Even though Hot Rod Circuit took Dashboard Confessional on its first tour and has shared the stage with such big-name acts as Saves the Day and New Found Glory, the band says it would still rather play in small venues like the Maintenance Shop.

“When you’re playing a bigger stage, there might be one guy 300 feet away who’s singing along,” says Hot Rod Circuit front man Andy Jackson. “I’d prefer to play the smaller places, myself. I like the intimate settings. More of our fans will be there.”

The band’s guitar-infused sound is most often compared to early ’90s college rock bands like The Pixies, Superchunk and Sonic Youth. It still, however, retains a certain degree of variety that the members feel sets them apart from other bands on the scene today.

“We definitely don’t consider ourselves an emo band,” Jackson says. “We’re a rock band, and we hold true to an indie rock sound. When people put a Hot Rod record on, they really can’t compare it to anybody.”

The band has been a part of both ends of the scene spectrum — from New York City, where 50 different clubs might be having shows on the same night, to its hometown of Montgomery, Ala., where there was only one venue.

When Hot Rod Circuit got its start in 1997, the members all lived near Montgomery. Now, home is everywhere. Band members are scattered across the country.

Distance has never stopped them from touring, though. The band meets at the beginning of tours to practice, which Jackson says shows that the band’s cohesive sound always stays the same.

“We can play 50 songs, and it’s like we never left,” he says.

Hot Rod Circuit is on tour to promote its new album, “Reality’s Coming Through.” The album was released in August 2004, and one thing members agree on is that it’s their best release to date.

“Everyone, for the first time, was just really happy [with the record],” Jackson says. “We did everything we thought we could do, tearing apart songs and rewriting them, and it was our first time working with a producer. We branched off into some different areas and tried some different things.”

Circuit’s spring tour with Mae and The Snake, The Cross, The Crown is scheduled to end in late March. Hot Rod Circuit has already confirmed it will appear throughout the entire east coast of the Vans Warped Tour, a popular summer music festival.

Jackson says band members are trying to free up their schedules so they can do the entire tour.

“We are friends with 90 percent of the bands already,” Jackson says, “so it’s definitely something we’d have a good time doing.”

Who: Hot Rod Circuit with Mae, and The Snake, The Cross, The Crown

Where: The M-Shop

When: 8 p.m. Monday

Cost: $10 student, $12 public