Richard Edwards fronts Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s on stage with a calm, conversational style, letting the music speak for itself, mostly. Away from the stage, he is much the same.

I spoke to him at a stop on his tour, in an unidentifiable city somewhere west of here (close as I can guess is Lawrence County, Missouri, playing that night at a place called The Jackpot). After getting there, a label-organized national tour with a major label release pending and a set recording contract for more music, what is left for this Indianapolis band?

“Our goals? We want to keep making better records. To continue growing…working hard,” said Edwards.

Well said: the ethereal future for this band whose explosion continues to ripple outward, it seems, isn’t dotted with concrete markers along its way. But how did they get to this vantage point? How does a band make it out of the humdrum, barely-supported scene for local music here? What separates this band from other bands? It is a constant musing of mine

“If I had to give just one answer, I would say extreme sacrifices. We all moved in to a small house together, toured together with no money.”

And I suppose that is exactly what I can see in the bands that typically circulate Indianapolis. An “as long as its fun” approach to making music, centered on me and I.

Specifically to do with The Dust of Retreat, Edwards gave a fitting description, “It’s like the first time a little kid uses a curse word: articulate and charming.” There is obvious talent and power in their music, and their approach does seem to come from the intrigue of discovery. He continued, “We are some people who are very passionate about getting their message across, throwing everything at it. Dust of Retreat has some good examples of that.”

Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s are now on tour in the Western United States. Their next release, Animal! is set to come out the middle of this summer (as accurate as I can get).