Where did the name Neon Indian come from?

I can’t really take credit for it. I remember that Alicia had made this pseudo band account [on MySpace] that was just called “Neon Indian” as an inside joke between her and a friend. Over time that page just sat there. I remember always enjoying the name, maybe because it was started as this attempt at communication. It’s actually funny… we ended up pissing off this band called Neon Navajo. They sent me a message that said, “Change your name man, your music fucking sucks.” And then I was like, “Why don’t you change your name, I’ve had this account for like four years now.” [laughs] It definitely made for some pretty hilariously hostile interactions. It doesn’t bother me out there that there [are] other Native American “Neon” bands.

Does having a film background influence the way in which you approach your music?

Oh, absolutely. My entire life I’ve always looked at [music] from a visual or narrative standpoint. And whenever I’m making music there’s usually something coupled in there, at least in my own weird little synaesthesia. When I come up with lyrical content it’s always tied to some specific story. Ideally, I would like to mix components of video art and these little short films or narratives that are directly correlated to the songs that I write.

Recently, there’s been a wave of new bands coming out, including Neon Indian, considered part of the “glo-fi” movement. How do you feel about the Internet’s role, specifically blogs, in the branding and proliferation of such music genres?

It’s definitely a double-edged sword. I like that it’s not hard to find an audience for what you’re doing and that there’s a very immediate channel you can tap into. But I think part of the problem I’ve had with [the Internet] is that it tends… to saturate music genres almost before they really peak. I feel like usually when people would think about genres and movements in music they’re always sort of centralized in specific locations and it’s all within a community of people that know each other and work together. And now it’s like, “Well, there’s a few bands that kind of popped up around the same time that have very loose aesthetic parallels, so we’re just going to call it one thing.” I like those bands, but I don’t necessarily see myself (a) sounding exactly like them and (b) associating with them on a collaborative level.