Rachael, the founder and leader of The Blue Up?, has a total understanding of what makes her band unique.

“We are a total paradox,” Rachael said. “You truly can’t explain us. We aren’t one thing. I wish we were —it would make my life much easier.”

Rachael decided to become a rock star just four months before graduating high school. After a short career with the thrash band, Crispy Nun, she paired up with bassist Carolyn Rush to form The Blue Up?. Rachael writes all the band’s lyrics and both guitar parts.

“I demo everything with my 4-track and play it for Carolyn to match,” Rachael said. “I’m like a kite and Carolyn and Renee (Bracci) are the string. We need all of us to make it work. I’m always flying away, and they pull me back. I give them something to hang on to.”

Bracci joined forces with the band soon after drumming her way through college. Bracci was the only female in the country band, The Changing Times. Bracci and Rush soon developed important friendships with Rachael.

“We’re totally a tribe,” Rachael said. “We are one unit. We know everything about each other. We’ll be on tour, and we’ll know exactly when one of us is getting hungry. We still have problems getting each others names mixed up.”

The Blue Up? have been together for 11 years and have released two full length discs. Cake And Eat It was released on the Catacombs label in 1992. The trinity is currently supporting their latest release, Spool Forka Dish.

“‘Spoons For Seven’ and ‘Beautiful, Hysterical’ are the songs that are most like me,” Rachael said. “Dish is sort of a weird, party pop album. I usually write about getting untangled and becoming free. I write about the struggle with who I am, and feeling like I’m in a hole.”

According to Rachael, she has the band’s next recording planned out in her head. Rachael and companions are hoping to save up enough money from touring to record their third disc.

“Recording and performing live are totally different experiences,” she said. “We sound a lot more punk than pop when we are live. In my mind, the two have nothing to do with each other. Spool Forka Dish combines pianos, organs and different harmonies, while we are a lot more raw live.”

The Blue Up? has been compared to XTC, while Pink Floyd and Kate Bush are among other influences. Comparisons have been made between The Up and the new wave pop of the early 1980s, while they have been labeled a multi-media art-form unto itself and a pop-musical circle of spells, chants, mantras and incantations.

“I woke up one morning with the words ‘Blue Up’ in my head and they just stuck,” Rachael said, regarding how the band’s name was formed. “It just sounded cool. I think it is pretty funny.”

Rachael returns her trio to the M-Shop on Saturday night for a 9 p.m. performance. “It’s a really neat building,” Rachael added. “We had a lot of fun there. It’s a cool, positive environment.”

Tickets for this weekend’s performance are $3 in advance and are available through the M-Shop or all TicketMaster outlets.