Minneapolis transplants Strange Names have brought to NYC a swagger and confidence most of the local hipsters cannot emanate even if they tried. Their style that flirts with the clean, stylized sounds and imagery of the pop of the '80s - heck, their singers kinda looks like a young Simon Le Bon! - but their music, uptempo in a catchy but edgy way, is by no means simple: layers of electric, percussive and electronic sounds intersect with each other (and with the vocals) creating intriguing and often rather complex sonic webs, which must have required a certain amount of production in the studio. We had the opportunity to ask guitarist Francis Ximenez where all these sounds - and the band's inspiration - come from.... Click on the title for more