Best known as Interpol's distinctive baritone vocalist, Paul Banks was a singer/songwriter in his own right before joining that band. During the mid-'90s, he adopted the alias Julian Plenti to perform as an acoustic solo artist at New York venues such as the Knitting Factory and Tobacco Road. Around that time, Banks ran into his old friend, guitarist/vocalist Daniel Kessler, and joined his up-and-coming band Interpol. As the group worked its way from eight-track demos in the late '90s to signing with spotify:search:label%3A%22Matador+Records%22 , Banks continued to write and perform his solo material. However, as Interpol's fame and time commitments grew the solo work was put on the back burner. 
 Three years and two Interpol albums later, Banks revisited the Julian Plenti material, demoing new and old songs; in 2008, he recorded final versions of these songs recruiting friends like Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino, Ratatat's Mike Stroud, Striker Manley, and The Occasion's Charles Burst. 
 In 2012 Banks returned to his solo career, issuing the Julian Plenti Lives EP -- which featured covers of songs by J Dilla and Frank Sinatra -- under his own name that June and following it with the simply named Banks album that October. 
 In 2013 Banks began recording material with Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA. Their collaborative efforts were unveiled in 2016 as Banks & Steelz. Anything But Words arrived in August 2016 and featured guest appearances by Ghostface Killah, Kool Keith, Method Man, Masta Killa, and Florence Welch.