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Despite being on the verge of a fourth album, aside from a cult following, The Decemberists sadly still remain relatively unknown to Joe Public. Maybe it's their obsession with Nineteenth Century stories (they named themselves after the revolutionary group from that time) or lead singer Colin's crisp, unusual vocal style, or maybe they've just been hidden away for far too long. Either way The Decemberists now face a new crossroads as a band. They've caught mass media attention in the US, they've got US comedians bitching about them on national television and more importantly they’ve recently signed a deal with Capitol Records. Hopefully now bigger things beckon.

Gigwise catches up with John Moen, drummer with the band, who explains why they decided to move from Kill Rock Stars to a larger label. "Well we just decided basically we've moved on a lot from the last albums and that there was something in the air and we had a pretty good following with the resources involved in that label. It seemed like there's never a safe time to take a bit of a gamble but it just felt right to push the envelope a little bit. We talked to a few more people we know and a little bit more recording wise, you know money equals time so we could spend more time working on the record we wanted to make which works for me." 
 
They now look to grow a larger fanbase and not just because they've signed a major deal but because their new album ‘The Crane Wife’ is easily their best yet. Containing piercing vocals and folk verses, the album at moments sounds like a great knees up down your local (with a slightly sharper melody, that is), but then also its poignant melodies manage to melt your heart as you find yourself humming 'Sons and Daughters' for the rest of the week.

The album also focuses on several different stories within the separate songs, many of them following historical characters including three segments based on the Crane Wife, but the band are quick to reject it as a concept record. "Well Colin (vocals) writes all the songs to begin with so we just help with the material, he brings it all to the table at the beginning of the recording process. So he recorded the Crane Wife I,II,III in sort of a book end sort of fashion and it’s mistaken for a concept record a little bit, but the songs in the middle don't necessarily tie in as a story. So I think the Crane Wife trilogy was just something he couldn't tell any other way."
 
Yet this is what makes The Decemberists unique. While all the other acts are complaining about teenagers or the latest ringtones, The Decemberists remain true to their act, separating themselves from the rest. Could they ever see the band changing and move onto different areas? "I think personally I'm interested in any change, but we can say safely that we're interested in that. You can't just have a little formula and keep plugging into it all the whole thing will just die on the iron. We all feel the latest record has made some jumps from the last, so there's still a lot of little stories to be told but musically we try and not make the records the same as the last. We are conscious of that we could just do a repeat of what is Decemberisty."

 
As a live act, think of The Decemberists as a more reserved Gogol Bordello and you're almost there. A typical live show features the band duelling with light sabres during a song (complete with percussion sword noises) and then asking the crowd to bow down to create a parting down the middle. Their performances are definitely gaining momentum with the band's fans and its something they obviously count as a top priority.
 
"I can't be comfortable asking the audience what they want to feel from a live show. People are paying their money and they should have an entertaining show.  Personally I don't want to be bored by what we're doing, because that shows and I think it's a challenge to get something new out of a show every night as one of the players. We play a lot of shows and I always try to stay inspired in their own way and keep a little bit of spontaneity at least in the proceedings, but there's also things that feel that they work as far as crowd participation. It's certainly fun to know people got out of it what they wanted to as far as the crazy stuff goes."
 
And this is not the first time The Decemberists have involved their fans. The band appear to have gained their following mainly through attention to detail. The Decemberists don't cut their fans off and only allow them to get involved by simply sending them an email on the album release date saying 'buy this!' They listen to their fans and get them involved in the action.
 
"Anybody can go and recreate the record for people and sometimes that's good, that's a fine thing to do but going out and playing for everybody you kind of want it to feel exciting but also you want it to reach another level. I mean with this band I don't think we're afraid of being labelled entertainers like it's not a real angsty thing for us."
 
Not only this but the band invite their fans to create their own Decemberists artwork and even construct their video. Like the band's new single 'O Valencia!' where fans can make their own storyline which all turned out to be a bit of an accident. "What happened was we set about making a video so we did it with green screen and animation were going to put lots of artwork around us but when we got the final cut back it didn't work so we decided we didn't want the video and we came to a comprise and did the green screen idea. As it stands now I don't know if anyone has done it.
 
For those of us who don't live in the States, there’s currently a video face off between The Decemberists and topical TV presenter Stephen Colbert as to who came up with the green screen idea first. After Stephen Colbert challenged the band, they have since counter challenged it by asking all their fans to get involved in the video. This also appears to have been an accident.
 
"Colin and I have been here for the last couple of days so we kind of just missed the actual event of him calling out on air! But that was really funny, we're all huge fans of his so that was a big thing for us. He basically had this idea on his show with him fighting a light sabre on a green screen and challenging his fans to fill in the blank so we did the same thing for our video and somehow it was discovered that this had happened and he decided to make a big deal out of it. Which was great with us, because we think he is hilarious so, we'll see how that one works.” He continues: “I think it’s all a joke, but I don't know. I don't know what’s brewing over there. Now he’s challenged his fans to put him in our video chopping us up with a light sabre!"
 
So light sabre battles aside, The Decemberists are ultimately a band who know dark lyrics. If you listen to the band's four albums you'll find it there but they just seem to be having too much fun to deliver it seriously. They'll perform shows for you, fight for you in feuds with talk show hosts and as John said, they're an entertaining band. And shouldn't they be?