Even in our age of excess and pluralism, when everybody listens to everything and guilty pleasures are a thing of the past, it's rare to find as band as bafflingly diverse as Brooklyn's Yeasayer. Elements of their music--trippy tribal rhythms, soulful, epic vocal harmonies, African-influenced guitar picking--will be familiar to fans of modern indie rock bands like TV on the Radio, Animal Collective, The Arcade Fire, or Vampire Weekend, but the total inclusiveness of their music is pretty much unheard-of. They openly embrace genres of music that, up until recently, would have been desperately uncool: the sophisticated, ultra-emotive cheese of Kate Bush and Talk Talk, straight-up new age synth music, celtic mandolin folk, and unabashed 80's pop (they happily rep Cyndi Lauper). And then they mix it up with Middle Eastern guitar melodies, a boatload of dubby echo, trunk-rattling bass and electronic percussion straight out of a chart-rap hit, and a swirl of classical strings just to top it off. Like their name suggests, these are a bunch of guys who are not about negativity. Offer them something interesting, anything they can use, and they'll say yes.

On the other hand, they're not just about positive good times. Their occasionally gospel-influenced vocals reflect an interest in the musical possibilities of spiritual music from all over the world. They include everything they can because they want to provide communal revelry for divisive and troubled times. Their lyrics are heavy hitters that range as widely as their sound palette, from dystopian sci-fi and environmentalist outcry to the most intimate and personal conflicts, delivered by vocalist Chris Keating with an earnestness that borders on uncomfortable. Yeasayer may care about social justice, but they're not U2, even if they are aiming to get their music to an audience outside of the hipster ghetto.

Basically, they're concerned about the future, and they make music that sounds like the day after tomorrow. They're currently taking their amazing stage show on a relentless world tour (with a stop here at The Bourbon a few weeks ago that blew my mind and many more), but guitarist Anand Wilder was kind enough to answer some question via email.

Saelan: I've heard that you started studying cello as a kid, and that Chris [Keating, vocals] was going to art school before he decided to pursue music full-time. Can you tell me a bit more about your various backgrounds and training? I know that Chris and Anand are from Baltimore -- how did you meet, and how did you get hooked up with Ira [Wolf Tuton, bass] and Luke [Fasano, drums]?

Anand: Chris and I went to school together in Baltimore from first grade on. Early on we bonded over our common irreverent senses of humor and love of avoiding real school work by collaborating on creative projects. After we parted ways for a few years during college, we got together to put on a show with a couple other friends in February of 2005. Then I moved up to New York to work on music full time. Ira, my cousin, joined on bass a month later. And Luke, who I had known in Philly through a mutual friend, joined up in June of 2006.

I've heard that your album title, All Hour Cymbals, is partly about frustration with the conventional rock drum kit, especially the overuse of crash cymbals. How would you describe Yeasayer's approach to percussion?

We definitely like to experiment with percussion, I pretty much think that the beat is the number one definitive characteristic of a pop song. And sometimes our experimentation leads to the sound being deemed "world," (which is alright, I'd rather hear that than disco rock) but we are really just interested in exploring rhythms that are unexpected for a rock band. We are equally if not more inspired by the rhythmic ideas of Timbaland and the Neptunes as those of Fela Kuti.

I've read the terms "whirled music" and "wospell" applied to Yeasayer. Were these inventions of yours, or just journalists getting creative? Do you like them as descriptors?

I think Chris came up with "whirled music" and "wospell", more plays on words. I don't think it's our job to come up with descriptors for the music, but one of our goals may be to make music that defies description.

In his interview with Pitchfork, Anand said, "We're not just trying to replicate our boring suburban, middle-class lives, you know? We're trying to escape into something. We've always had a sense for the melodrama." I think indie-rock in the past traditionally had a prejudice against melodrama and escapism and a bias towards "authenticity", whether that meant being lo-fi or non-commercial or just singing about the concerns of your own scene. On the same note, I think indie-rock acts borrowing from other musical cultures also tended to be viewed suspiciously as being appropriation, kind of dubious territory in terms of political correctness. These prejudices seem to be dying out, for various reasons. The commercial success of a lot of indie-rock bands and the formation of a sort of indie-mainstream aesthetic and the easy availability of music from all time periods and corners of the world seem to have made room for large-scale, flamboyant indie-rock with really diverse influences. Yeasayer seems to be among the least insular of new-ish indie bands in the breadth of the music you embrace (all different global musics, all different kinds of pop, even the least "cool" varieties) and in the kinds of themes you address in your lyrics (environmentalism, ecstatic togetherness, coming apocalypse, folk balladry). I'm making this really broad, I know, but where do you think you fit in with this zeitgeist?

