While the non-musical portion of SXSW is well underway, the army of bands headed to Austin has just one more night to wait til the official festivities kick off. Amongst those bands is Seattle’s folk-pop quartet Ivan and Alyosha. The foursome is currently on tour for the release of their Fathers Be Kind EP, which they recorded themselves in a relative’s barn. With one last show in Tulsa before Austin, the band gave us an interview in time for SXSW’s eve.

Apes on Tape: You’re in the midst of a pretty wild North American tour. Currently, where are you guys? Any news or great stories to share from the road?

Ivan and Alyosha: Yes, we are currently mid tour in Ohio on our way to Newport, Kentucky having just left NYC.

This tour has been littered with little adventures like getting stuck on the freeway on our way out of West Virginia after Mountain Stage (which was a wonderful experience!!!) or having the RV breakdown right outside of Nashville. Tim Wilson’s interview for NPR’s All Things Considered was a pretty exciting experience for all of us.  On our way to New York from Washington, D.C., we were on schedule to be at the Bowery Ballroom for our soundcheck.  As luck (or fate) would have it, the tunnels do not allow trailers or propane through.  I think we ended up spending about 75 dollars that day in toll charges just to get into Manhattan.  Despite this, we still love it there.  Most every night seems to be an adventure as this is the first time traveling across the country for most of us.  We’ve met a lot of great people including a sound engineer/monk, and we’ve had the privilege of playing with great bands!

AOT: In terms of your Seattle origins, did you play a lot of the city’s awesome open mics at the beginning? Frequent Conor Byrne, Sunset or Tractor Tavern perhaps?

IA: We’ve never really done open mics, however, we’ve played the Conor Byrne, Sunset and Tractor Tavern several times and we’ve grown very attached to these venues.  The Ballard area in general is a great place to spend time. These days, the Conor Byrne is where we hang out on Sunday nights because of the open mic night and the strong draw it has for the local music community.

AOT: Do you guys keep tabs or have relationships within any other Seattle artists in the folk vein? Dave Bazan, Damien Jurado, Fleet Foxes, Head & the Heart or others maybe?

IA: We hang out in the same circles and we’ve met a lot of those guys and appreciate them and their impact on the Seattle community and music in general.

AOT: You built a studio at Ryan’s parents place in Snohomish, right? What kind of set-up were you using and how was that recording experience for you?

IA: Yes we did.  Originally, we were inspired by recordings on tape as opposed to digital so we intended for the Barn to be set up to record on tape and bounce everything to Pro Tools when we needed more tracks.  Our experience with tape is minimal so it just made sense to do everything on Protools for the Fathers Be Kind EP.  We did, however, salvage some tracks we recorded on tape for that EP.  I think the ambient guitar/pad on Everything is Burning is on tape.  The Barn allowed us to record on our own time at minimal cost and that was a huge advantage. Sonically, we all agree that the Barn is still in need of improvement, but, also, we are for the most part, satisfied with how the EP turned out.

AOT: Would you like to continue self-recording in the future?

IA: As much as possible.  We’ve thrown around the idea of working with an engineer and producer.  Self recording eliminates a lot of stress and cost but those things don’t mean that we’ll automatically have a great recording.  Ultimately, we are always seeking to create the best work we can and whatever that entails, we’ll have to see.

AOT: How was the NPR Tiny Desk session? Nerve-racking or just a thrilling opportunity?

IA: A bit of both.  Nerves were a little racked but at the same time, we love listening to NPR, so it was an honor and very thrilling to actually be performing in their headquarters.

AOT: Speaking of opportunities, you’ve got SXSW coming up. You made quite a few waves last year, but are you looking to do anything differently this time? Or just deliver as many great performances as you can?

IA: This year is different for us already because we’ve come a long way with the band as far as live performance and songcraft.  We have more on the schedule this year so it should be very busy.  Probably, our biggest concern is just to deliver the best performances we can.  The songs can speak for themselves and hopefully, will generate more waves this year.

AOT: Any post-tour plans made yet come April?

IA: As far as we know at this point, we are slated to work on finishing up a full length and more touring to support that!  We just signed a booking agent so we’ll probably be on the road again soon to support great bands in the midst of recording!