Honestly, one interview is usually about all Bobble Tiki can handle in any given week. Working any more than that, he contends, would just be silly. He's paid for one column - containing three questions - and doing anything more than that would be like giving his services away for free. Bobble Tiki's not down with that.

Plus, he's a bit lazy.

That said, this week Bobble Tiki tracked down A Leaf prior to the band's show Saturday night at Club SOTA in Tacoma. Built heavily on the relationship of longtime collaborators Nate Daley and Shannon Donahue, A Leaf is a band that produces its often airy, harmonious, semi-psychedelic sound more honestly than most. It only seemed right for Bobble Tiki to speak with both Daley and Donahue (if for nothing more than the D&D references it makes possible).

So, without further ado, below you'll find Bobble Tiki's conversation with A Leaf, a band comfortable in its own skin, and content to take its sweet ass time making a record right.

BOBBLE TIKI: Talk a little about the relationships this band is built around, and how that impacts the end product. As far as musical relationships go, it sounds like you guys have a long-term one going. Does that provide a stability and openness for creativity that maybe not all bands are lucky enough to have?

NATE DALEY: Shannon and I are close friends, but what really helps musically isn't how long we have been friends, but that we agree on what we want out of life.  Not just Shannon and I, but we all understand each other and respect each other.  We are all songwriters in the band, and we are starting to get into that more.  

SHANNON DONAHUE:People are always talking about the music, the relationships, but y'know what I'm talkin about...Tijuana.  I'm talkin about Tijuana in Washington State.  Y'know what I mean?

TIKI: The website mentions a debut album, hopefully released in Spring of 2011. Not to put any pressure on you or anything ... but how's that going? You said Spring, not us. Will we be seeing something soon? How long has this been in the works (didn't we write a story about you guys collecting money for a debut in '09?)?

DALEY: Albums are tricky little things.  You did write a story on our debut album in ‘09, it was not all that we had hoped for.  We have been re-recording and recruiting ever since.  Spring will probably more realistically turn into summer.  It just hasn't been right.  In ‘09 it was just Shannon and I.  We have always wanted it to be the way it is now; we needed a drummer and a bass player though.  The timing is right.  When it comes to Shannon and me, we would rather not put out a record than put out something we are not satisfied with.  A lot of local bands put out records just to put out records, but nothing really happens.  It's not like we haven't recorded an album; we just don't want to release an official record unless it's up to our standard with what we think is our best.  We want to do our songs justice.

DONAHUE: To answer that question would be to insult our intelligence...but yes, yes we were

TIKI: The Volcano's Rev. Adam McKinney once said of your music ... "It manages to find that delicate balance somewhere between sweet and hokey, pushing sincerity to the edge and pulling back at the last moment." Was he right?

DALEY: Honestly, I think he might have been right.  I hate to use the word 'hokey'.  A general rule in A Leaf is that we aren't trying to go for anything; we are just trying to be honest and ourselves.  We want our songs to be us in musical form.  We love melody, and lyrics that say something spiritual and express our love for each other and for life.  We are inspired by nature, by friendship, by Wes Anderson, Steve Martin, Beatles, Kinks, zombies, clouds, girls, wine and by rock n' roll

DONAHUE: No and yes, I don't know maybe...I hope not.

[Club SOTA, A Leaf, Ben Union, MOONJUICE, Not From Brooklyn, Saturday, April 30, 7:30 p.m., all ages, $7, $5 with student ID, 1117 Broadway, Tacoma]