Portland's STRFKR play Bumbershoot on Saturday September 3, 2011. Photo: Tyler Kohlhoff.

Rock music is studded with examples of profane or inappropriate names, so Portland’s Starfucker (also written STRFKR) are by no means alone. While the name has brought them plenty of attention, however, a band has to stand on the quality of its music – and STRFKR have that by the bucketful.

Their latest album, Reptilians, is a mix of MGMT-style indie dance-electronica and far out Flaming Lips-ish psych-rock. It’s a curious blend of musical styles that somehow all gels around its weird party-on-Mars vibe. STRFKR have become renowned for their energetic and unpredictable live show too, and the band are currently on tour in the US, playing Seattle’s three-day Bumbershoot festival on Saturday September 3, 2011.

We caught up with STRFKR frontman and driving force Josh Hodges on the road, and talked with him about Bumbershoot, the sci-fi roots of Reptilians, and – naturally – that name.

Dan Coxon: I want to ask you first about the Starfucker name, as everyone does. Do you think it’s been a help or a hindrance?

Josh Hodges: I think both. I think it was a help to us at first, when no one knew who we were, and I think that now people know who we are it keeps us back from being any bigger than we are, pretty much. We can’t be on the radio, and all of that.

DC: Is it right that the band started out as your solo project?

JH: That’s right, yeah.

DC: To what extent is it still your project? Or are you slowly turning into a full band?

JH: I still write and record every song myself. So in that sense it’s definitely my project still. But live it doesn’t sound the same, especially with Keil’s drumming. It’s totally not replaceable. So it’s becoming more of a band project, and I’m hoping to actually do some more collaborating with Keil on the next album. It sounds weird, but I don’t naturally collaborate all the time, you know?

DC: I heard that Ryan left the band at the start of August… are you looking to replace him?

JH: We won’t try to replace him as far as his stage presence and all that goes. I think that was his main contribution to the band, it wasn’t musical, it was more just performance. I don’t think we’re going to try to replace that. I feel like that was his thing. And we have someone else who’s playing with us now who does a lot of the same parts that I wrote that Ryan used to play. But my songs are pretty simple, so he learned 22 songs in nine days before we went on tour. It’s convenient that the songs are so simple!

DC: I want to ask about the album too. Why did you choose the name Reptilians?

JH: The theme of the album was the end of the world, and death, but not necessarily in a depressing way. And Reptilians is named after the conspiracy theory that there’s, like, a governing alien race in a dimension right outside of ours. It’s kind of inspired by that.

DC: I thought I detected quite a sci-fi feel to the album!

JH: Yeah, definitely. Keil and I both like sci-fi a lot.

DC: What were your musical influences when you made the album? In it I hear everything from electronica and dance music to The Flaming Lips.

JH: I don’t even know. I grew up listening to Beck, but we’re all from different backgrounds. I like hip-hop a lot too, actually. I listen to modern hip-hop and underground hip-hop.

DC: Have you played Bumbershoot before? Or is this your first time?

JH: No, I’ve never played, but when I was a kid I used to go to it, so it’s really exciting that I get to play it!

DC: Do you remember who you saw?

JH: Yeah. I saw Beck, and Built To Spill, and there was this band from Seattle called Sky Cries Mary. I haven’t thought of them forever.

DC: Have you guys played many festivals this year? Whenever I check, you seem to be touring.

JH: No we haven’t really played many festivals. Outside Lands was definitely our biggest festival. We played one in Canada that was really fun. We played, like, three shows there. It was much smaller, it was more like SXSW, but a tenth of that size, even.

DC: Have your festival experiences all been good? Or have you had any horror stories?

JH: No, not too bad. I mean, the sound is always up and down, you never know, but… no, it’s been good for the most part. It’s been fun.

DC: And how would you like people to see Starfucker?

JH: I don’t really know. When people ask us what we are, when we’re just talking to people, we tend to say that it’s fun music, like it’s party music or something. We try to make the live show an environment that can do that, that’s fun. But then people can take the record home and enjoy it at a different level.

STRFKR play the Fountain Lawn Stage at Bumbershoot on Saturday September 3, 2011. For more information on Bumbershoot tickets, check out their online box office. You can also check out other Bumbershoot artists and our live coverage of the festival on our dedicated Bumbershoot page.