Wye Oak, a duo comprised of Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack, makes delicate rock songs that often grow to the size of Hannibal's elephant army. Live and on record, their music has a way of ebbing and expanding like a set of giant lungs getting ready for a monster free dive in the chilly ocean. Despite the often gloomy subject matter of the songs on their debut record If Children and the recently released follow-up The Knot (both on Merge) the pair was cheery and intriguing—Wasner has a huge hip-hop radio obsession—talking over kombucha tea before a show in Denver.

Do you feel like there's money to be made making music these days?

Wasner: Not for us (laughs).

Stack: We pretty much broke even on our first record and I think that was more successful than I would have anticipated.

W: Most people I've spoken to recently, from the few bands that we've met over the past couple of years, said that it's basically about the number of shows you play and how your tours are set up. It's that or licensing your music, but that depends on your comfort level with having your music used for advertising.

It seems like more and more bands are just giving their music away, also.

W: I'm behind anything that gets people to listen to my music. I love when people buy our records, but I always say "give it to your friends."

S: It's such an organic process the way music spreads, and the ethics of it are so blurred. I'm sure there have been lots of opportunities afforded to us by people who got our music "illegally."

Your songs are very large on record, how do you duplicate that sound live?

S: We're able to get the sound of a three piece because I play drums and a keyboard together.

Was there a point when you thought about bringing other people into for the live show?

S: There was a definitely a point where we were figuring out what our options were as far as bringing in other members or going for a softer acoustic thing live.

W: And I definitely didn't want that. There's such a stigma attached to that, especially when you're a girl starting out. I didn't want to be an acoustic singer/songwriter. It was important to us that we had the option of being loud and then Andy came up with the keyboard and drums idea.

So if the songs on If Children were written as part of a studio project that you had to learn to play live, did that influence they way you wrote the songs for The Knot?

W: Yeah, we've had to take the new songs into the studio, where before we had to take these studio songs into a live setting, so it's the exact opposite. I think it sounds different, but it still sounds like us.

One thing that carried over really well is that the songs sound very delicate and large at the same time.

W: That's something that carried over from our live show. One of the big tricks we use a lot for the live set up is the whole loud-quiet-loud formula. One of the biggest ways to get someone's attention is by having these big bursts of noise. We do a lot of big feedback and noise live.

Does being in a band of two start to feel like you're in a cocoon creatively?

W: Both of us have had many moments over the last year where we feel like we're hitting a wall and have wished we had a traditional band, but when it comes together it's more rewarding because it only comes from you.

You guys have been playing music together since high school. Does that intimacy allow for songs like "If Children Were Wishes," which is a very confidential song, to exist more comfortably?

W: It would be hard to bring stuff like that to people I wasn't comfortable with. It's really personal, as a lot of my songs are. Sometimes I feel a little uncomfortable about that, but I'd be writing the same songs regardless. Because we've known each other for so long and are so comfortable, it's not a big deal to bring in something very personal. A lot of the songs on the new record sound really dark, but a lot of the dark-sounding songs have uplifting lyrics while a lot of the happier-sounding songs have really, really, absolutely depressing lyrics. I guess it's my way of trying to pull the wool over people's eyes a little bit.

So, top-40 hip-hop radio, huh?

W: Yeeeah. For real. Andy took me to see Lil' Wayne for my birthday and he was amazing... and insane. T-Pain opened for him—and, like, every mainstream hip-hop hit from the past two years, T-Pain has been on that shit. He did a 45-minute medley of 30 seconds of every song he's been on. I don't morally stand behind any of these artists, they're just entertainment.

Is it subliminally effective? Do you have weird urges to buy expensive handbags?

W: No, but I do have fantasies of being a really good rapper. I think I could do it, but I don't have the right voice or persona. I can rap along with stuff, but I sound like an idiot. I have daydreams where I get cool and learn how to rap and then I roll up on somebody.

Wye Oak song remixed by a B-More hip hopper