Viva Voce's been on tour awhile and they're about to head out again. They also have a new record called Get Yr Blood Sucked Out that's set for release September 12 on Barsuk. Things seem to be happening for them right now—even bigger things than that car commercial they gave a song to last winter. So, I figured, hey what the hell, let's check in with 'em as they ascend toward blowing the hell up on a worldwide scale. Drummer Kevin Robinson, one half of the hard-rock duo, fielded my Qs and gave me some As.

MERCURY: It's been a long time since the Mercury's checked in with you guys. What the hell have you been up to?

KEVIN ROBINSON: Where to begin? For starters, we played 200 shows in 12 different countries last year, so it kinda felt like we were on some sort of carnival ride for a large part of '05. A carnival ride with warm, shitty beer. We began to build our studio, toured Europe for the first time last year, festivals in Belgium, Holland, got some gear stolen in London, got distribution in Europe, renegotiated contracts, "like a rhinestone cowboy/deals coming over the phone" and all that.

Any weird or crazy stories?

Not really. Unless you count finding other bands "shrimping" in your dressing room. Or having 10 thousand dollar's worth of shit stolen, or doing on-air interviews for MTV Europe and being asked to hold children's toys. Busting a crackhead dwarf in a Texas bathroom with his junk in a gloryhole or playing a sold-out show with Death Cab... then home mowing my lawn the day after—that's not weird. Crazy? What's crazy is having a warrant for your arrest in countries you don't live in because you've chocked up so many traffic violations. That is crazy and weird.

Shrimping?

Actually, Adam, I've discovered that "shrimping" is when people have a sexual fetish for sucking on people's toes. Like walking in on your parents, I learned about this the hard way. Visually. I'm assuming the term comes from a person's nasty, curled-up Cheetos resembling a largish prawn? Either way it's a cold blast when you just want to chill out.

Viva Voce plays Fri Sept 8, 9 pm, at the Crystal Ballroom