BAND Q&A: Sybris

Sybris, the indie rock band from Chicago, spent some time in McAllen earlier this year when they played at The Incubator. Tomorrow the female-fronted band will return to town with Colour Revolt, and then immediately following their set, jet up to Austin to play at Austin City Limits. Festiva had a chance to talk to bassist Shawn Podgurski about touring, recording their latest album Into the Trees and what "selling out" really means.

• LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE.

Did you guys enjoy playing here?

We loved it. It was one of those we didn't know what to expect type things and then thought it was really cool.

Why did you guys decide to come back?

Uh, our booking agent booked us a show there. But we really liked it! Regardless of that, we wanted to come back.

Are you guys excited about ACL?

Yeah, we are.

Have you played it before?

We never played that. We played Lollapalooza, which is put on by the same people. All these festivals are becoming like the same kinda, you know, it's like the same bands that play. So they're really fun to play. Not saying that to be like, "Oh, they're all the same," like, most of the festivals are fun.

Would you ever lend, or sell a song, for a commercial?

Yeah, those days are kinda over, because like, you can't afford not to. You know, I'm a bit older, and I've seen the entire like, "Oh, you can't be a sellout," to like, "Oh, you gotta be a sellout," because nobody buys CDs anymore.

Would you guys ever have a clothing line at Wal-Mart?

Have you seen us? (laughs) I don't think even Wal-Mart ... maybe The Salvation Army would let us have a clothing line.

How was it recording your new album Into the Trees?

It was fun, it was great. We wrote a bunch of songs and picked what we thought      were the best ones. Then we went to my friend's who has a studio in Ohio and we spent like a weekend there, recorded it ... we recorded a rough draft of it and then we sat and picked that rough draft apart. Then a month later we went to the big studio in Minneapolis and recorded it

I heard that studio, specifically, was haunted. Did you have any experiences with that?

We didn't, but like, it was around a week before Halloween. It was definitely like, creepy and like, wasn't really that creepy, but like, you kept expecting stuff.

• WHO: Sybris w/ Colour Revolt, Big League and Hero Made Hollow
• WHERE: The Incubator, McAllen
• WHEN: Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
• COST: $8