Math the Band Strive to 'Take Fun Seriously' -- Exclusive Video

The days when labels like "nerd" and "geek" were equated with a lack of social life and a lot of lonely Saturday nights have given way to a new age where being uncool is the ultimate in cool. That change is precisely what has allowed Math the Band to capture the devotion of a growing legion of fans.

After all, not everyone can be Lady Gaga or Justin Timberlake. For the normal people in the world, Math the Band offer the perfect antihero: unconcerned with image, deliciously weird and a relatable guy-girl duo -- guitarist/vocalist Kevin Stinehauser and keyboardist/drummer Justine Mainville. On top of their musical relationship, the pair is also romantically involved, a fact they tell Spinner "isn't a secret, but we don't publicize it either."


It's this accessibility that plays an enormous factor in Math's success, which was readily apparent at Brooklyn, N.Y.'s Knitting Factory when we caught up with them in December. At every show, their fans create a mosh pit as spirited as the band's jumping, thrashing, high-octane performances. Stinehauser and Mainville are so accessible, in fact, that when they heard a fan had traveled on a lark all the way to New York from California just to be at one of their shows, they invited him on tour.

"Here's an artist I incredibly admire. I love their work, they mean a lot to me and there was no boundary to just saying, 'Hey, I like your music' and becoming friends," Frank Howley, whose cross-country trip forced him to buy winter clothes for the first time in his life, tells Spinner. "For them to personally invite me ... it was insane. It was the most fun experience of my life."


The band itself is as quirky and unabashed as the two characters who comprise it. Their sound is a frenetic mix of guitar, banging drums, screaming vocals and synthesized video game sounds, which have earned them labels like "nerdcore" and "Nintendo rock." But when asked how he would describe the band, Steinhauser mulls it over before thoughtfully responding, "Math the Band is something I started when I was 13 as a joke, and that's exactly what it is still."