In a van in the middle of a traffic jam on the way to Detroit. This is a fairly typical day for indie rock act Karate.

“[It’s] pretty much where we are every day this month — on the highway,” says Geoff Farina, singer/songwriter of the group.

Constant touring is difficult and puts pressures on any band, and Karate is no exception.

“It is definitely a huge part of what we do; parts of it are really difficult,” Farina says.

“Driving all day long or being away from home. Sometimes somebody gets sick, and it makes it harder to play the shows.”

Karate continues its long van rides throughout various areas of the country in support of its seventh album, “Pockets.”

Thirty-somethings Farina, Gavin McCarthy and Jeff Goddard create rock music with a blend of jazz, but Farina says the band is heavily influenced by other styles, including reggae.

“There are definitely a lot of different types of sounds that we like to incorporate into our writing and arranging,” Farina says.

Farina says the group was shaped as a whole by each members’ individual love of jazz.

“I think it’s something that the band has always been interested in,” Farina says.

“For me, Wayne Shorter and John Coltrane a lot when I was younger; I internalized a lot of that music.”

In addition to music, Karate gets a lot of influence from its experiences on the road.

“Different things growing up were influential now with what we are doing,” Farina says. “Playing a lot of shows and being able to travel and going to different countries and meeting lots of different kinds of people who we would never meet.”

With all the influences, the members of Karate do not pay attention to what the critics are saying.

“I personally don’t really get to see that stuff,” Farina says. “The label and the publicist usually send a stack of reactions, and they keep track of everything. I still have a stack of papers from the last record that I haven’t even looked at yet. It’s not something I enjoy reading very much, to be honest about it — even if it’s good.”

Who: Karate

Where: M-Shop

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday

Cost: $6 students, $7 public