Spouse will bring their experimental rock stylings to the Purple House, 132 Harrison St., tonight at 10 p.m. Recently, Weekender had the opportunity to talk to guitarist/vocalist Jose Ayerve about touring, the East Coast and his love of DeKalb.

Weekender: Where are you right now, and what can you see?

Jose Ayerve: I can see the eastern most part of the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts.

WE: How’s the current tour going?

JA: We’re just about to get going. We’re in the very important stage of picking everybody up and picking up the gear and packing the vehicle.

WE: Describe an average day on tour.

Jose Ayerve: An average day on tour is waking up around 10 or 11 in the morning, getting some coffee, grab some breakfast, packing everything up, figuring out where we are going, get there, load in, eat, do the soundcheck, do the show, sell some merch, meet some people and make some friends, hang out after the show, say goodbye, go to sleep and then wake up and do it all over.

WE: Spouse has gone through a lot of members over the years. How do you view this?

Jose Ayerve: It’s got its excellent attributes and it’s got its not so good things about it. The good things are that there [is] a continuously new and fresh quality of the musicianship of the band. The downside to that is that sometimes you have a slow learning curve and some people don’t pick up right away. We tend to keep the recording to a core group and the touring aspect includes three members, and then we have certain members join us when we are in a certain area.

WE: What was it like growing up in Maine and the music scene, or lack thereof, up there?

Jose Ayerve: Well, I actually grew up in Springfield, MA, but I’ve lived in Maine a total of about 11 or 12 years. Portland is starting to get on the map a little more because there’s a commuter rail between Portland and Boston. So as a result, there’s been a change in the city and culture, and it’s getting more diverse and becoming a draw for new acts and old acts alike. I’ve seen Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson play in Portland.

WE: What’s it like touring outside of the East Coast, and what kind of response do you get in the Midwest?

Jose Ayerve: I really like the Midwest. I like Chicago, Des Moines and St. Louis. I’ve liked all the cities I’ve been to. I’ve seen what it takes to build up an audience in these cities, and we keep coming back to them. It’s kind of like a diving board, where if you bounce enough, you get enough spring and enough height and you can dive off and go a little further. In our case, it would be making it out to the West Coast. We’re hoping that the Midwest tour will be able to support a tour out there.

WE: Care to share a funny road story.

Jose Ayerve: I think the most fun we had on the last tour was when we were in DeKalb. The House had closed down so the show was moved to Joe Robinson’s house and we played in the basement with tons of kids. When we got there, everything was real chill, and they had some stupid sci-fi snake movie on. We stayed up late and there was a keg, so everyone was having fun. Afterwards, one of the guys from Melonboat took me to Taco Bell. It was great. The whole group of musicians that belong to the music community of DeKalb are so cool and nice and positive.

WE: Why should students come out and see you tonight?

Jose Ayerve: Because we love DeKalb and this will be our third time there, and we’ll have our road legs by that time, and we’re looking forward to having a good time. We’ll also play a Melonboat cover or two as well, so that should be a lot of fun.