In the first installment of our three-part Road Journals interview with Cold War Kids frontman Nathan Willett, the vocalist wrote from a smoky dressing room in Berlin to share his thoughts on the state of decline in the music industry, spirituality and the simple pleasures that make a musician’s vagabond life worth living.

Part two of our interview arrives from Munich, the next stop on the band’s European tour in support of their new album, Loyalty To Loyalty. This time around, Nathan shares his thoughts on author David Foster Wallace, the pitfalls of a musician re-recording their own songs and the emerging culture of isolation in America.

Down is one of the best, and one of the coolest, metal bands working today. Its members are purebreds: Jimmy Bower of Eyehategod, Kirk Windstein of Crowbar, Pepper Keenan of Corrosion Of Conformity, Rex Brown of Pantera, and of course, also from Pantera, Philip Anselmo. Formed in New Orleans in ‘91, Down welds heavy metal together with soulful southern country blues, and there’s nothing quite like it out there.

Anselmo, like many musicians, is as talented as he is troubled. While he insists on being the indestructible machine all men should aspire to be, as fans we’ve been sincerely concerned for his well being, especially after seeing some of his recent interviews. However, when the man called- on time- Thursday, to chat with us during some downtime on Down’s tour with Metallica, we found him to be a personable, genuinely down to earth dude, and he helped us set the record straight and put some things in perspective.

Over the past few months, Antiquiet has developed an interesting relationship with the Cold War Kids. After reviewing their fantastic new album, Loyalty To Loyalty, when it was released back in September, we received a cease-and-desist letter from a third-party label representative because- well, because we were showering praise on one of our favorite bands, it seemed.

Our reaction to the fiasco caught the attention of the Cold War Kids themselves, specifically vocalist Nathan Willett- he wrote, explaining his regret about the situation (created by overzealous, label-hired “watchdogs” jumping guns) and encouraging us to do what we damn well pleased. He understood the value of genuine enthusiasm over hyperprotection of carefully controlled promotion schemes. It was refreshing and encouraging to see an artist get directly involved in protecting their own fans.

Two months later, we caught up with Nathan on the German stop of the Cold War Kids’ current European tour. We fired off a massive batch of questions, expecting no more than a casual selection of short answers; hell, the guy’s on tour. What we got instead was an in-depth look at the methods and mechanics of the frontman for one of the best indie rock bands on the circuit.

Nathan’s batch of responses came from “a ridiculously smoky and busy venue in Berlin,” where the Cold War Kids were playing a show that night. He invited follow-up questions, and our conversation continued as the band traveled onward to other countries, which will follow soon. Here’s part one.

Jesse Hughes may be the less-famous co-pilot of the pirate ship known as the Eagles Of Death Metal, but anyone who’s seen a show will tell you that he’s the personality centerpiece of this band. Cocksure and radiantly eager for the kill, the tattooed, muscle-shirted, aviator-wearing Hollywood history buff makes no bones about what he’s here to do. An EODM concert is nothing short of a foot-stomping, ass-shaking, tits-flashing grand old time with Jesse at the wheel, always ready with a wink and a devilish grin beneath his 70’s cop mustache.

And goddamnit, that’s exactly how a rock star should be.

We tracked down Hughes to discuss, among other things, Los Angeles, his new solo album (tentatively titled Fabulous Weapons) and the perils of being sodomized by P. Diddy. That’s right.

A couple of weeks back, we covered the return of underrated 90s alt-metal / ‘emocore’ band Far, under cover of pseudonym Hot Little Pony. We had fired some emails into the band’s general direction, trying to get an interview. When we didn’t hear back, we gave up, winged it, sneaking a camera into their sold-out Troubadour show and rocking it guerilla style, ’cause that’s how we roll.

But after the show, those emails managed to find their way to their marks, and we got ourselves an interview with frontman Jonah Matranga and guitarist Shaun Lopez. While it was being set up, I found myself cruising the message boards, as a fan, on the lookout for recordings, video, photos, whatever. In my travels, I stumbled upon a vast wealth of hilarious shit-talking being done amongst the internet’s ruling class… I couldn’t help but laugh and wonder how the band would respond if “professional” interviewers were anything like the real fans. I gathered up the best of these completely ignorant, baseless accusations, I emailed them to Jonah and Shaun, and I prayed. I prayed that they wouldn’t think I was a complete fucking asshole for doing so.