Raleigh, North Carolina’s Heads on Sticks came about as a side project of Birds of Avalon’s bassist David Mueller. An established musician and producer in his own right, Mueller sought to explore the psychedelic sounds that have influenced him. “I wouldn’t know where to start,” said Mueller when asked to ascribe a genre to this project. Kindred spirits are hard to nail down, but upon listening it’s difficult to not draw comparisons to fellow Raleigh natives Future Islands. Maybe it’s something in the water?

Heads on Sticks opens tonight for Brooklyn’s Farewell Republic, along with alt-country crooner Micah P. Hinson. All are playing DC9 as part of a Monument Music & Arts Festival benefit for DC Vote. We caught up Mueller ahead of tonight’s show to talk favorite foods on sticks and how we should rock the D.C. vote.

First off: the name. Please explain where “Heads on Sticks” came from.

It really doesn’t have a specific origin. There was an in-joke in my family when I was a kid where that was the punchline, but I can’t remember what the joke was at this point. Everyone thinks that it’s a Conrad’s Heart of Darkness association, but it’s really indistinct at this point.

You can only eat one kind of food on a stick for the rest of your life. What do you choose: popsicles or corn dogs?

It wouldn’t be a corn dog. How about swiss and rye? It’s a thing you can get at the state fair in North Carolina that’s a big chunk of swiss cheese, breaded in rye bread and deep fried.

Wow.

I’d have to get the mustard though.

Dipping sauce?

Yeah, if that’s not too much to ask.

The band’s been placed in a lot of genres from psychedelia to electronica to noise. How would you describe the band to someone who had never heard you before?

Psychedelic definitely works. It’s a good shorthand for a lot of the types of sounds we use. It’s also beat-driven; the rhythm is the primary focus in most of the songs. Like most people, I would hesitate to grab a genre; I wouldn’t know where to start.

Personally, I really like the song “Witness” from Brutish & Short. What do you remember about writing that song?

That was a demo originally recorded for a four track a couple of years ago. I’d been working with other projects and when I was working on Brutish & Short, which came out late last year, I dug that out because I’ve always wanted to develop it. I rewrote it and built it out a little bit, but it’s been around for a long time.

You came to the attention of the the Monument folks after playing Hopscotch Fest in your hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. What’s your favorite show you’ve played so far?

Hopscotch would definitely be in the top three. The music scene here is kind of its own world. You end up playing for the same people depending on how often you play. Hopscotch people came from all over and it was a really good cross section of an audience. We’ve only been playing for a little over a year and a half, so that was a really great opportunity for us.

What do you do right before a performance? Do you clear your head or amp yourself up?

Right before I’m usually scrambling around to make sure I have enough cables to plug everything in. My setup is really scattershot. Everything’s just kind of patched together and by nature I’m a pretty disorganized person. So I definitely have to get out in front of myself and make sure I have everything I’m going to need once I’m on stage.

How do you balance the demands of playing in both Birds of Avalon and Heads on Sticks?

It’s a week to week sort of thing. Each band goes through periods of inactivity and periods where we’re doing a lot of shows or recording. It’s been kind of lucky that the two have not coincided very much. I can focus on one while the other is resting, but it can definitely get pretty chaotic.

The show you’re playing benefits D.C. voting rights efforts. Do you have any tactical suggestions for us, as D.C. residents, to obtain voting rights?

I’m not much of a tactician. I definitely can sympathize with the cause. I have friends who live in D.C. and I’ve never really understood why they didn’t get the same representation that other American citizens get. When you look at the way D.C. votes, it’s aligned with the sort of politics I agree with, so I think it’d be better for the country. As far as how to do it? Just ram it through there. Don’t stop.

Heads on Sticks opens tonight for Farewell Republic at DC9. Micah P. Hinson also opens. Tickets are $10 and available here. All proceeds benefit DC Vote. Doors are at 8:00 p.m.