It’s pretty common for the name of a tribute band to have some sort of connection to that act’s most iconic album or song. Just a few days ago, Badlands featured a Prince tribute band called Purple Reign, while renowned acts of this sort mimic Led Zeppelin (Zoso), Kiss (Strutter) and the Rolling Stones (Sticky Fingers).

With that in mind, one might be a bit confused when first becoming aware of Minneapolis’ Night Moves. Surely there must be some connection to Bob Seger, right? According to singer/multi-instrumentalist John Pelant, this couldn’t be more wrong.

“It was a lyric of a song that I wrote called ‘Country Queen’ on the first record (2011’s ‘Coloured Emotions’),” Pelant says. “That was the first song I wrote after I came upon this new sound I was going for. I was going to call the song ‘Night Moves’ but decided I couldn’t do that because there was already this Bob Seger song.”

With a song title clearly out of the question, Pelant adds, “Then I thought maybe I could call the record ‘Night Moves,’ and in the process of making it, I found out that was the title track of the Seger record. Then I thought that since we don’t have a band name, maybe we’ll just play these first few shows as Night Moves.”

As the band’s popularity in Minneapolis grew, Pelant says they were kind of stuck with the name even after signing with Domino Records. “There was a brief period after we got signed to Domino where they thought we’d have to change the name for legal reasons. We were just starting to like it, and we couldn’t come up with anything. There would be nights where we’d all sit in a circle with a notebook to come up with band names, and we didn’t come up with anything. Then the label said that we should just run with it and see if anything happens.”

After listening to their brand-new album, “Pennied Days,” one could still believe it’s an homage of sorts. While each of the songs on the record features layers of synths and Casio keyboards, there is a rootsy Midwestern feel to their sound. Without denigrating Detroit’s finest, Pelant is adamant that the band name “isn’t an homage to Seger or anything. People think it does, though, mainly because (the records) have a bit of a retro feel.”

Question: Can you name the first record that really hit you and became a big influence?

Answer: It was probably “The Freewheelin’ ” by Bob Dylan. I really like that one. I remember discovering in high school that I really like that stuff. For some reason, that one has always stuck with me as the first record that kind of blew my mind. I guess (it influenced me) in terms of songwriting. It’s so solid and strong. I don’t know if his sound, though, is anything that we really aspired to be. We don’t really sound like him. It’s more of a spirit kind of thing.

Q: Did you go through various stages where a certain genre (folk, punk, country, etc.) became your  main love?

A: When I was in middle school, I liked punk rock. I was really into skateboarding, so skate punk and stuff like that was all around. When I got to high school, my friend gave me (stuff) like “Led Zeppelin I.” He gave me a Neil Young mix and a Rolling Stones mix. That kind of set me on my path.

Q: If you could go back in time, what is the one record that you wish you could observe or assist in the recording?

A: Oh, man, that’s so crazy. There’s so many. Maybe “After the Goldrush” or something like that. That early ’70s Neil Young period. Maybe also “Harvest.” It would be something really iconic like that. Maybe that’s a lame answer, but one of those records. Looking at the back of the “Harvest” record, you see them playing in a barn where they recorded a few of the tracks. It looks like such a wild setup.

Q: For me, I think it would be (The Rolling Stones’) “Exile on Main Street,” although I don’t think I would have survived that craziness.

A: Oh, yeah. In that crazy mansion in the South of France? I don’t think many people would survive that.

Q: How did you meet (bassist) Micky Alfano?

A: I met him right before I started high school. He was a couple of grades older than me, but we met skateboarding through mutual friends. We were both in bands throughout high school. He played bass, and after high school a buddy of ours told me he wanted to play. We were kind of friends through high school, and in college we stayed buddies. We had a mutual interest in the same kind of music. The other guys that play on tour with us we met long after the fact through the music scene of Minneapolis.

Q: You were in bands before Night Moves. Were they similar to what you do now?

A: No, not really. They were really kind of spastic, dancey pop music. It kind of sounded like On Montreal or something. Sort of dance punk rock, I don’t know. It’s kind of gross thinking about it now. We really wanted to be The Faint. They were who we looked up to, but we were just way worse than that. We had like one or two good songs. We were way less refined than what we have going on now.

Q: Let’s talk about the new record, “Pennied Days.” What did you do on this one that differs from the debut, “Coloured Emotions”?

A: This one has way less reverb on the vocals. It’s still spacey, but the voice is more up front. I played a lot with harmonies, like layering my voice to get three or four harmonies. I did a lot of background vocals, too. Just pretty much playing with my voice. Also, a lot of these songs were written on piano so they were way more key-based, whereas the first record was really guitar-driven. There’s a lot more synths and stuff.

Q: Why did it take three years to create this record?

A: The first record was done in 2011, and we then re-released it (after signing with Domino). Then we had to tour behind it for about a year and a half. Once it came time to start working on the second one, Domino told us to keep writing after we sent them demos of a few songs. It just took a while to get it right. Then once you finally have the songs, you have to wait for a response from (the label). Then you have to find the right guy to produce, and then coordinate schedules. There’s so much stuff that people don’t think about. It took some time for everything to line up.

Q: There’s sort of a running theme about heartbreak. Was that by design?

A: I don’t think so. I don’t know if I was intentionally doing it. The lyrics are usually the last thing to come from me. There’s usually like one or two lines that I have in the very beginning while I’m making the song. Then at the end I kind of figure out what works. I’ll play around with words to see what fits. You don’t really know what it means until months or years later when you sort of see where you were at. At the moment, though, it’s not really a conscious decision.

Q: One aspect of songwriting that changed with Dylan is the expectation that lyrics tell us something about the songwriter at the time they were created. Are you the type of songwriter whose lyrics come from personal experiences?

A: Yeah, I think that every line or two in a song is about something different. The cool thing about songwriting is that you don’t know what you’re saying when you’re singing it or writing it down, but each line kind of means it’s own thing, but somehow they cohesively come together at the end. It becomes a solid story that makes sense to the listener, but to me each one is about a different day. Or maybe it happened like a year before the preceding line.

Q: You played Total Drag this past January, a couple of months before “Penned Days” release. Were the pre-release shows put together to try out the new material?

A: That (Total Drag) show was great. We had a show last September after we hadn’t played a long time at the Triple Rock in Minneapolis. At that one, it was like, “Let’s try out all of this new stuff.” We had seemed to have fallen off the map for a little bit, but a ton of people showed up and seemed to like it really well. That was the first time we tried out the new material. The Total Drag thing was sort of like … (since) we were waiting for it to be mastered and pressed, we might as well start playing out. Sioux Falls isn’t that far away, and those guys (at Total Drag) are so nice.

If you go

What: Night Moves all-ages concert, with Burlap Wolf King

When: 8 p.m. Monday

Where: Total Drag, 307 E. 12th St.

Tickets: $10, available at Total Drag or by calling 521-6439

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