Our Brother The Native are a new three-piece band signed to FatCat Records and are one of the most inspiring and exciting new groups we've heard in a long time.

The band's distinctive hybrid draws upon a huge melting pot of ideas, from sprawling psychedelic folk and skewed vocals, to toy instruments, sketchy electronics and weird found sounds.

June 19th sees the release of Tooth & Claw, the trio's remarkable genre-twisting debut album.

In the meantime, we caught up with co-founder Joshua Bertram to discuss the band's influences and refreshing approach to music making. .

Hi Josh, thanks for taking the time to talk with us...how are things leading up to the album release?

Pshhh time, I have so much time it is rediculous, no car, no job, all I do is sit around and make music haha, it's lots of fun, going to enjoy this last bit of my life where I'm not an adult and I dont have that much responsibility. Ummm leading up to the release has been pretty laid back, just trying to get everything in order as far as the booklet layout and art stuff. And we have been working on new recordings and doing some practicing for our live dates this summer that are coming up. Typical things I would say for any 17 year old haha.

You're a new band, so for anyone unfamiliar with your music how would you describe your sound?

Well it has so many influences on this album, that it is just a wealth of ideas and sounds. We are such a young band, and I dont mean by age, I just mean we are still trying to find our sound and what we want to do and what we do best, but as far as this album it has lots of folk acoustic sounding songs with lots of noise building an atmosphere around the base of the song which is guitar or keyboard... and skewed vocals staggering through the melodies.

The band formed in quite an unorthdox way. You and John Michael first started the group but then Chaz joined at a later date, how did everything fall into shape?

Well me and John Michael just started jamming one day in my room, he was on my newly purchased drum machine and I was strumming away on my banjo, and that was the birth of our first songs. I got out my Grandpa's old 4 track and we started recording what ever we could get our hands on, i.e childrens toys and such household things to make a racket. Then we figured out how to put it on the computer, so of course we made a MySpace and thats how Chaz got ahold of us, he had created a little D.I.Y label and so he wanted to release something by us. This is how our whole relationship began, after a couple months Chaz wanted to collab with me, so we made started Moses Grandy and after two songs, I kind of felt like I was leaving John Michael out and plus the songs were lacking his expertise, so then I just asked Chaz to join Our Brother The Native and that was that.

With living so far apart, how do you go about recording together and does it take a long time to finish tracks?

Some tracks take longer than others, the way we did it over the internet was, Chaz would write a song consisting of guitar or piano and maybe a basis for some vocals and then me and John Michael would add everything else to it. When John Michael and I would write a song, we would then send it to Chaz and he would add vocals or noise or some guitar solos or whatever there was room for. A month ago Chaz came out for spring break and for the first time we all got to record together in the same room and it works really well, we all have found our niche and place in this band. However our new sound is much more ambitous and theres quite a bit more instrumentation to each song, so the process is going to take a lot longer I believe, but it is fun and we enjoy it.

The first time you played live together was at the Open Circuit Festival in Belgium earlier this year. It was also the first time you met face to face as a whole band, was that a daunting experience and what was it like playing live after months of recording music via email etc?

Haha it was definitely frantic practicing the day of the show, us huddled in a room trying to learn songs we recorded months ago. I'm not sure how we pulled it off, because our sound check was just terrible, we could not make it through one song. The songs we recorded were never ment to be played live really and John Michael and I never really thought about practicing because we never thought we would get to this level so fast. But in the end it all worked out, we went on and something clicked and we loosend up and just let the jams flow. So for our first meeting and first show it was crazy stressful, but we had fun and it was an amazing experience to say the least.

Do you meet more regular now and are there any tour plans in support of the album?

We dont really get to meet regularly, John Michael and I meet a couple times a week, but Chaz cant really just fly out when ever he wants. But like this last Spring break he came out and we recorded and played a show, so we are slowly becoming more of a band. This summer there will be more opportunities for Chaz to come and hang with us, like he's flying out to Chicago for our show at the Empty Bottle on June 10th. No tour at the moment, just a 10 day tour with Joan Of Arc in September, that will be fun.

