Jackson Free Press

While listeners don't often find the term "family band" applied to heavier forms of music, Minnesota-based math-rock trio Tiny Moving Parts takes on the title with pride.

Bassist and vocalist Matthew Chevalier and drummer Billy Chevalier, who are brothers, and their cousin, guitarist and vocalist Dylan Mattheisen, grew up together in Benson, Minn. They formed the band at age 12 and continued to play music together throughout junior high and high school. Then, during their senior years of high school, Mattheisen says, he and his cousins realized that they had to decide whether they would put Tiny Moving Parts behind them or pursue it wholeheartedly.

"At that point, we were like, 'Well, what do we want to do now? Do we want to go to college or try the band thing?'" he says. "We obviously love the band more than what we went to school for. So I'd say when we were 17 or 18, we knew this was what we wanted to do—go on tour, travel the world if possible and just pursue it."

Since then, the band has made a name for itself in the alternative music scene through relentless touring and the release of five EPs and two full-length studio albums, 2013's "This Couch Is Long & Full of Friendship" and 2014's "Pleasant Living." While the often wild, intricate instrumentation of Tiny Moving Part's early music remains, Billy says their sound has had to progress alongside the band's profile.

"In the beginning, when we were doing DIY stuff, playing houses and small venues, that was just loud, and I guess when we wrote back then, we'd play more crazy stuff with just a bunch of yelling because everything wasn't mic-ed," he says. "But now that we're playing bigger venues, we realize that people can hear everything we do, so we sing a little more, and it's just a little more catchy."

For their latest album, "Celebrate," which will hit shelves May 20, the musicians returned to producer Greg Lindholm, with whom they recorded their debut full-length. Mattheisen says that "Celebrate," which follows the central theme of feeling lost and finding comfort, simultaneously offers some of the band's heaviest entries and its catchiest songs.

"When we did 'Pleasant Living,' we were like, 'Yeah, let's get it less just 'random party' and less chaotic and tone it down a little,'" Billy says. "Then, after that came out, we kind of felt like we went a little too far that way. So with this new one, we tried to bring a little more of the 'This Couch' feels back into it."

While the members of Tiny Moving Parts say that getting to this point has occasionally been slow going, they also feel that they went about it the right way and approached it with the same message that is the basis for "Celebrate": You're only here for a certain amount of time, so be happy, live your life and try to put a smile on your face.

"We don't really have regrets or anything from past tours because we toured our butts off," Mattheisen says. "We played really bad shows and lost lots of money on tour, but we feel like learning the hard way is learning the right way. It shapes you up to continue on and do it for a longer time and learn the ins and outs."

Matthew says: "We did a lot of DIY touring back in the day, and even when I look back on it now, it's like, we were poor and broke as hell back then, but you still enjoy every moment of it. They weren't more fun, realistically, but when the band's all over with, we're going to miss it all."

Tiny Moving Parts performs at 7 p.m., Saturday, March 26, at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.). The Wonder Years, letlive., and Microwave also perform. Tickets are $20 at the door or $15 in advance at ardenland.net. For more information, visit tinymovingparts.com.