PORTLAND, OR - The four well-dressed gents in Throwback Suburbia look tired. In less than an hour, they'll crank up their amps for the fourth time in a 24-hour span. In quick succession, they've rocked out to a large noon-time crowd in Portland's Pioneer Square, on a cruise boat floating down the Willamette River, in front of another large crowd at an evening summer music festival and tonight, here, at a cool, intimate performance space downtown. As one of Portland's hardest working bands, they've gotten used to going the extra mile in their quest for rock and roll glory. Still, they are in an upbeat mood and ready to rock. The band's steady stream of inside jokes and laughs proves this without a doubt.

In less than two years, Throwback Suburbia has rocketed out of the proverbial basement and into some of Portland's choicest venues with their fresh take on retro-cool, harmony-laden power pop. Their music has one mod style boot planted in classic British rock and another boot planted firmly in today's pop universe.

Sinking into a plush wraparound couch and sipping on energy drinks before the show, Paul Bond (guitars and vocals), Jimi Evans (lead vocals and guitar), Mike Collins (drums and vocals) and Eric French (bass and vocals) sit down to talk about music, Portland's "indie" scene and their aspirations.

Rob Oldham:

How did the four of you come together to form this band?

Jimi Evans:

Basically, Mike and myself were in a previous band. That band ran its course. Mike had written a bunch of songs that we didn't explore in the first band, so we started putting them together and it escalated to the point that we had to get out and play. We found Eric and Paul in other local Portland bands that we'd played with around the scene over the years. That's how it came to be.<p>

RO:

The sound you have now has this bright, melodic pop. Did your former bands sound like this?

Evans:

The band Mike and I were in prior to this one, it wanted to kind of be like this.

Mike Collins:

It was more of a modern rock kind of thing.

Evans:

Yeah, it had a modern rock edge to it. But our inspiration lies with the poppy classic rock bands. It's become really genuine now.

RO:

What is it about British music that influences you so much?

Evans:

I think a lot of British music, and this is my observation, is focused around a harmony and a melody. I see a lot of American music as being very emotionally driven, but there is just something to the melody of a lot of British rock.

Paul Bond:

There's attitude too.

RO:

Do you feel like American indie fans get that kind of melodic music now?

Evans:

When they see us play, it's very familiar to them, whether they know it or not...it just resonates. It's kind of a universal language you know, melody and harmony.

RO:

Where do you see music going these days?

Eric French:

I think a band nowadays has to become self-empowered. You can't rely on a record label to take you to the next level. They are putting all their money in their big bands. If you are an up-and-coming band, your record may never see the light of day. So you really have to do it yourself.

Evans:

I think another thing that has an impact is that people aren't buying records anymore. People are able to choose the songs they want. It will take a while but the cycle will slowly raise the standard and quality. Kind of like the ‘50s when a band would just do a single and that was it. You released an "A" side and a "B" side. It forces a band to be more conscious and thoughtful when they are writing their music.

Bond:

Because people are not buying records, you have to offer something live. Your live presentation has to be something with impact. Then people will be, ‘Ok, we'll buy a ticket to that.' So your product has got to be ready to go.

French:

With things like [online music sites], there are lots of avenues for people and for bands to get things out there. You can't rely on the labels to come in and make you a household name.

RO:

Your band seems to have come running out of the gate in two years. You come across as very polished. Are you handling all your booking? Are you doing everything? Is it completely your show?

Evans:

It's getting easier. When we first started out, it was kind of like clawing our way in. Paul did a lot of the booking. Now, we're starting to get more things thrown at us. They'll call and say, ‘Come play our big benefit or show.’

Bond:

Also, there are some local promoters who are big time here who are setting up some real high profile shows for us.

French:

One of the cool things about [the internet] is that you can seek out other like-minded bands. We've met a couple of bands in L.A. who are doing the classic pop sound. We'll host a show up here for them, expose them in front of our crowd. Then we'll go down to L.A. and play in front of their crowd. Having this rapport with other bands on the West Coast is great.

RO:

Who came up with your look?

Bond:

It was kind of a trip when I hooked up with these guys. First we were rehearsing the songs and the first gig Mike and Jimi asked what I was going to wear. I'd never paid attention to that. They had their stuff together. Everything is conscious, the whole big picture. Have van will travel. We've got the music and the look. We're ready.

Collins:

It's natural. It's not calculated. When it was just the two of us, we were like, ‘We want a retro power pop thing. What do those bands look like?' They wear suits sometimes. They usually wear ties, so we kind of had a little bit of a formula, but when we all came together, it just naturally became its own thing.

RO:

What about the Portland scene?

(Throwback Suburbia laughs in unison.)

Evans:

There is this phenomenon with Portland. It's looked at as this indie capital of the world. That's fine. There is nothing more indie than what we're doing. We're 100 percent independent. But slowly, somewhere over the last few years, indie became a style, a look and a genre. Portland embraced that to the point where something as slick or as put together and melodic as we are isn’t always received the best here.

Collins:

There is a lot of that shoe-gazer, understated thing going on here. Personally, I don't think there is a lot of great song craft in a lot of those bands. What's weird to me is there are these bands here that are called indie and they are on major record labels. So, when do you lose the indie tag? Indie means independent. There is nothing more indie than we are. We're one of the hardest working bands in this town. We've got a lot of pop sensibility in our music and that can sometimes escape those indie crowds.

RO:

Do you think that the more melodic music is the more it might be not cool for some people to like?

French:

It's cool to look like you just rolled out of bed and you don't put any thought into the music.

Evans:

It's not just Portland. I read a great interview with Jack White and he moved out of Detroit to Nashville and he said that one of the primary reasons was that not only does some of the greatest music in the world come out of Nashville, but you don't have to be ashamed to look like you really care about what you're doing.

RO:

What about the whole downloading thing? Are you for giving it away?

Bond:

I'm for giving it away if they'll pay the ticket price to come out to see us. There's got to be a way to make money, and nowadays, the only way to make money it seems is in licensing. Get your stuff in TV shows and movies, commercials.

French:

We just signed a licensing deal with a company in New York. We hope that will help us fill the gas tank in the van.

Bond:

One of our favorite bands is in L.A. and we've been watching them. They did everything on their own, up ‘til recently when they signed a big deal [with a major record label]. They've made over a half a million dollars in licensing alone on their own.

Evans:

But the vast mainstream doesn't know who they are yet. At least they can continue doing what they love to do.

Bond:

How do you define success? That everyone knows who you are? Or that you have money in the bank and you can pull into a town and have a crowd?

RO:

What about touring? Have you hit the East Coast yet?

Bond:

We want to. We're looking for a gas card [laughs]. We have a great network, almost like a family in each city on the West Coast.

French:

With gas at $4.75 a gallon, it becomes an issue.

RO:

You've played four shows in the last 24 hours. Is it still fun?

French:

We're all tired. It is our fourth show in two days, but we're on the same page. This is what we all love to do. I've been in bands where it was a struggle. It's this push, pull and tug, but we're doing our thing.

Bond:

It's the greatest for me. Everybody has a role. Everyone does it well. It's a blast. Getting in the van, playing and meeting new people. We're a pop band and we can play anywhere. It's real accessible and people dig it.