'œI don't know where I am right now,'? says Mike Small, bassist for the Meligrove Band. 'œI've been sleeping in the van.'? When I catch Small, he's on a cellphone. As the van goes through valleys, it cuts out, resulting in a bout of phone tag. He had called me earlier in the day from somewhere outside Louisiana. Small is with By Divine Right, playing an American tour before heading overseas, then heading back to Canada to play Pop Montreal with the Meligroves, who will follow that showcase with a brief east coast tour.

'œWe want to do a full Canada tour,'? Small says, 'œbut it's not a good idea to go west after November. Northern Ontario is suicide.'?

Jason Nunes (guitar/vocals), Darcy Rego (drums/vocals), Andrew Scott (guitar/organ) and Small met in high school and have been players in the local scene ever since, mate-swapping with the likes of BDR, Waking Eyes, and Femme Fatale. They released their first EP in 1998 and first LP, Stars and Guitars in 2000, followed by a sophomore release, Let It Grow, in 2002.

Luckily they still find themselves on the same page after more than seven years playing together. 'œWe're going to keep playing together until somebody has a kid,'? says Small. And there doesn't seem to be a reason to stop just yet. The band's success is growing, and they're recently being noted for developing a following in Japan, a place they've never toured (although the plan is to head there sometime in the not-too-distant future). They've sold more than 1,000 copies of Let It Grow based solely on word of mouth.

And now with label backing putting up some funds, they don't have to worry about day jobs as much. 'œThis is what I do now,'? says Small, although he concedes that he might return to his old job at Costco once the East Coast tour ends in October and they put the finishing touches on a new album, titled Hard Times and Headphones. The band hopes to finish working on the new album in November and it's currently scheduled to be released in January 2005.

'œIt's pretty different from what we've done before,'? says Small. They've been compared to The Beach Boys and Ben Folds Five and other pop-driven rock acts, but Small describes the new sound as a progression. 'œIt's more piano-based, but not like Elton John piano. There's a really big drum and bass sound, like a really big Led Zeppelin sound but not the guitar. Musically, it's a concept album, if not lyrically.'?

'œIt sounds more honest,'? he adds. 'œLess cuteness and cleverness. We used to go for that, but now we want to make something beautiful, as cheesy as that sounds.'?

Small says he never really thinks about the music that much. It's only when people start asking him questions that he starts asking those questions himself. 'œI like answering questions from the press. It makes me think about what we're doing. Normally we just play and record and play.'?

At this point, Small's phone cuts out again and this time we don't reconnect.