Sleigh Bells at Wooly’s April 23

Celeste Welshhons

Noise pop band Sleigh Bells will play April 23 at Wooly’s in Des Moines.

Guitarist Derek Miller was involved in another band starting at age 16, before Sleigh Bells, but has been interested in music since he was a kid.

“I joined a hardcore band called Poison the Well when I was 16; I did that just until before my 23rd birthday. Then it took me a couple of years to arrive at the sound that Sleigh Bells has now,” Miller said. “I’ve been a music fanatic since I was a kid, probably since I was 5 or 6. I got a guitar when I was 12, and by 15 I would say it had taken over.”

For the show at Wooly’s, there will be material from all three albums that have been released so far including the band’s most recent release “Bitter Rivals,” which came out in October.

“A lot of people are still discovering the band,” Miller said. “It’s pretty much an even split between all three. We’ve put out three records in almost as many years, so none of them feel that old to me.”

It is unclear as to whether or not any other bands will be playing with Sleigh Bells for this show, but for its set, fans should expect some theatrics.

“What people can generally expect from our shows is sensory overload. There’s lots of volume, and our lighting show is pretty schizophrenic, so if you like that type of thing you will be very pleased,” Miller said. “I love it because I just go totally blank while we’re playing … you’re just very much in the moment.”

Although the only two original members of the band are Miller and vocalist Alexis Krauss, two other touring members will accompany them onstage.

“We’re a four-piece band right now actually,” Miller said. “Ryan Primack is the other guitar player, and then we’re playing with an incredible drummer named Chris Maggio. Basically it’s his live kit mixed with my samples that’s coming out of the PA.”

Even with the band having released a full-length album less than seven months ago, Miller is already working on the fourth studio album. There have been different release styles for all three of the previous albums including a more traditional approach as well as getting everything out in less than a month. The next album will likely have a different release style as well.

“I don’t like to sit around; I like to do things quickly. I like the immediacy of it; I like finishing something, mixing and mastering it and getting it out as soon as possible,” Miller said. “Now I’ve don’t that twice … maybe there will be something atypical about [the upcoming album], but I don’t know what it is yet. I’m just recording.”

The rest of this year is booked for Sleigh Bells with lots of touring as well as the production of its next album which should be out by fall of next year.

“I’ve been recording, but I’m usually always working on new material,” Miller said. “We’ll finish up [touring] in August at which point we will have a few new songs, and then we will just focus solely on recording and we will put out a record sometime in 2015, probably in the fall but I don’t know. We’ll be doing a bunch of festivals, headlining shows, and we’re in the studio between all of these tours.”