(continued)

Sabina: Times have changed. At the time it made sense to sing, "Pussy, pussy, pussy, marijuana." Now it makes sense to tell something from our lives, be a bit more autobiographical. And that was autobiographical, too, actually.

How was "Pussy" autobiographical?
Sabina: In a way, there was a certain rebellion and irreverence in that song. And also it was a line that came up in between us. Not necessarily that I was having pussy and marijuana all the time.

How is the new album autobiographical?
Sabina: Everything. This is exactly our last year.
Aaron: What happened the last year? Let's see, we broke up, got together, broke up, got boyfriends, girlfriends, I had a baby.

Is it hard to have kids and do this?
Aaron: No, I don't think it's hard.
Sabina: Not if you're a man. Someone else is doing the kid-having.
Aaron: Yeah, that part was pretty easy for me.

The name of the new album is New York City, but some people would say your music has more in common with Europe. What, if anything, do you think it means to be a New York band?
Sabina: We are a New York band because we were formed here and perhaps nowhere else.
Aaron: I think it's a more modern word, too, to say "New York band" in that sense. Because, say, 10 years ago, even in music like jazz or African music or Cuban music—there were enough Africans in New York that they would play together. And maybe if you go to Brooklyn, it's more of a rock thing or punk. But I think more nowadays—and especially where we came from, Nublu, which is Turkish- and Brazilian-owned, and it's just Europeans there and different DJs—it's a more natural thing. It's like our little spot. That's why we call it a New York band.

Would you say the album is a celebration of New York in that sense? One song that sticks out for me is "Internacional," where you basically list a lot of cities.
Sabina: Actually, it's all the cities I've been to in reverse. It starts with New York and then Austin because we had just come from Austin—so it's like my biography in cities.

But, yes, it is a celebration of New York. Even though New York has changed tremendously, I think it remains a city of extreme vitality and activity compared to many other places in the world.

Are you trying to put everyone at the same level, no matter where they come from? That's what it seems like on "Nouveau American."
Sabina: Actually, it's the opposite on that song. I think that Americans, with everything that's happened in the past 50 years, have gotten a reputation that's not necessarily a very positive one. And understandably so. I felt like, in a way, in "Nouveau American," there is such a thing as an American that is cultivated, pleasant, classy, and well-traveled. And it was sort of like a hopeful thing. If I show you the lyrics, they say, "eye-catcher/I saw another one from a distance." It talks about that experience of seeing someone who is that, sort of going against the preconception of the ignorant, provincial American. Frankly, provincial, ignorant people exist everywhere.