While he was still in high school in Basking Ridge, NJ, Stratton, who now lives in Red Hook, would commute to an Astoria recording studio to work on his first album. Eventually Stratton learned that Stevens, one of his musical heroes, occupied the same studio room as him on different days. "I found out Sufjan was recording Illinois here," says Stratton, chuckling. He's fielded questions about Stevens before. "Michigan was a big influence on me in high school, and Sufjan agreed to appear on my record." more

Looking at Xylos’ MySpace page—remember those?—I was surprised to discover that the band had been around since 2004. Going by the “page created date,” Xylos has been chugging along for almost six years. more

Washed-out psych? Druggy, fuzz-bliss? Fucked up free-jazz? Whatever you want to call it, PC Worship doesn’t really care, because the band could be any of these things. more

GERMAN MEASLES WANTS to be known as a hi-fi band. Like many of its DIY-venue dwelling contemporaries, the Brooklyn-based quartet shuns the lo-fi label, because, like “indie rock” or “nugaze,” it doesn’t accurately describe what the music sounds like. Instead, “lo-fi” is quickly blanketed over a group of bands that maybe played together once at The Silent Barn or released a 7-inch on Captured Tracks. more

IT STARTED WITH nothing at all,” says Cold Cave’s Wesley Eisold, of the origins of his dark synth-pop group. It sounds simple enough, but the former American Nightmare and Some Girls vocalist/screamer has since piled on thick layers of dreamy melodies, crushing noise and lyrics about death and dying. more

THE BAND REAL ESTATE isn’t named after anything particular, certainly not after the type of job that guitarist/singer/primary songwriter Martin Courtney has. Or maybe it is. “I work in a real estate office actually,” says Courtney. “I have a real estate license.” more

WHO SAYS YOU need an entire group of musicians to write infectious garage rock? Kristin Gundred writes and records under the name Dum Dum Girls and uses the stage name Dee Dee, which makes the entire project that much more confusing, as the band consists of mainly just Gundred. more

“I LIKE BIG EXPLOSIONS of sounds contrasting with quiet moments,” explains Cymbals Eat Guitars singer/guitarist Joseph Ferocious from a wool shop in Iowa, where the band is between shows on a tour with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. “The goal is to make music that gives me goosebumps.” more

“We are these geeks who have developed our own language,” says Dan Hoerner, guitarist of the recently reunited Sunny Day Real Estate, as he attempts to explain the seemingly nonsensical lyrics and song titles on the recently reissued LP2. “There’s a lexicon to our weird reality.” more

ANYONE LISTENING TO Kurt Viles music might think he can pin down Viles main influences right away. Sometimes he has the drugged-out fuzz of Spacemen 3, while other times he seems to have the drugged-out straightforward folk guitar of Neil Young.The problem is, from song to song, it gives the listener a different sense of who Vile is. more