Tunneling its way out of the West Philadelphia netherworlds, Make A Rising is a band that is beyond unique. The quintet’s debut record is a swirling mix of violin, keyboard, guitars, drums, saxophone, trumpet, bells, whistles and assorted noisemakers, — all swelling together for subversively addictive pop gems. With orchestral crescendos combined with off-kilter vocals and fast-changing tempos, Make A Rising is the sound of chaos, bliss, bravado, nerves and naïvete — avant chamber rock at its most dynamic — like Daniel Johnston singing Beach Boys songs interpreted by Naked City. I got a chance to sit down with Make A Rising member Jesse Moynihan and chat about the group’s origins, Japanese pop band tour diaries, dirty West Philly punks and, of course, MySpace.

Let’s start with the basics: Please introduce yourselves and what you do in Make A Rising.
I’m Jesse. I play guitar and violin. I also sing. The other members are Justin, my brother, on piano, ukulele, accordion, Brandon on guitar, John Pettit on bass and trumpet, John Heron on drums.

Where are you guys all from, originally? When and under what circumstances did you guys all get together?
Justin, Brandon and I went to boarding school together. Afterwards Brandon moved to Boston to go to Northeastern. Justin and I stayed in and out of Philadelphia for a while. At some point we decided Brandon had to come live with us so we lied and told him we were close to discovering the secret of levitation. That’s not a joke. Brandon moved to Philly and I started going to Temple for film. That’s where I met John Pettit who would eventually play trumpet on our first album and then join the band later. Meanwhile, we met John Heron through our friend Andy. I had a talk with him about Milford Graves and decided that he should join the band. After a few weeks of convincing I got him to join.

What significance does the band’s name have, if any?
The name was taken from the title of a tour book of a Japanese pop group called Speed. The title of the book was Speed: Yes Love, Make A Rising. Actually our name originally was New Planet Make A Rising. But we dropped the new planet bit because we didn’t feel like writing it on fliers anymore. “New Planet” was the name of our house that we were trying to model after Sun Ra’s music.

When I saw you guys open for Lightning Bolt, I noticed you were all reading from staff paper and as I listened more closely to the songs, I noticed a hefty modern classical influence, maybe some Stravinsky or Bartok, in your meticulous use of density, dynamics and how the songs seemed to have this dramatic, almost orchestral feel. But I also really appreciated how you used these techniques to serve the songs rather than oversaturated them with information just for the hell of it. So, my question is, how do you manage to resolve your more avant-garde impulses with your poppier tendencies? How do you find that balance?
I don’t think we really worry about maintaining a balance between our heftier and poppier ideas. It just so happens that each of us, to greater and lesser degrees, love complex and simple music. Both worlds have power and in writing music I can’t favor one over the other. I think the only goal we have with our writing is that we try to approach it in the most complete way.

Did any of you have experience studying music formally?
Justin and I took private lessons from about age 6-14. Since then I’ve gotten worse at violin and Justin has gotten better at piano. None of the other members have been formally trained. Our sheet music is a secret code that only we understand.

How would you describe Make A Rising’s music to a distant relative who wasn’t so familiar with genre specifics or individual musicians?
We make weird rock music that’s influenced by modern classical music with singing that you probably will think is bad.

How does the live show compare to the recording? What would you hope people take away from each?
About a year ago our live shows suddenly became convincing. We crossed a bridge of some sort. I don’t know what happened exactly. We stopped wearing our white costumes and got more into a nature aesthetic. All of a sudden I felt like we were a great live band. It’s still a bit of a mystery. We try our hardest to replicate the album as closely as possible. Of course that’s impossible. Some of the songs on the album have 30 or more tracks. But for what we lack in accuracy, we make up for in theatricality and interplay between the members.

Tell me a bit about “Rip Through The Hawk Black Night.” Is there an underlying concept behind the record? What was influencing the band as you were writing and recording it?
There was no set idea for the album, except for an idealistic vibe of sorts as to what we should be producing as artists and how we should be living in conjunction with art. I think that had a heavy influence on a good portion of the lyrics on the album.

I know we were listening to large doses of Cheer Accident, After Dinner, Flaming Lips and Faust while recording that album.

What effect do you feel the city of Philadelphia has had on Make A Rising’s approach to songwriting and the way you function as a band and as individuals?
I think we’re too close to it to really tell. Lot’s of times we get labeled as a West Philly band — which has its connotations: usually meaning wacky, dirty, hippy punks. I don’t know. Are we wacky, dirty, hippy punks? It’s hard to say. We wash our clothes in the sink.

Would you say there’s a tight-knit sort of group of whacked out musicians converging on the city — Need New Body, Dysrhythmia, George from Infidel?/Castro!, Man Man, Espers, Snack Truck, etc.? Do you feel any sort of kinship towards these bands?
The scene in Philly is getting more and more open-minded as time passes. There seems to be some sort of creative momentum building. And some of these bands are definitely reaching out to other like-minded groups. I wouldn’t call it tight-knit, though. There is a bit of competitive spirit, which I think is good and bad. It would be better if every fucked up band in Philly got together and supported each other, which hasn’t quite happened yet. But I do feel a kinship with people like George, Powerlunch and Man Man, etc.

What are your pre-game impressions of Oberlin?
We have a bunch of friends who went to Oberlin. We stopped by there once on a previous tour. There was a nice bike co-op. We went to the dollar theater and watched Bruce Almighty, which I wish we hadn’t done.

Last question: MySpace — grassroots networking tool in a corporate conglomerate’s clothes or a monstrosity more despicable than anything you or I could ever imagine?
I help MySpace and MySpace helps me.

Make A Rising are opening for the Dirty Projectors at the Half Beard (102 Union Street) on Nov. 6 at 9 p.m. Special guests Sensual Massage With Release will also perform.