Mink Rock, Party and Hand Out Stickers

(andPOP) - "Hey! Where are we right now?" Neal Carlson, the lead singer of Mink, shouts back at his bandmates, making no effort to cover the mouthpiece of the phone. From cell phone to cell phone, the sound is near deafening.

"Sorry," he says genuinely, but with a slight chuckle. "Arizona, we're in Arizona right now."

The band has obviously been busy lately.

It's 11:00 a.m., and after a time mix-up (on my part, no less), I'm finally able to chat with the Mink frontman.

Mink, a name conceived by Carlson himself in 2006, reflects not only the band members' love of animals, but more importantly, their desire to have something short, and easy to remember. After opening up the L.A. Weekly Detour Festival in California last week, the group is still buzzing from all of the excitement.

"We're a relatively new band, and for us to just get on the bill was a huge honour," Carlson said of their experience. The Detour Festival included huge indie names like Bloc Party, Busy P. and Justice and although they were looking forward to meeting some of the other acts, Carlson says that they were too busy handing around stickers and flyers in order to get their name out.

Despite their appearance at the primarily indie-focussed festival last week, Carlson refers to Mink – who released their self-titled debut album in August – as being a "straight ahead pop rock band."

"The interesting thing about what we're doing is that we all come from different musical backgrounds, we have different layers, we're not all hardcore AC/DC fans. Stella [Mozgawa, the drummer] is into a lot of indie style music, like The Shins. Nick [Maybury, the lead guitarist] comes from a classic rock, blues and jazz background, and I like the Foos and the Chillies," he explains.

The band has been on the road, playing shows around the circuit, and has also had the opportunity to play with big acts like Angels and Airwaves and Kiss.

"I could watch Gene [Simmons] for three hours straight," he states with what sounds like a smile on his face.

Although touring is not always fun and games, it certainly has its perks. "I've been playing for 13 years and this is my first time [on the road]. It's hard work, but it's definitely a reward," says Carlson, who competed in the 2005 reality competition "Rock Star: INXS."

As a young band, Mink is a model example of dedication, determination, and drive. Carlson, Mozgawa, Maybury, David Lowy (rhythm guitar) and Grant Fitzpatrick (bass) are looking forward to what the future has in store. Their music is promising, their work ethic impressive and when times get tough on the road, the band has learned to take comfort in small pleasures.

"IHOP," Carlson says. "I think I have had at least 500 pancakes while being on tour."