Yeah I don't know how exactly we fit in the zeitgeist, or if we do, I'm just glad a few people are catching on. You're right, there's no denying it, especially as we are wrapping up our first major U.S. tour, I am getting the sense that we are in the midst of a cultural shift. I see a lot of people at our shows who don't look like the stereotypical dude or chick that I thought would go to indie rock shows. I think the mainstream music scene or culture (and political and television culture for that matter) has reached such a nadir, that people are forced to explore more experimental or thought-provoking forms of entertainment. Pop/rock music has gotten so dull and predictable that it's beneath even the most meathead frat boy out there. So they're online reading up on Pitchfork or blogs or whatever, and finding music on there that gets them off just as much as those classic rock albums they love to rock out to while taking bong rips, avoiding homework. Or maybe it's just me, judging our audience by the clothes they wear. Maybe everyone at a Yeasayer concert is a die hard, nerdy, music aficionado, same as during the apathetic 90's. In any case, I definitely feel like boring indie rock has had it's day. We don't need to celebrate mediocrity anymore.

Is cultural appropriation still a relevant concern?

I don't think cultural appropriation ranks very highly on my list of concerns, as long as it's done respectfully. I'm more concerned about not boring our audiences, and coming up with catchy tunes and interesting new sounds.

Are you hoping to reach a broad range of people? How big are Yeasayer's ambitions?

I would like to reach as broad a range of people as possible. I have no ambition to play for an elite set of westerners, although I do crave their approval. Ideally, I'd want to be as globally relevant as Bob Marley, The Beatles, or Justin Timberlake, without compromising or sacrificing any experimental edge. But I'll settle for being able to support myself and my future family on the fruits of my labor - being a professional musician.

You guys have undertaken some pretty ambitious touring at this point: how is it working out? Do you feel like people are responding?

Yes definitely. I feel like people who are skeptical of our album are won over by the live performance, which is important to us financially, too, since most of the money we make will be through touring, not album sales in this age of free downloading. I just hope we can preserve our voices and keep putting on energetic performances night after night. I wouldn't mind some time off to work out new material for the live setting.

Do you think we're actually doomed to fail as a society, culturally and environmentally? The last seven years under Bush have been pretty bleak, not just for the US, but for most of the world. Do you think it's possible that things could get turned around in the near future, or are we looking at cosmetic changes at best?

Barack Obama fills me with hope for the future of our country and the world. We were watching him the other day and I think Ira or Chris said that he even looks like a comic book president, from that idealized post-racial future. If he wins the nomination I will weep with joy.

To return slightly to an earlier question, is escapism okay, given our current situation? Is it maybe a necessary part of idealism?

I think escapism is fine for an album or a movie or two. I don't think there's anything wrong with providing a few people with a temporary escape from the doldrums of modern life. The thing is, I don't really think "our current situation" that you're referring to is really in our face enough to warrant escapism through music. There's no draft rounding up Americans indiscriminately to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, global warming is misunderstood and relegated to discussions by fat ignorant politicians, and Darfur and Guantanamo and China still seem very far away. My music is hardly a distraction from reality; it's just another part of the banal reality for us Westerners, - we're bored, we seek out art, and it moves us for some reason.

All Hour Cymbals was mostly written on the computer with lots of overdubs after a short stint in a studio, right? How do you plan to record in the future? Do you have any new recordings planned?

We've started recording many new demos for release as singles or as a second album. Our recording methods will probably remain the same, working out compositions on the computer. I hope the second album will have sparer arrangements and more concise songcraft.

I've heard rumours about solo projects in the works: an album of sixty one-minute songs by Chris, and a rock opera by Anand. What can you tell me about these projects?

Well, Chris is always working on song nuggets, Ira and Luke too, and I basically have a rock opera about Coal Miners called Break Line completely demoed, ready to record for real. I'd like to get a bunch of fellow musicians to guest on the record, sort of play all the different roles in the musical. It would be a great gimmick. And it'd be under the Yeasayer banner. These solo projects will probably get released after our second record.

Do you think you could come up with a list of five or ten of Yeasayer's favourite records? What have you been listening to on tour?

I'll tell you what we've been listening to on tour since it's fresh in my mind:

Jackie Wilson: Greatest Hits

Tom Petty: Greatest Hits

Roy Orbison: Greatest Hits

Boney M: Greatest Hits

Mystikal: Greatest Hits

Alternative 80's collection

Aretha Franklin: Lady Soul

A-Trak

Freeway: Free at Last

Candi Staton: Candi

With roots in Baltimore and all the traveling you've done lately, do you still feel like a "Brooklyn band"? Do you feel strong ties to the scene there? Do you intend to stay based in Brooklyn?

I intend to stay in Brooklyn as long as I can. I love it here. The thought of living anywhere else terrifies me, in fact.

What are some things happening in NYC right now that people should know about?

I don't know, I just got back from tour I'm totally behind!