It’s always memorable when you catch a band on their way up. While it’s a buzz seeing someone in a big venue, you’ll always remember the time you saw them in a small room. Hoarsebox are a band with serious ambitions and their gig upstairs in the Róisín Dubh may well be the last time they play in such tight confines.

The Dublin based four piece are currently touring in the US, putting the finishing to their debut album. Keyboard player and vocalist Johnny Holden explains how Hoarsebox came up with their peculiar moniker.

“The band name is a combination of a couple of things,” he says. “We used to all use that expression: ‘Howya Horse’. That evolved into ‘Howya Horsebox’. So we were first called Horsebox. We’d often be hoarse at the end of a gig. So we put two and two together and got five – Hoarsebox.”

“Our formation is long and boring,” he adds. “I was in school with Phil, the guitar player, but I’ve been playing music with Kieran, the bass player, for years in a variety of bands. Max, on drums, was hired for one session gig four years ago, which we didn’t pay him for, and then he never left. I think he’s still waiting to be paid!”

Hoarsebox fuse distil influences like The Police, Fela Kuti and Red Hot Chili Peppers into their own poppy concoction. Work Party is a particular toe-tapper. Is there a chief songwriter in the band or do they work together?

“It’s usually a combination of the two,” Johnny says.” Someone will come in with a bit of a song but it’s rare that one member would ever come in with something completely finished. We work on the music itself together and then I go off and put lyrics to it.

“In the case of Work Party, producer Ken McHugh had a part to play in its overall funkiness. You could see he was getting off on the clavinet sounds and the disco beats and bass, which in turn got us excited. So we rolled with it. It’s a lot of fun to play. I hope it’s not just fun for us though or else we’ll never get anywhere!”

For their debut album Hoarsebox enlisted the services of producer Dennis Herring, who was worked with major acts like Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse and Counting Crows. How did an emerging band attract such a big league producer?

“Dennis was told of our existence through some label folk who came to see us play in LA and New York last year,” explains Johnny. “Two in particular travelled over to Dublin to see us play in Andrews Lane Theatre in May 2009. The relationship began when we came over here to Mississippi in September for a couple of weeks just to see if we’d all get along.

“Making an album with a producer is a very full on experience so you need to know it’ll work,” he adds. “So far we’ve been having a ball. He’s dragging us kicking and screaming out of the seventies into the 21st century. He’s a very good guy with years of experience so sometimes we’re a little in awe. His recent album with Buddy Guy was just voted blues album of the decade.”

Music and how we consume it has changed immensely in the past decade. Bands can no longer depend on record deals and CD sales. Hoarsebox have an innovative way of reaching fans: an iPhone application (or ‘app’) that keeps you up to date with the band.

“We wanted to get our music out in more novel ways,” Johnny explains. “iPhones are pretty big in Ireland but they’re huge on mainland Europe and in the US where there are literally hundreds and thousands of apps. An Irish company called DV4 approached us with the opportunity for their ‘band in the hand’ project: a new way for fans of music to get even closer to their favourite bands. The band can be asked questions which we respond to by video. We also upload video content as we tour around the US and make this album here in Mississippi, which is only accessible to Hoarsebox app holders. When you’re an independent band like ourselves the more ways you can reach out to new fans the better.”

Hoarsebox are already fulfilling many bands’ dreams by playing and recording in the US. New York, in particular, is a place they love going to.

“We played a gig on Halloween Night in a place in Greenwich Village called Arlene’s Grocery,” Johnny recalls. “We arrived at around 6pm only to find a queue of people outside waiting to see us. That gig was a lot of fun.

“I was on crutches at the time as I had recently broken my ankle,” he continues. “After the gig we were taking the subway to a party and there were loads of other people waiting for the train all dressed up in Halloween costumes. One really drunk idiot thought my crutches were part of a costume and started giving me grief about insulting disabled people by my choice of fancy dress. Nothing I said could convince him that I actually had a broken ankle and he took a swing at me. Thankfully my train came seconds later and I hobbled away!”

When asked what punters coming to the Hoarsebox show in the Róisín Dubh on March 25 can expect, Johnny gives an answer that points to their quirky sense of humour.

“Blood, sweat, vomit, laughing, screaming, roly-poly, the Twist, the mash potato, the roast potato and thousands of elderly people asking for covers of Earth, Wind and Fire!”

All joking aside, playing live is what Hoarsebox live for. They are determined to have as much fun as possible, creating what they hope is an infectious sense of abandon.

“Gigs are what make us tick,” Johnny says. “Getting people to dance is the ultimate goal. That’s why we sing like nobody’s listening and dance like nobody’s watching. So everyone else will too.”

Hoarsebox play upstairs in the Róisín Dubh on Thursday, March 25. Doors at 11.45pm, Admission is free.