In three interviews over two days in a half-dozen nonalcoholic locations, the band's members talked about ambition and the perils of fame, for humans and pets. (Dengler is worried that his Italian greyhound, Gaius, a publicity photo star, is suffering from too much attention.)
They did not, however, want to talk about their suits.
"There's been a lot of stupid attention on different facets of this band from the beginning, and one of them is the fashion," Banks said. "And for us it's sort of like, so? It just so happens that we all kind of come together on the formal side of things."
That formality extends to how the members interact. The band is governed by a sort of enforced democracy, with the exception of the baroquely obtuse lyrics ("I'm a pit bull in time"), which Banks writes solo. (Few people, including Banks' band mates, seem to grasp the origins of these songs.)
"We have a very complicated band chemistry," Kessler said, "but I think we all understand how we're going to move this Ouija board together now."
They do this partly by keeping busy individually. When they are on break from their current world tour, the members plan to hole up and work on solo projects: Kessler is learning the piano; Fogarino has another band, the Setting Suns; Dengler is making a movie and composing film scores; and Banks is learning to be more Zen.
"We're not offering ourselves to people on the same terms any longer," Dengler said. "I love messing with people's expectations."
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