From the moment I heard The Informal Gentlemen's song "Cold Dish," I felt a sense of clarity, a sense of purpose. This is conveyed not only through the band's sound, but also through the more implicit vibe that a band can give off. When you listen to The Informal Gentleman, there's no mistaking its simple and noble intentions: to create, play, and perform great original music.

The Informal Gentleman - consisting of Yamill Collazo (vocals, rhythm guitar), Caleb Burr (lead guitar, vocals), Randahl Burr (bass) and Joseph Carlisle (drums) - formed in 2009. All sharing the mutual influences of The Arctic Monkeys, The Foo Fighters and Nirvana, they formed a band and began playing shows. The band's first performances took place at high school tailgates, parties, birthdays, town halls and public parks.

"We didn't care where we played, we just wanted to play a live show," explains Collazo.

The Informal Gentlemen now frequent venues in downtown Tacoma and Seattle. They're currently working on expanding to Oregon and California.

The Informal Gentlemen are reminiscent of '90s alternative music, but hint to many different influences. Though this is not to say the band hasn't developed its own unique sound - give its music a spin, and you'll surely hear a distinct style. It's the kind of freshness I look for in music, that sense of hearing something new.

Though Collazo is the band's main songwriter, I explored the dynamics of the band's songwriting process.

"We try our best to collaborate on songs together. One of the songs everyone was involved with was "Dead End Spiral." We kept ourselves in my garage with a cheap interface and tried to compose and record a song within six hours," says Collazo.

One of the most important aspects of The Informal Gentlemen is its dedication to music, and staying true to its mission. The band believes playing shows is its most important function. The Informal Gentlemen takes this duty seriously.

"I'm highly supportive of the local music scene and try to do my best to support it. I think one of the jobs of being in a local band is you have to go to other local shows too and support the other bands because we are a community," continues Collazo.

Having originally formed a band to combat the lack of entertainment in the Spanaway/Parkland area, the band has become far more than an alternative to watching television.

"We are more determined and passionate to get the music out there and be more noticed by the music community. We played more and more shows, and that ended up with more and more good feedback," explains Burr.

In May, The Informal Gentlemen released the full-length album Orange Lights, which is available at Uncle Roy's Music in Yelm, or online at theinformalgentlemen.bigcartel.com. The band's next show is Friday, Feb. 8 at The Live Room in Sumner. The Informal Gentlemen will also head north for an April 20 show with Dylan Jakobsen at Seattle's El Corazon.