Hailed as the current generation’s R.E.M., Death Cab for Cutie recently saw its latest album, “Narrow Stairs,” debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Consisting of singer Ben Gibbard, bassist Nick Harmer, drummer Jason McGerr and guitarist Chris Walla, the band functions as a democracy when crafting its sophisticated pop songs. That said, Death Cab owes much of its distinctive sound to Walla, who’s produced all the band’s albums thus far. In the following phone interview, Walla talks about his dual-role within the group.

Russell Hall: When you’re producing Death Cab albums, is it difficult to shift between being a band member and being the producer?

Chris Walla: It is. When we go in and rehearse and hammer through arrangements, I’m the guitar player, and I’m a quarter of the band, just like everyone else. At that point we all have pretty much equal weight. But when we go into the studio, I might say, “Oh, that’s not working,” while the other guys will be like, “But that is working.” That part is tricky. On the other hand, what I gain from being in this position — with Death Cab — is that I know these guys better than anybody else does. I’m attuned to what everyone is good at, and I also know what they aren’t good at.

RH: Can you elaborate?

CW: Well, I know, for instance, that Ben isn’t a “rock” singer in the conventional sense. And having him push for something like that just doesn’t work. I also think we’re kind of a bizarre band, in terms of how we go about making records, and just being a band and relating to one another. I never really thought that until I started making records with other bands. We’re pretty upside down, I think.

RH: What do you mean, exactly?

CW: It’s weird. The drums are the lead instrument, in a lot of ways, in this band. Ben and Jason and I have a drum manifesto, of sorts. There’s a specific thing each of us is after, and all three of those things have to lock up, for us all to be satisfied. But the drums are often the last thing to go on the track. Oftentimes we’ll get everything else nailed down before the drums get anywhere near the song. That’s totally second nature to me. That’s the way I’ve been recording since I was thirteen.

RH: Do the other guys always defer to your judgment about things like that?

CW: They do, but when they don’t like something they tell me, too. It’s a good operation, in that way. Everybody knows that if I really pitch for something, it’s not coming out of nowhere. There’s a real reason for it. Even if they don’t like what I’m pitching, they understand why I’m doing it, and we figure something else out.

RH: Are there three or four albums that have had an especially strong influence on you, as a producer?

CW: I would hardly know where to begin. Al Green’s “Gets Next To You” is one of my favorite albums. [Green producer] Willie Mitchell once said they were after one thing, as far as the sound: “thunder on the bottom, sunshine on the top.” That’s beautiful. Those Al Green records really do that.

RH: How do you see Death Cab’s music evolving in the coming years?

CW: Well, we all love song-oriented music. Teenage Fanclub is one of our favorite bands. I’m a fan of their middle period — the “Songs From Northern Britain” album, especially. I don’t know what we’ll end up doing next, but I don’t think we’ll ever stop loving our favorite records. I think that’s what we’ll always come back to, as opposed to going toward something that’s “of the moment.” I’ll never stop going back to “The Joshua Tree,” for instance, and freaking out about what a great record that is. There’s something to be said for the AC/DC theory: “You’re good at this; why change it?”