Every band dreams of making it big one day. Sure, “making it big” might mean different things to different bands, but it’s safe to say that no one forms or joins a band to stay anonymous. If you’re going to put everything you’ve got into making music, of course you want people to hear it. So how does a band move from being a local act to a regional one? How hard is it to make the move from regional to national? How do you capitalize on your press buzz? What if your CD needs better distribution? Can you get an opening slot on a hot tour? And what happens when traffic is so bad you can’t get to the gig on time?

Boston’s Aberdeen City has the answers to the questions above and hopes to make that next step along with some help from a guy named Steve Lillywhite. They released The Freezing Atlantic late last year to very favorable reviews and have been touring ever since. Their show on May 19th at the Black Cat opening for Elefant and Sound Team was their third D.C. gig in the last six months.

I had the pleasure to sit down with singer/bassist Brad Parker, drummer Rob McCaffrey and guitarists Ryan Heller and Chris McLaughlin near the end of a very hectic day. The band had just spent a grueling 13 hours traveling from Boston to D.C. and almost missed their gig. But I’ll let them tell that story.

You’ve already told the story a few times tonight, but lets get it on tape. There was a truck overturned on the Mass Pike?

Ryan: Correct. The Pike was closed in both directions. We got on the road around 10 this morning and by the time we were out of anything resembling Boston, it was 2 o’clock. We had planned it so we’d get out of Boston early and get through New York early, and then it would be smooth sailing, but of course with that happening, it got us into New York around 5 o’clock. On a Friday. On the first weekend that it’s nice and people are going away, so that was another bunch of hours stuck in New York. It wasn’t good.

Rob: It was almost stop and go all the way from Boston through New York.

Brad: How long did it take? Eight, nine hours?

Rob: To get through New York it was eight and a half or nine hours. For a trip that should take around four.

Chris: It was an emotional day.

Rob: We were stuck in a 15 passenger cage of emotion! (laughs)