You've just completed your first album Tooth & Claw, which will be released in June. The album is very diverse and experimental, when you are writing tracks do you deliberately aim to break boundaries or does it just come naturally?

I wouldn't say we deliberately break boundaries, I think that's just the kind of music we have fell into. We love to make something that is new and a little bit different, obviously our goal is not out to make 3 minute mainstream pop songs, we dont want to be contricted by any means, we just want to make what we like and what feels right at the time. I think we will eventually start bringing in new elements to our music that might be more approachable to a wider audience. With Tooth And Claw, it sounds what it sounds like because thats what we were into and thats all the resources we had. Now that we have acquired some new gadgets and a new direction, we are aiming to make some music that we will like to listen to down the road.

Strangely, your mom appears on a couple of songs...what was it like working with your parent and why did you chose to use her vocals?

Well it was a lot of fun to do something together, we dont have that many common interests, so for us to have music is a real joy. I just let her listen to the song and she just worked her magic, it was not hard at all, she would deliver right on the first take. I chose to use her vocals because I think the music really needed some female touch to make some parts a little more pretty and just diversify the music, keep a song sounding fresh and surprising people. Also because she never has time anymore for herself, to just sit down and play the piano, with being a single parent she can be super busy and stressed, so I'm glad I can give her this opportunity to let her talent be recognized.

Being signed to FatCat, a label which has released music by the likes of Animal Collective, Mum and Sigur Ros....do you ever feel overwhelmed or out of depth joining a roster of such acclaimed artists?

Haha totally, I sometimes can not believe it is real, it just seems like a dream and we hit the jack pot. They have an allstar roster of bands and I'm emmensly grateful to be apart of that. Not to be arrogant, but I think we have a lot of potential and FatCat saw that, and hopefully one day we could put out an album that puts us in their ranks. I mean I guess it's all relative to the person's perspective, I never think we will be as good as Sigur Ros or Animal Collective, but if some people like our music than that is good enough for me.

Speaking of Animal Collective, you are often compared to them. Are they an influence at all and are the comparisions flattering, or would you rather be judged solely on your own merit?

Yes they are definitely an influence of ours, and it is an honor to be compared to them, but at the same time it would be great if we were just judged solely on our efforts. But I know that will not happen, and I'm ok with it, because we're not going to lie, we love what they're doing and wish them the best. Now that we have started writing new material we have started down a path a little more our own, still encompasing the influences we started with but with a little different perspective.

Early reports of your music have been nothing but positive, are you surprised at the feedback you're getting?

YES!!! We seriously cannot believe they're talking about us and our music. It's very flattering, but at the same time it is hard to hear so many nice things when we as a band really don't think that much of the record. I mean it's good for what it is and we did the best we could at that time and place, but it is most certainly not an album I like to listen to. We have already grown leeps and bounds since those recordings so we just have to try and keep it in perspective and realize how close we are to the music.

You're all fairly young, is the music affecting your schooling at all?

Well it was more school was affecting us, John Michael's college classes were a huge responsibility and that took up more time from the band than I would of liked but we got through it. When we were recording the album I kept getting sick from the stress of recording and trying to keep up with school. I seem to obsess over things and being somewhat of a perfectionist doesnt make a good combination.

Before the album, you released a solo EP as JSP (the Pappa Bones and The Creature Children Of The Forrest). Will you be recording more solo work in the near future?

Ummm I really only do solo work when John Michael doesnt have time to record. Like when I get bored and make a song that won't really fit with Our Brother The Native, then I will just keep it as my own. But I did start a side project called Textured Habitats which will consist of anyone who wants to collaborate. John Michael and I, and my friend Jaimie just recently finished a 25 minute song for that and am looking to get that released soon enough.

You mentioned that you and Chaz also recorded some tracks as Moses Grandy...will you two ever be making music again under this name?

I don't see that happening, but you never know, I dont want to say never.

So what's next for Our Brother The Native after the album release?

We are just going to keep recording and just play lots of shows.