Inside a sweltering and sold out St. Andrew’s Hallv, the Arizona based band The Format brought their rock-pop sensibilities for a 90 minute set. Playing songs from their new independent release “Dog Problems”, The Format brought forth an honest rock-pop sound that somewhat surprised this reviewer.

After getting dropped by their major label Elektra, you would think that the band would wind down towards playing to dozens of people in a small club. But with the release of “Dog Problems”, The Format look to be moving onward and upward. During the set, the group bounced back between their new tracks, and tracks from past albums, such as the 2003 “Interventions and Lullabyes”.

Lead singer Nate Ruess gave such songs as the current single “The Compromise” a big lift with his soulful voice. The band was very consistent in their sound and didn’t really break into any odd stylistic shifts. They bounced between mid-tempo rockers and a few ballads, which came off as very independent and didn’t become too mopey. The band’s best tunes, such as “The 1st Single”, and the brand new “She Doesn’t Get It” were given the utmost respect from the very packed crowd.

In their set, The Format proved that they might one of the most underrated bands in the alt-rock scene today.

Interview:

Before the sold out show at St. Andrew’s, I had a chance to interview the lead singer of The Format, Nate Ruess. Here is a taste of the interview that I had with Nate:

AM: At first glance, it looks as if the tour has been playing well so far….
NR: It’s been really good so far. I think we’ve had all but four shows on the tour sell out so far. We’re playing venues that are mostly anywhere from 600-1,200 seats, and we’ve been impressed with the fan reaction so far. We have another two and a half weeks on this tour, and we hope it continues to go as well as it has so far.

AM: I think one of the more humorous things I heard was your band having a big party after getting dropped from your major label deal. How did that come about?
NR: On the day we found out we had been dropped, we were on tour with Dashboard Confessional. To be honest, we were relieved to be off the major label (Elektra), and we just got the word out about a party. It was an unusual thing to celebrate, but we felt it was the best thing to do at the time. We’re still relieved to be out of that situation.

AM: Was there a lot of pressure to have a big hit with the major label?
NR: Yeah, a lot. The record company wanted the songs to be way more radio friendly and have the songs shortened. It just gets frustrating, and takes away from what you are trying to do.

AM: Now that you are releasing your latest album on your own, is there any sort of different approach that you’re taking on this record?
NR: We’re not really changing the approach on the record. What is different is who we can blame. We have no one to blame but ourselves on this record if we don’t like what’s on it. But we had a really great time releasing this album.

AM: How is the promotion different for this record?
NR: In the past, you mostly sit on your bus, and just wait to play. Now, its getting the word out and pounding the pavement a little more to get your sound heard. A lot more interviews… (laughs)

AM: You guys toured with Jimmy Eat World a few years back. How was touring in venues of that size?
NR: Well, being on that tour was simple. Very simple. You didn’t really do any sort of promotion, you just showed up and played. It’s really easy to gain new fans in playing venues of that size.

AM: What sort of inspiration and music were you looking to on this new record?
NR: We listened to a lot more of more pop based influences. A little more Harry Nilsson, XTC and some Paul McCartney as well. But I think we were listening to that anyways, maybe just a little bit more this time around.

AM: Your “Living Room” fan site help get the word out about the band more than, let’s say a MySpace page?
NR: The Living Room is more for our diehards. It works as our fan club site as well. The fans can get free downloads and can interact more one on one with each other versus our MySpace page.

AM: Do you have any fall tour plans?
NR: We’re done in two weeks with this tour. We get about a week off, and then we are off to Europe for a month, to tour with the All American Rejects. After that, we’ll be opening up for the Rejects here in the States until the end of the year.

The Format’s “Dog Problems” had the highest chart debut of their career, debuting on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart at #77 in June. The album is out now…