For years, Doctor Nurse gigged all over the Bay Area, quietly playing bars, garages and the like. No publicists, no mass texts, just reels upon reels of take after take. The San Jose quartet's Myspace is a cryptic picture from something out of an Ed Wood film; the info section says even less. Their perfectionist (and yet laissez faire) approach delayed this first album for years. They're camera shy, and refreshingly humble. "Attention can be nice, but kind of irrelevant to the process," says Jeff Brummett, the band's lead singer and songwriter. "Sometimes the purity of art can be twisted or sacrificed to fit some image you think people are looking for. We were doing fine playing in our stuffy basement for years and would be happy to stay there forever." Their first official release, Calm Seas, Phantom Lights, is lo-fi rock replete with vintage synths and French horns, vibraphones and organs. The three-part harmonies and psychedelic touches add a sense of reverie throughout the record. For garage rock that skews toward folk, the sound layering is also pretty dense. After piles of demo tapes, 11 songs finally made it onto CD, recorded over three days in a cabin. Brummett spoke to Metro about the new album.

METRO: Introduce the band.

JEFF BRUMMETT: I play guitar and sing, and Erin Czech plays bass and sings also. Todd Sandigo plays lead guitar and Muller plays drums and sings. Ryan Summers plays keys. On the recordings however we switch around a lot. These guys are really diverse musicians, so it can add to the spontaneity. We all play several different instruments on the record.

There's not much info on you guys. What's up with the ultravague website?

Is it? I guess we're drawn to the cryptic side of technological expression. You should see our Facebook page; you click it—you die.

Talk about the new album a bit.

We started recording a few years ago and realized we weren't totally sold on some of the material and wanted a fresh start. Muller's got a studio in his house, so instead of practicing we'd just record new songs instead. Then, for my birthday, my girlfriend secretly got the guys together and we got to go away and record with our gear and our tape machine. Those sessions make up most of the record.

What songs on the album best sum up Doctor Nurse?

There are a few, I guess. "Currency Black Hole" and "Exorcising Mrs. Stamp" are examples of our attempts at catchy pop tunes. "Phantom Lights" is one where we get to stretch out our harmonies and explore our folky roots. "Bubbles" and "Earth House" are more experimental and are mostly Frankenstein'd overdubbed creations. Hopefully the melodies are interesting enough to be able to hum along to.

What do you think of the live-music resurgence in San Jose?

It seems like it's on an upswing right now. Eric Fanali's been booking good bands at Nickel City. The Blank Club has had a lot of great shows this year too. It is what we make it, I guess. Get out there and support! Start your own band!

What's your songwriting process like?

I rarely write the lyrics first—usually I'm free forming melodies over chord changes until I'm happy. The lyrics come later. I'm a huge believer in free-form art, the ether and unplanned discovery is usually where the interesting things appear.

It took a long time to get 'Calm Seas, Phantom Lights' out there. What's next for you guys?

Well, Muller's on tour right now with the Mumlers, so we're lying low and going back in the basement. It's very typical of how we work: put out a CD and then not play any shows for a while. There's a possibility of a split 7-inch that we're excited about. We just want to continue our journey of drunkenness and indifference as long as we can. Isn't that really what everyone wants?

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