improved Splendour in the Grass in July.

We did our best to befriend Aaron with some getting-to-know-you questions, like where he buys records, how he spends his downtime and his favourite way to cut a rug.

FAVOURITE THINGS

Favourite thing about being a twin?
My brother Bryce and I grew up literally sleeping in the same room and doing everything together since we were little, and I think a lot of the social anxieties that children and teenagers normally face, especially in middle school and high school, we didn't really feel because we had each other. We were maybe a little shy or quiet in public situations, but we had this kind of private inner twin world... We lived in rural Ohio, and the way we learnt to play music was because we literally had nothing else to do. Just sitting in our basement, since we were about seven years old we would play music together. Being a twin was amazing and sometimes fraught because people didn't treat us as individuals, it was more one unit or something. But there were many things that were special about it, we always had a friend, we never felt loneliness. Which is a little bit strange, because we have trouble being alone now.

Favourite time of day to write music?
I guess it can come at any time, so the most important thing for me is that before I try to sit down and develop an idea I have the kernel or foundation already there. And usually it's just because I wasn't paying attention, I was just playing an instrument and not worrying about it. But then I'll find there'll be something that strikes me and feels like it has emotion or heart in it, and then I'll focus. But it could happen at any time, although typically I would say the afternoon is kind of when I do things. It's not easy late at night because I'm just too tired, and in the morning I'm doing other things.

Favourite TV show to zone out to?
I don't really watch a lot of TV but I love and have gotten into Downton Abbey. I feel like I'm still working my way through all of the books from the 19th century and before that, and I'm really fundamental about that, I don't read a lot of contemporary literature or watch a lot of TV or anything. It's kind of shallow, but I do enjoy the occasional period drama. Downton Abbey is great.

Favourite dance move to pull on stage?
It's funny, we're the anti-rockstars I think, nobody has delusions of being Mick Jagger. Occasionally I find my brother and I making shapes with our guitars and it's always amusing. He does it a lot more than I do, but I guess once you start playing in front of thousands of people you can't just stand there and stare at your shoes. I would be more prone to doing something very visceral like smashing my guitar with my hand or something. That happens pretty often.

Favourite gig you've watched?
It would have to be a tie between seeing Radiohead on the OK Computer tour at Madison Square Garden or seeing Bob Dylan on the Time Out of Mind tour in 2001, when it was the week after George Harrison had died and Bob Dylan played "Something". It was the first time he had covered a Beatles song and he did it perfectly. That was mindblowing.

Favourite place to buy records in Brooklyn?
There's a store in Williamsburg called Sound Fix, it's amazing. But I have to be honest, I mostly order records from Amazon or buy them off iTunes, so that's kind of boring.

Favourite part about touring with five dudes?
I mean, it would be a lot more fun if there were ladies in the band. Not in a seedy way, but at least it would be less of a dude zoo. I think we're old, old friends, and it's a family. My brother's in the band, and Brian and Scott are brothers, and Matt's like our best friend, so it's like you get to travel with your family and see the world and we never imagined all of these things would happen to us. We definitely pinch ourselves pretty often and are very thankful for all the experiences that we get to have.

Favourite piece of advice you've been given?
Boxer, the National's fourth record, was very difficult to make, and there was a lot of tension in the band. I remember Sufjan Stevens - who is a friend and lives nearby - had a barbecue one day, in the middle of a very dark time when I didn't even know if we would want to finish the record. He said that all of this tension and creative friction was absolutely what we needed to happen. That he felt confident that was exactly what was destined or needed to happen to make the record be what it could be, and to just trust it and go through it. That was good advice and has reappeared time and time again. So when the battles begin, it's actually because we're making progress.

Favourite dog breed?
I love dogs. I love English bulldogs especially. We had two when we were growing up - one was named Edgar, but he died of a heart attack in the summer. We had another one whose name was Hudson. He also died of a heart attack in summer. They don't deal with the heat very well.

Favourite touring experience?
There are so many. We headlined the Hollywood Bowl, which holds 18,000 people and is this iconic, nearly 100-year-old amphitheater in the Hills in Los Angeles. That was really, really special. And the way we finished the High Violet touring circuit, we played a week of shows at the Beacon Theatre, which is this beautiful 3,000-person theatre in Manhattan. We played songs from our entire career and it was just night after night after night after night. I really believe that we were playing our best, and everyone was just in a good state of mind about all that we'd done in the past and whatever was to come in the future. It felt really positive. That was pretty great.

Favourite way to spend your downtime?
I like watching European football, so soccer, and I'll go to games whenever I can, whatever country I'm in. I grew up playing soccer a lot, so I'll do that too. I go running, and I go fishing, and I read a lot of books. I also have an 18-month-old daughter and I'll do whatever I can to amuse her. We'll sit and play the piano together - there's a lot of music that she experiences and it's really a great joy for all of us to see how she responds to that. I feel lucky that I don't have to leave from 9-5 to go work in an office or something.

Favourite book?
I guess it would have to be The Brothers Karamazov, the Dostoyevsky book. I love all of his novels, but that one is such a tour de force and so dark. There's a lot of just contemplating how easily normal people can go off the rails and do something transgressive or illegal. Which you see in Crime and Punishment, but I think it's a more nuanced and developed narrative in The Brothers Karamazov. I think it's totally brilliant.

We have five copies of the National's new album Trouble Will Find Me to give away – if you'd like to get your hands on a copy just email us here and let us know which of their tracks is your favourite of alltime