There are bands that are hip to talk about, and there are bands that people actually can’t get enough of. Linfinity are preparing to make that leap, and they’re doing it the right way. Their debut album, Martian’s Bloom has met with critical acclaim (from IYS among many others), and they’ve taken their wide range of tunes on a tour of the U.S. with Murder By Death. We got a chance to speak to frontman Dylan Von Wagner about the new record, the tour, and other aspects of being the next band to break.

IYS: You released your first album two days ago. How does it feel to be finished with the album making process, and get it out there?

Dylan: It feels pretty rewarding. It was a lot of work to get the record done and to produce it, and raising the money and what not. I think the band feels a lot of gratitude towards the people who helped us.

IYS: How was working with American Myth records for the first time, as your first label?

Dylan: Well, Chris already had the label going, and he already had a couple artists with Paul & the Patients and Lissy Trullie. He works in a publicity firm, so he knows the business. Ken Weinstein and Jim Merles, who own Big Hassle Publicity, have been working in the business for twenty years. There wasn’t a question of their ability, it was more like Big Hassle just being really psyched to own their own label now, and they’re just throwing the kitchen sink at it.

IYS: Were there any aspects to recording this album that you think you’ll change going into the next few albums?

Dylan: No, I think we did it right. We took as much time as we needed to arrange all the songs, never felt rushed, and knew exactly what we were doing in the studio with no question marks, and I felt good about it. In fact, I don’t look back and regret anything. There were a few things actually, like attempting to do the mixing by email which we won’t do again so I learned that lesson. You have to be there when somebody’s mixing. Beyond that, I think we did it right.

IYS: The album name seems kind of a strange choice. How did you come up with a name like Martian’s Bloom for the album?

Dylan: Well it’s one of the songs, and the name came about when we were just kicking a bunch of names around and I threw this one into the mix. Actually, I was asked to name a hotel for someone, and I think that was one of the contenders.

IYS: Right now you’re touring. In the band’s beginning you did a lot of shows in New York City, and now you’re touring the country with Murder by Death and playing for many bigger venues. How has it been to play these shows, opening for Murder By Death?

Dylan: It’s been amazing. From the get go Murder By Death just has an amazing fan base, and 150 to 400 people show up from the beginning. The Murder By Death fans are definitely interested in the openers, for both us and Ha Ha Tonka, who are also opening on this tour. They really ate it up so it was amazing, and I’ve been quite impressed. I also have to say that if you ever want a lesson in professionalism, Murder By Death is the band to watch. They approach it the right way, and they’re really good with their fans. Another thing I’ll say is that on this tour we’ve played a lot of legendary venues.

IYS: Has any place really stood out?

Dylan: They’ve all been quite special. Denton, Texas was pretty fucking wild. I mean those people are crazy. I really liked the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Slims in San Francisco, the Troubadour (in Los Angeles), and Hattiesburg, Mississippi was pretty nuts. It was this venue in the bottom of a house and the top part is where the band sleeps, so that was cool. One more venue I want to tell you about is the Bottle Tree in Birmingham. It has these trailers in the back as the green room that have been converted with flat screens and it’s probably the coolest green room I’ve ever seen.

IYS: How different are the music fans out by the west coast from the fans you must have grown comfortable with back in NYC?

Dylan: Well different cities are going to have different fans. In the Midwest you can smoke in the bar, so I think people get a little more drunk, so they get a little more rowdy. In cities like Seattle, LA, and NYC, people tend to be a little more relaxed and it’s just a different vibe. I think that any crowd will get fired up if you fire them up, but it’s a little different with certain towns and certain people. There are a lot of other factors to though, like whether it’s an early show or late show. If we go on at 9, 10 o’clock people are definitely going to be a little more rowdy then if we come on at 8.

IYS: You started playing music pretty late in your life, as compared to some other people who are in the music business. Why did you decide to begin playing music so late?

