Vaeda is a group of young up-and-comers who hold true to the classic sense of a power trio. Consisting of Aristotle Dreher on bass, Oliver Williams on drums, and Ian Cole on vocals and guitar, Vaeda is yet another band steeped deep in alternative roots, with their own fresh, unique tune on things and a razor-sharp sense of humor.

      When asked what alternative music meant to them, Dreher replied that it was, "All of the stuff that holds rock music … that is kind of going on at the same time, but may not be in the spotlight of popular music. It permeates the hegemony."

      Huh? Whoa, this guy is deep. (Plus, he said that twice, a well-known interview hint that he really, really wanted it to go in this column.) But Cole and Williams are quick to translate that into layman's terms: "It's what's going on, but what's not being looked at."

      Don't let their quick comebacks fool you. At one point in time, Vaeda was one of, if not the most popular unsigned band on the popular music and networking website MySpace.com. "We've had over 650,000 profile views, and that's a lot of people who might not have heard our music before," says Dreher. "You could never reach that many people before without a major label."

      Obviously one of many bands to benefit from the newer, digital music age, they still respect the album and feel it complements them and opens up other channels, rather than threaten their demise. "I don't think it's going to wipe out the album. I think Tool proved that on %10,000 days% with making the packaging so awesome," says Williams.

      When they finally were picked up by PlayTyme Entertainment, they released %State of Nature%. Their favorite songs on the album tend to change a lot, too. "Some nights, when we're playing the middle part of ‘Imperial,' it's so awesome to play," says Dreher. "It's really, really heavy. Or when we play ‘Kneejerk' live, all the girls are shakin' it." Cole adds, "My favorite song now is ‘Battle Song.' That's one of more dynamic songs. It changes the mood a little. It throws curveballs out there."

      Immediately, Dreher shifts the conversation to the Mets' previous night Game 7 loss to the Cardinals in the N.L.C.S. "Yeah, curveballs, bases loaded, Beltran choked. Dude! It was a nasty curveball!" At least there's one Mets fan in the band.

      But they don't stop there. Recently, they were even Evil One Clothing's featured artists. When asked about this, they mentioned they were trying to get some custom shirts made. They also realized that musicians can be influential in the way they look, which is why it was another great outlet for them. "You look at bands like My Chemical Romance and Muse and they know exactly how to present their music to you if you've never heard it, just by looking at them," says Cole.

      Vaeda's debut release, %State of Nature%, is out now. Keep an eye and ear out for them. They'll be sure to rock somewhere near you soon—with the sharpest shirts in rock.