Wincing the Night Away

Did it transform the composition of your ­audience? Something like that opens a door to listeners who don't spend a lot of time on the Internet or shop at independent record stores, the typical ways indie-rock bands find new fans. Well, we've always had a very eclectic mix of people; there are just more of them now. But I suppose there definitely must be new sorts of fans. Maybe they listen to alternative radio but not to podcasts or to college radio - people who aren't avid indie-rock concertgoers.

Is that a gratifying development? I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with it. There are those times when good music is appealing to a broad spectrum of personalities. But the idea that we have a broader audience hasn't changed the way that I write songs. It's more about people finding a way to learn not only about the Shins but also about the fact that there is this whole other section of the music industry that is thriving. And all it requires is a little bit of attention and curiosity, and you can discover this pop music that's maybe not quite as slick or as glossed-over as the mainstream stuff.

Wincing the Night Away is surprisingly un-slick. I half expected you guys to capitalize on the Garden State renown and do a really straightforward alt-rock record. But you didn't; the new stuff is kind of spooky and weird. My intentions, I guess, were to just sort of fully flesh out the songs that I had put together. "Sleeping Lessons," for instance, is probably one of the stranger songs on the record. The main riff could be a bass line from an old rock-and-roll song, but because of the dissonant note that it hits, it has this modern feel. So I turned it into this keyboard sound and then started trying to figure out what to do with it. And it just led itself down that path, which is the way I always write. Not much of it is really intentional.