Daniel Alexander Kessler

Who is Daniel Alexander Kessler?

Daniel Alexander Kessler is the guitarist and backing vocalist for the New York City-based band Interpol. He was raised in the United States.

It was Kessler's desire to play in a real band which made him approach Carlos Dengler, with whom he attended a history class in New York University. Kessler knew lead singer Paul Banks from a summer program in Paris, France, and asked him to join the band when he ran into him in New York. Kessler's dormmate Greg Drudy was Interpol's first drummer. When Drudy left the band, Kessler asked his friend Sam Fogarino to replace him.

Kessler had prior experience in the music industry while working for Domino Records, and his knowledge of the business was very helpful to the band in their early years. He brought all the members together, and has said that he was looking mostly for specific personal qualities each member could bring to the group rather than just musical talent. He is a graduate of New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study in French, film and literature. Kessler has been known as the member of the band who has been the most active in the New York underground rock scene, which included his jobs at multiple record labels, such as Domino Records and trading their early demo tape around to various bands and labels. Since 2006, Kessler resides in a loft in Lower East Side, Manhattan and is the only band member who is a vegetarian and does not smoke. He also is fluent in French.