Ohio’s The Twistoffs has a great new ad campaign for replacing its most recent member to quit the band: Become the 21st member.

“That’s like our new motto,” founding Twistoffs member Erik Walter said. The singer/guitarist added that he started the band as a high school project in 1985 and has since seen many line-up changes.

“It’s been cool to have one band and still play with 20 different people,” Walter said. “It screws up your personal game plan, but it’s cool because you usually replace someone with someone who’s better. There is a constant element of change.”

While change has definitely been a guiding force for The Twistoffs, it has also created plenty of awkward times for the band. Walter said the most difficult part of changing line-ups is working in a new member.

“The transition is kind of rough, but the music stays true to form, for the most part,” two-year member and saxophonist Andy Stephan said. “There’s only been two changes since I joined, and we keep moving onward and upward.”

Although The Twistoffs have been around since the mid-1980s, Walter confessed that the band was never actually any good until about seven years ago. “That’s when we started picking up guys we knew were good,” he said.

“I would say 90 percent of what the band has done has been in the last five years. We’ve been on the road 200 nights a year.”

In the past year, The Twistoffs has signed a record deal with Soul Three Records and has put more than half a million miles on its tour bus. The Twistoffs will also celebrate the one-month anniversary of its newest member, bassist Dustin Elliot, this weekend.

“I have been a fan of the band for many years,” Elliot said. “I’ve been gearing up for this my whole life.”

Elliot said his experience with the band has been nothing short of enjoyable. “Everything about being on the road is totally unpredictable,” he said.

“We have a bowling ball and pin on the bus so we sometimes pull them out and do some outdoor bowling. That fiasco can get pretty crazy.”

But there’s a downside to traveling the country with a seven-piece band. Elliot said times can get pretty tight when it comes to the money situation.

“You definitely learn to temper your spending,” he said. “I’m the kind of guy that likes to buy everything, so I am learning the hard way.”

Twistoff drummer Greg Garlock (three and a half years) also collects items on the road and is even able to incorporate them into the band’s show.

“I bring every tool I can find up on stage,” he said. “It’s pretty nutty.”

Garlock’s innovative rhythms fit perfectly into the mold of stage comedy the band has become know for. Stephan described The Twistoffs show as seven different comedy acts on stage at the same time.

“We try to crack each other up on stage, at least the horn section anyway,” Stephan said. “Our band is as much about performance as it is the music.”

And, like the comedy, the music is very complex. The Twistoffs has been labeled everything from Frank Zappa with horns to straightforward ska.

“It’s all rooted in rock and blues,” guitarist Patrick Drouin said. “But there’s some salsa, jazz and even some rock-a-billy in there. It’s an eclectic mix.”

Drouin compared the band’s writing style to Walter bringing in the bucket and everyone else filling it up. “Everybody brings something different to the table and it’s all hammered out there.”

“It’s geared to get dancers up right away,” Stephan explained. “We’re always trying new stuff every night — which makes it more fun for us, as well.”

Dancers can gear up for The Twistoffs appearance at the M-Shop this Sunday. Show time is set for 8 p.m. with student tickets running a mere $5 in advance.