Dylan: Well I got out of college, and I was living in London for a year and I really wanted to do it, so at the age of 23 I started picking up a guitar and taking vocal lessons. It took me four or five years to learn to play, and then I started to write songs, and then somewhere in 2006 or 2007 I started getting good enough at writing songs to put out a demo tape, and then I got the band together about a year later. I always wanted to do it, but there was no one to play with in my hometown. When I was in college I just got railroaded with the study, to a point where I didn’t think to pick up an instrument. Better late than never though, you know? I’m thirty-two now and here we are. I didn’t even play live until I was practically 30.

IYS: Would you say that your age was a helpful factor upon entering into the music world?

Dylan: Probably the business side, yeah. Being that I’m a little older, you might assume that I’m a little more business savvy. If you make good music though, people will take care of you. I think that as long as you keep doing that it will kind of fall into place, unless you’re a complete fucking idiot. There are lots of great bands that didn’t have to have a manager in the beginning, and even though they eventually got one on their own, they managed to start off without one.

IYS: On the album, I noticed an interesting shift in the sound from song to song, like the one going into “Choo Choo Train to Venice”. How do songs like that end up fitting into the overall vibe of the album?

Dylan: Stylistically when it comes to writing the album, anything goes. I’ll tell you that for the next record we have four or five songs written, and they’re all so different. That just might be our bag. When I write a song, the band usually turns it on its head anyway. I wrote “Choo Choo Train” one night on a Tuesday as this fast punk song with a cartoon ending, and that was that. I didn’t try to write that style, but just thought that this was a cool song.

IYS: How do you think the band is going to progress in sound throughout your albums?

Dylan: Well probably similarly, but we’re so all over the map so who really knows. I have a song right now that sounds like it could be a Justin Timberlake single, so the fuck if I know where this shit comes from. I think you write songs, and if the band takes it and likes it then great. I like that part of the band; that nothing sounds similar. I hate listening to records where you can’t tell one song from another.

IYS: “MSG” was the first single off the new album. How did you choose this song in particular?

Dylan: Well, the label picked it, but I think it was an interesting choice. I think if you wanted something to put on the radio, “Choo Choo Train to Venice” or “Molly Mar of Rome” would do well. If you want immediate talk maybe “MSG” was a better call. People really seem to like “Southern Belles” a lot.

IYS: What‘s next for Linfinity, after this tour with Murder By Death ends?

Dylan: Well we’re trying to get some shows for the summer, and basically tour all year. We’ll also start recording in the late summer to fall time, and try to have another record out by spring of 2011.

IYS: Are you at all nervous about the notorious sophomore slump so many bands have to deal with when making their second record?

Dylan: I don’t know, I guess you just sort of try to write the best songs you can. We definitely have a lot of material so that shouldn’t be a problem. Whether people like it or not is a whole different ball game. Bands like Arcade Fire manage to write a good first record, and then also write a good second record. If you have a good songwriter who continues to do what they do, and if they have something to say, good things will come, but it’s really up to the public. I’m not so nervous about the record, as I am angry about writing the song. When you’re writing a song it can take eons to come up with structures, and that’s really the most challenging part of it. The ideas come in quick, but the labor comes with structuring the songs and trying to see them in different ways. Cause I’ll tell you man, if I could give one lesson in song writing it’s that some of the magic comes at the eleventh hour.

IYS: Does having such a wide array of musicians and instruments to play with make writing a song much more difficult, or easier?

Dylan: It definitely makes it easier for me. With some of the newer stuff we’ve written, I’ve been leaning towards our keys guy, Omer Shemesh. He’s a really good piano player, and I’ve been thinking a lot about piano lately. So yeah, it definitely helps to have so many people in the band. Also, I can come in with a riff, and maybe the guitar or keys will end up playing it, you just never know.

IYS: You formed as a band in the spring of 2008. Where do you see Linfinity in 2018?

Dylan: Well I’d like to make a living doing it, you know? I’d like to keep making records and be able to pay rent. That’s really all you can hope for as a musician. Friends I know in bands, where they don’t have day jobs, are dumbfounded that they’ve gotten that far. I guess it’s really up to the public, but you put out records and play a lot of shows. I’m a realist when it comes to this stuff. You can hope, but really it’s just black magic.