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.

One of my favorite albums is Sepultura’s revered 1991 opus, Arise. At the time of its release, it was the perfect blend of the thrash metal sound that had pushed heavy metal music into the extreme, and the newly emerging death metal sound that bands like Possessed and Death had worked so hard to champion… a perfect middle-ground. Today, it is a metalhead’s classic and is still considered one of the greatest death / thrash records of all time.

My first encounter with the texan metal outfit As Eden Burns was met with both hope and skepticism. Far too many bands have set out to achieve this coveted middle-ground but never managed to sound natural (at least to these ears) in their musical endeavors.

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.

Nine Inch Nails just announced that drummer Ilan Rubin of Lostprophets will replace Josh Freese behind the kit in 2009. Freese recently announced his plans to leave the group.

The guy’s 20 years old. Jesus. I shudder, thinking of the bullshit I was up to at 20.

Is it a good idea to use a band’s Greatest Hits record as an introduction to their body of work? It’s an arguable point, but the b-side and deep-tracks fetishist in me says no. For every Man In The Box, there’s a Right Turn. For every Welcome To The Jungle there’s a Rocket Queen. Where Even Flow and Jeremy ended, Given To Fly and W.M.A. began. And so on. The hits are rarely my favorites.

If there were ever a possible exception to the rule, however, I’d say Stereophonics fit the bill. Pulling from 5 number one albums and 25 top 40 singles, Decade In The Sun is a surprisingly potent sampling of the band’s 12-year history, collectively shining bright enough to finally get the attention of musical ADD sufferers like myself.