Touched by Their Presence - The National

"You can't just like them. If you're into them, you love them," says a Beggars Banquet representative of Brooklyn-based The National. So why is everyone so keen on them? "People who like our band are into our songs, and our songs are songs that last," the band tell Gigwise, who meet Bryce Dessner (guitar) and Scott Devendorf (guitar, bass) after several hours of sound checks for their sold-out headline show at London's KOKO. They're perfectionists.

"I always find that after big shows, it's harder to fathom out... Playing three nights in Brixton? Like this big? It'd be like boosh!", says Scott drawing a giant explosion in the air. He's talking about The National's show the night before at the Brixton Academy where they were supporting Editors during a small UK tour towards the end of May. Tonight's show at KOKO is their last on English soil - for the time being.

"In larger venues some people pay attention, some don't. It’s like wah! Like stadiums!" Scott's hands surrender. "I like the energy between band and audience in medium-sized, nice-sounding places like this." He turns to Bryce. "Though I think Matt had a really nice time last night. He turned people's heads. It was fun."

Bryce says that they've done festivals that big, but that they've never played for that many people inside - that it was a little shocking. He makes the point the size of a venue doesn't always matter. "We played in Manchester a couple of days ago. There were four thousand people, but the way the lighting worked it felt really intimate between us."

We're in a small, sun-lit room on KOKO's seventh floor. The window's ajar wrapping us in monotone traffic noise from Camden's high street. Bryce, dressed in blue jeans and blue shirt, is sitting next to Scott on a black two-seater sofa.

Scott's in black too, accessorized by a bottle of Beck's at his feet, and he wears hip aviator glasses. Behind his attractively cool appearance lies a fun and warm person with a surprisingly soft voice. He's a trained graphic designer and designs their album covers. Scott's brother Bryan (drums) also plays in the band. Same style glasses, same coolness, but he's taller and has darker hair.

Bryce and his twin Aaron (guitar, bass) are The National's second set of brothers. What these two share's a handsome look, a sharp mind and verbal precision. And like Aaron six months ago when we last spoke with the band, Bryce wants to know who we are and what this interview will be for before we even sit down. Maybe he's trying to make small talk, but there's an innate element of seriousness, which is perhaps necessary in this business.

The National are on tour again with their latest album, 'Alligator', that appeared in several 2005 best-album short-lists, cemented the five-piece's success in Europe, and, at least, doubled their fan base in the States.

With a record company taking the financial strain, they were able to put all their energy into making the record and focus on how things fit together. The result is an album destined to be listened to until you know every single line of each song.

"We're happy that we're playing in front of more people, and we're even getting paid sometimes," says Scott. "It feels more like a real thing now, more like endeavour." "We were probably happy a couple of levels below where we are now," says Bryce. "When we sold out Mercury Lounge in New York a year ago with just three hundred people, we were really happy. We've just sold out Webster Hall, which is fifteen hundred - that's a big marker in New York."