French-American duo DTCV is leaving their desert hideaway and taking their post-punk sound to D.C. on March 27. A band with an independent streak and a penchant for vinyl and cassette tapes, DTCV is the hipster band you’ve been dreaming of. In anticipation of their upcoming release, Uptime!, on April 8, James Greer and Guylaine Vivarat answered some questions from The Hoya about their origins, their style and why they’re still releasing content on VHS.

What’s DTCV’s origin story? Where did you guys come from and what made you decide to make music?

James Greer: I come from Boston, originally. I started playing music when I was maybe nine or ten. I played tenor saxophone. I don’t know. I’ve been in bands for as long as I can remember, though not recently. DTCV was Guylaine’s idea, and I’m very glad, otherwise I might be stuck not playing in a band right now.

Guylaine Vivarat: Unlike Jim, I haven’t been in bands all my life, although I did play the piano when I was little. I come from a village in the Alps and moved to Los Angeles after my Californian roommates in Spain told me it was the perfect city for me. I played in a couple bands before DTCV, but wanted to have my own. Jim agreed to play a show while drunk one night in Chicago, then realized he didn’t have a band. I was starting a band, he had a show, it was a perfect match.

You go by Vivarock and Fiat Lux — why those names?

Greer: My name is a reference to a character in one of my novels. In Latin it means “Let there be light.” But you knew that.

Vivarat: My last name is Vivarat and my former band mates in Useless Keys gave me the nickname Vivarock. I’ve had many nicknames over the years but this one is my favorite.

Your upcoming release includes versions on cassette and vinyl and a documentary on VHS. Obviously vinyl has been making a comeback, but what inspires you to put out content through this almost-expired media?

Greer: Our feeling is that these days people like physical artifacts. Cassettes have been making a comeback for a while now. VHS for the tour doc is in addition to a digital download (free with album purchase!), and will be very limited. It’s something Lolipop Records wants to start doing, putting out VHS tapes, because the technology is cheap, as with cassettes, and a lot of kids like the way it looks and sounds. But Uptime! will be out on all formats, including every codec the internet supports.

Vivarat: And the Internet is still going strong as a media, so far. However, we are not doing CDs, because that is definitely an expired media.

Your bio includes the cryptic phrases “Chamois des Alpes // LEzard du desert.” What’s the story behind that?

Vivarat: We are both hermits at heart. We currently live in the desert surrounded by many lizards but like the chamois, I am also a solitary Alpine animal that can climb anywhere in the mountains.

How would you describe your upcoming album? Is it along the same vein as your earlier releases, or are you trying something new?

Greer: It’s maybe more focused. Our last record “Hilarious Heaven” was a double album with ten-minute space rock jams with saxophone and flute, synth pop and French piano ballads. Etcetera. This one is pretty much straightforward rock. Maybe the next one will be all tuba.

Vivarat: This is going to sound terribly cliche, but we’re still searching for our sound.

Who are your primary musical influences?

Greer: Beatles, Who, Stones, CCR, Velvet Underground, Shaggs, Stooges, Bowie, Ramones, Wire, Sonic Youth, Superchunk, Pavement, Unrest.

Vivarat: Many of the above. I would add Mission of Burma, The Clash, Stereolab, Sabbath, Hendrix, the Beach Boys, Joni Mitchell, Blondie, Ministry. There are so many. I think I’m more influenced by songs than artists in general though, and they’re not necessarily songs by bands I listen to the most. The song that made me want to write songs was iChristinei by Siouxsie & the Banshees but at the time, all I listened to was the Dead Kennedys, Subhumans and Aretha Franklin.

Your bio questions the sobriety of music writers who compare you to artists like Stereolab and Sonic Youth. Who would you compare yourselves to?

Greer: Stereolab and Sonic Youth. I honestly have no idea. We get Stereolab b/c Guylaine’s French and we get Sonic Youth because we have both male and female vocals and make a lot of noise. In a sense they’re just lazy references, but I guess there’s some truth in there.

Vivarat: We do love Stereolab and Sonic Youth. If anything, I sound more like the girl from Broadcast. It’s impossible for a band to know who they sound like, even bands that pretend they know don’t have a clue. Also nobody likes to admit that they actually sound like someone else. Musicians have big egos.

I also want to ask about the performance at South by Southwest, because that will have happened by the time they play their D.C. show, but it hasn’t happened yet. Depending on when they answer these questions, I’d also like to ask how those shows went. What was the vibe at SXSW like?

Greer: I can tell you in advance, because we won’t be there for another week or ten days: it will be like the worst aspects of Mardi Gras and Coachella. We’re keeping it low-key, just doing like four parties in three days and then skipping town.

Vivarat: Exclusively on the East side of Austin. Not going anywhere near the Red River/6^th street circus.