The frontman of ‘New York’s loudest band’ a.k.a epic sonic space rockers A Place To Bury Strangers (APTBS) is way more laidback you might expect (possibly because he hasn’t been up that long).

But one thing Oliver Ackermann is always pleasantly surprised by is the increasing number of kids at their shows - those cranium-perforating, pant-shitting, epilepsy-inducing live sets which have the intention of “totally overcoming the senses of anyone who is listening or watching as well as ourselves on stage, we want to envelope this whole environment of sound and light.”

Having previously toured with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Jesus And Mary Chain and Nine Inch Nails, APTBS are currently in town to deliver their pulsating audio attacks on a European tour with MGMT. They’re in London, via France, which was great “except that we had like a 105 decibel limit for the volume that you can play at.” Hardly ideal for this band. “It’s annoying, but whatever, we don’t care too much.”

Ackermann describes MGMT as “super nice guys. We just had Thanksgiving with them and it was cool, it’s kind of a ridiculous holiday but it was really fun.” They are also looking forward to playing Manchester as they’ve never been and have heard (from me) that it is awesome.

APTBS have had a convoluted story with labels, but over here at least are now settled with Rocket Girl.

“We released the album and the single off that with them but when we first came over here we got together with Meal Deal,” says Ackermann. “Both labels are really awesome, they have really good people behind them, the kind of people who you know just love music and that’s one of the most attractive things about them both, they’d come to our shows and we’d hang out and talk about things that are actually interesting about music. People who have music as a passion as opposed to those who are interested in the business. It is refreshing to have people running labels who are your peers rather than some guy who just takes you out to dinner.”

While they have only released one album, the band formed in 2003, before which members had been involved in various other things.

“Well for me personally I had Skywave beforehand,” says Ackerman, referring to his old Fredericksburg-based band that split up on Ackermann’s move to New York. The band had pretty much run its course. “It just seemed like for years and years we were making similar kinds of music and it was almost to the point where I’d given up trying to make a band and be successful - it was just playing shows for fun you know.”

Less cool is everybody’s penchant for labeling them a shoegaze band. Though this doesn’t rile Ackermann particularly. “I mean I don’t really care,” he says. “I feel like a lot of bands get described as shoegaze when they’re more sort of mellow and ethereal kind of sounding. I don’t think we fit into that label but a bunch of bands in the past that were described as shoegaze really weren’t either. As for APTBS it doesn’t offend me but I think that it is inaccurate.

“We use noise as melody and what-not which is kind of a redirected take on it compared to what other people might like. But as long as you like to hear new and exciting things… We don’t use noise just for the sake of it but use the feedback or whatever as part of the key elements to our music.”

Their eponymous album originally only pressed 500 copies and according to Ackermann “it is pretty much comprised of demos that were all recorded as each song was written over a few years, wherever I happened to be living at the time.” Which meant that amps were placed in hallways or set down mirroring one another to “enhance” the noise melody. At one point spoons taped to microphones got involved, while they also used headphones as microphones.

But despite such a left of centre approach APTBS are entirely serious about the music that they make. Certainly not concerned with dicking about for the sake of it, they are rather more provoked by curiosity about what can and cannot be considered a musical tool. They pretty much took the whole ‘outside of the box’ thinking premise and ran and ran with it.

“It wasn’t necessarily going to be an album when it was being made,” Ackerman explains, “and even when it was coming out a part of me was kind of reluctant to release it. I just thought we hadn’t maybe thought about the songs properly and recorded them how we wanted but I do think it’s good.”

Doing things ‘properly’ the next time around shouldn’t be too hard, APTBS have already recorded some of their songs for the next album.

“We’ve begun recording and mixed a lot of it during the few little breaks that we’ve had. We’ll finish it by the end of January hopefully and it should be out during early 2009. If it’s not finished then it’s not finished but that’s what we’re shooting for.”

As for his own tastes, new music he is exposed to is usually through friends or bands they know. Highlights of the year include Animal Collective. “I saw them at some festival and Sonic Youth played a really great show in Brooklyn. Bands like the Vandelles are amazing and I think the MGMT album is great. I’ve been pretty busy though - this whole year has been a bit of a blur really.”

Central to the noise-making are of course Ackermann’s own effects pedals, handcrafted at his Death By Audio workshop and distribution centre. Yes, Ackermann is something of a businessman too. Death By Audio is also a venue, though as his own band takes off he has less and less time for it. “That’s more to do with the promoters but they get some great bands to play and it’s cool. There’s always so much going on in Brooklyn.”

Luckily he has a trusty partner back in NYC to look after production while he is away on tour.

“He looks after the business side of things which is not really my specialty and we’re expanding all the time even while I’m away. I definitely did not start the company to make money - we offer what I think is the best possible customer service, I’m not worried about it while I’m away. I try to give back as much as possible and help out other musicians.”

For Ackermann, the pedals are central instruments to the band. And their use of distortion is not just an effect. The music and noise are one and the same.

New pedals are to be expected in ‘09 - instruments all in their own right, but he doesn’t divulge any names as yet although Ackermann does offer to let me name one.

Anaphalactic Surger perhaps... Cascading Assassin?