DeKALB | Seaworthy sets themselves apart from other bands not only with their angular indie rock sound, but their support of positive messages instilled throughout their music and the promotion of the vegan/vegetarian lifestyle.

Before their show tonight at the House Cafe, 273 E. Lincoln Highway (show starts at 6 p.m. and costs $6), guitarist/vocalist Rob DeShazer and bassist Neil Allen Wright sat down and talked to the Northern Star about everything from veganism to Bruce Willis to driving zambonies,

Northern Star: Who or what are your influences? Musical and Nonmusical?

Rob DeShazer: I’m influenced a lot by the band Houston and Shiner. The bands that got me interested in playing were Failure, Hum, Jawbox, Sunny Day Real Estate.

Neil Allen Wright: Message wise — which is why I like music to begin with — bands like Propagandhi and Rage Against the Machine. [They have] a real poignant, political, get-off-your-ass message, which I think you can hear some of that energy and even message in some of our songs.

RD: The message we’re kind of pushing is being a vegetarian. At our shows we have a guy, Ed, who runs the Vegan and Vegetarian Club here at NIU, brings propaganda and vegan things to eat and passes it out to people. You don’t see that much at a rock show.

NW: It’s cool that we’ve had a chance to play with other bands who are like-minded, like North Atlantic and Wax on Radio — they’re all vegetarians.

RD: We’ve had a really good response. We’re not up there shoving it in people’s faces, calling them cowards or bastards for not being vegan or vegetarian. People don’t look at us like we’re trying to say we’re better than they are.

NW: It’s just an awesome way to put our foot in the door with people.

RD: We invite people to come up to us and ask us about it.

NS: How did you get involved in the vegan/vegetarian lifestyle?

RD: I’m a vegetarian, Neil’s vegan, Pierce, our drummer, is vegan and Don is on the fence. He’s close to being vegetarian.

NW: It’s surprising how big of an influence (music is). For me, I listen to Propagandhi, and they had an album that militantly says “you’re a (jerk) for eating meat.” Whenever you start thinking in that direction, “I love these songs, but what is this band talking about, how can they have such a strong opinion on something that I believe,” you just start to question that. If I can’t find a good reason for doing something that has obvious negative consequences then I’m going to have to take actions against it and change my lifestyle.

RD: With so many choices you have, especially in America, you can live a fulfilling life and you don’t have to kill an animal for it. With that choice we don’t choose to.

NS: What kind of things do you do to make your music sound unique?

RD: I play a telecaster guitar and it’s a pretty bright guitar.

NS: What do you mean by bright?

RD: Very clean {sounding]. It’s really clear. You can hear every note, every single nuance.

NW: As opposed to muddy sounding.

RD: Well what I did was, I took the E and the A string off the guitar and replaced with a D and G string of a bass. Then, I have a channel changer that sends a signal to a bass amp and then another to a guitar amp. The result is really level sounding. The telecaster is not so bright and clear so that’s it’s not overbearing. It started because, originally, we were a three piece band and I wanted a little something extra.

NW:Was I not doing enough?

RD: (Laughing) No! I just wanted to give it something extra, and I liked it so much that I decided to keep it with a four piece band.

NS: Where did you get the name Seaworthy from?

RD: For a year and half I was trying to piece together a band. I’d get a drummer here, then someone would flake out. So it was really hard. When I think of seaworthy I think of a shipbuilder, creating a vessel, “is it going to stay afloat?” We’re not looking to make a million bucks out of this but will it do what we want — play a few shows, put out a record, get marginal exposure. Seaworthy just fits perfectly with the songs and the situation. So we named her Seaworthy.

NS: So you guys spend a lot of time together. Any weird behaviors or pet peeves?

RD: Probably not anything I want to publish. I play poker, I’ll publish that. It is kind of cool, we’re organizing a poker tournament where the rake is going to go to PETA.

NS: So nothing weird, like smelly feet or nail biting?

NW: Heavens no, we’re on the tip top of hygiene! But Pierce can run a 100 meter dash in, like, two seconds.

NW: Yeah, he’s incredibly fast.

NS: Anything else?

RD: Probably nothing we would want published.

NW: This is a family paper after all.

NS: Was it hard getting used to each other?

NW: Creatively we all have an ego-less approach to music making. We put the band first.

RD: No one tries to overdo it. There’s no flaring solos. It’s all for the good of the song and, evidently, for the good of the band. When we all sit down, it all seems to come together effortlessly — which is sweet and rare. These are just awesome guys. If we weren’t in a band we’d be really close friends.

NS: Do you all hang out outside of practice?

RD: We work and go to school, and with the humdrum of everyday life, we try to get together as much as we can. And we usually have a blast when we are together.

NS: Do you find it hard juggling school and the band?

NW: I don’t know what I’d do without the band. It keeps me sane, or at least close to it.

NS: Any interesting things to know about the band?

NW: We have a shot, the chocolate cake shot.

RD: It’s our mascot. It’s Absolut Citron with Frangelico, and then a lemon wedge with sugar on it. It’s just superb.

NS: Do you guys do anything special to get ready before a show?

NW: Me and Pierce have been taking shots of Rumpleminze [laughs]. But no, just knowing you’re going to be able to get up there and rock usually gets me going.

NS: Do you ever get nervous?

NW: Not to sound “cool” or anything like that, but not really. There’s usually a comfort in being a part of a whole. There’s a trust in everyone. It’s different from going up there by yourself, giving a speech or talking to a reporter.

Herminia Irizarry is a Flavor reporter for the Northern Star.