Oberhofer: No record label? No problem

One familiar refrain around this time is that with all of the famous musicians making appearances in forts and power stations, the festival has strayed from its original focus of drawing attention to new, unsigned acts. Believe it or not, those bands do still participate, and some of them, such as New York-based rock group Oberhofer, are worth a listen.

Oberhofer, led by the 20-year-old Brad Oberhofer, are a rare example of a band that can actually own the title of being "indie." They are not signed to a label and aren't in a rush to do so. They don't have a full length album, either — the only record of their existence is a six-song EP of demos (recorded in the basement of his parent's house and finished in his apartment after the house was destroyed in a fire) available for free online. Despite their limited presence, the band has managed to accomplish things that other signed bands haven't, including having one of their songs used in a commercial (Sobe Lifewater), touring with a popular band (Tapes ‘N Tapes) and being praised by heavily trafficked music websites (Pitchfork).

We caught up with Brad Oberhofer over the phone last week as he prepared to travel to Austin for SXSW and discussed his marketing strategy and his plans for the future.

American-Statesman: When you first started out, how did you go about getting people to listen to your music?

Oberhofer: I think it was mostly about personal connection. I sent my music out to a lot of blogs, tons and tons of blogs, and probably got about 0.5 percent to write anything. It was a slow and steady upward curve as far as blogs posting things. I posted my e-mail address on our website, saying that anyone who wants some songs should just send me an e-mail. Through that I got e-mails from people saying "my girlfriend just broke up with me and this song is helping me get through it," or "my best friend just died and I heard this song and for some reason it just made me feel better, do you have any more songs." I really connected with people that way, and though I probably don't remember anyone's name I remember most of the discussions I've had with people.

How did one of your songs end up in a Sobe commercial?

Right at the beginning of everything somebody sent me a MySpace message asking if they could use the song for something. It was completely random.

As soon as that came out, people were searching for the song. Our MySpace was getting 3,000-4,000 plays a day. It was pretty insane how much of an impact that commercial had.

What are your plans going forward? Are you going to sign with a label?

Definitely a proper LP, but only a label if it feels completely right and I feel like we're ready. The label has to share my vision and my vision has to feel concrete. Right now, I have a preliminary track-listing for the new album, and only two of the songs on the EP are on there. Everything out there right now are just demos, and I'm definitely going to make those songs what they meant to be. I hope that people don't get too much sentimental attachment to them, because I'm going to make new versions that are better, I think.

pmongillo@statesman.com

Oberhofer

SESAC Showcase, 10 p.m. Thursday. Bat Bar, 218 East Sixth St.

Noisey.com showcase, 9 p.m., Friday. Kiss and Fly, 404 Colorado St.