Indie rockers Blitzen Trapper have forged their own path for the past two decades plus, and they have no plans to slow down anytime soon. The band is currently touring the East Coast and the Midwest, and that includes a Tuesday night stop at Vivarium on the East Side. Ahead of the show, we caught up with frontman Eric Earley to talk about the growth of the band, their latest record, “100s of 1000s, Millions of Billions,” touring through Milwaukee and more:

At this point, you’re 11 albums in with Blitzen Trapper. What goes into making a record like “100s of 1000s, Millions of Billions”?

For this record, it's just a group of songs that I wrote, and then added to a bunch of songs that I had had laying around for years and years. We had them on these four-track cassette tapes. I just kind of brought it all together at my buddy Nate's studio and we worked on it for several months.

There was some time off between records, and a bit of a lineup change. Has that added to the dynamic of the band, to have new pieces coming into the fold for you?

In some ways, it’s a different group. I mean, me and Brian are still original members, and then Nate (Vanderpool) is playing and singing, playing guitars and stuff. He was our sound man for like a decade, though, so he’s been traveling with us for a long time. But he's a great musician, too. As guys retired, he came in. It's definitely a different dynamic, but it's a lot of fun to sort of see the way the songs take shape.

With this being the 11th record, what part of making a record becomes the most interesting for you at this point?

That's a good question. I've always been writing and recording, kind of nonstop throughout my life. So I think it sort of acted as a personal journal for me in a lot of ways. When I listen back to stuff, it's kind of like just a snapshot of where my mind was and what I was into. I think for me it's always just a matter of me just kind of pulling in all the different things from my subconscious and stuff that's swirling around in my mind, and just sort of letting it all kind of flow into your lyrics that usually I sort of understand what they're about, and sort of don't, which is kind of fun.

When you listen back to some of the earlier stuff that the band has done, is there anything that you can kind of pick up on? Like, “oh, man, I was 18 when this record was coming out, or I was 24 when this was coming out”?

Yeah for sure. When I listen to older stuff or go back and to old demos and stuff. Sometimes it'll just kind of put me back in that headspace. Which is strange, obviously, because we're always turning into different people throughout the years. It's kind of fun to sort of see where you come from, and sort of see the evolution of the writing and the evolution of just the day to day of your life and how that affects what you're writing about.

So with this set of shows, you're on the east coast, you're in the Midwest and Wisconsin, you've got a few dates. Anything about this particular part of the country that you've got some fond memories of?

The Midwest is just full of good people. My wife is from the Midwest and so I'll travel out there quite a bit.

What's the one comfort item you have to bring on tour with you?

Oh, man. I always have to bring a good book, at least one good book. Then I always bring my, my lucky boots with me. I don't always wear them every night, but I've brought them on tour with me for so long.

What is the most exciting part of playing live for you at this point?

I think just the energy that develops on stage was just playing music with my friends. You know, there's nothing like it. Whether there's 1,000 people or 20 people in the audience. It's just kind of developing that energy among the musicians. It's super fun. I think that I slowly start to appreciate it more and more in my life as I get older, just being able to hang out on stage with my buddies and play instruments.

You can catch Blitzen Trapper on Tuesday night at Vivarium. Tickets are available via the Pabst Theater Group website.