Relentless stickering and guerrilla marketing have made Digital Summer one of the Valley’s hottest bands

It's a push that goes on nearly 24/7, according to Cenfield. When band members aren't practicing endlessly, they're busy renting out local venues for gigs, mailing out merch, contacting media, designing flyers, or a hundred other tasks. Getting financial backing from such alt-friendly sponsors as Club Tattoo and Lithium Clothing is also a major focus, since it helps fund their massive live shows.

"There's so much going on that it wouldn't be possible if we didn't formulate it like a business and run it structured," Cenfield says. "There's never a day off, never a time we're sitting idle. If I don't get at least a text message or call from somebody in the band during a day, I feel like they're mad at me or something."

They also find time to tirelessly pimp the band and its upcoming gigs to anyone they meet. Kyle seems to carry a stack of fliers, stickers, and demos on him at all times. Not content with just the flier racks at Zia Record Exchanges, Digital Summer shamelessly shills almost daily at clubs, colleges, street corners, even high school campuses — trespassing laws be damned.

"Cooter's our youngest member, so we'll have him throw on a backpack and go into a quad at lunch and hand stuff out until finally someone's like, 'Uh, you go here?' and kick him out," Ian says.

Aiding them in this nonstop promotion extravaganza are the 20-odd members of the Digital Summer street team, whose guerrilla tactics in plugging the band would make Che Guevara proud. A half-dozen, three-foot A-frame signs were stolen . . . er, "borrowed" from local businesses and pasted over with posters. They've been placed by off-ramps, mall exits, and concert parking. The team also just created a 20-foot-long banner, soon to be hung from a Valley freeway overpass.

Digital Summer's attitude, all-business demeanor, and unrepentant promotional drive has surely ruffled a few feathers in the local music scene. (Kyle and Ian are tightlipped about any dissing they may have gotten over the years.)

But whatever hate scenesters may have for Digital Summer, those naysayers would have to admit it's definitely gotten them notoriety, even if it's a little weird sometimes.

"I've actually signed an autograph for some chick while I was out at a scene," Kyle says. "It was a medical call, we were there for her mother, but as I was walking some of the gear out to the truck, this chick was all, 'I like your voice.' My cap's, like, 'Oh, you've got a fan.' And she brought her CD out and I signed it for her."

But besides bizarre fan interaction, the band's seen an increase in the bottom line, with gigs consistently bringing in 500 to 750 fans per show. Larry Elyea thinks it's a phenomenal feat in a time when turnout at local nightclubs has dropped significantly because of the statewide smoking ban and harsher DUI laws.

"They're definitely one of the largest-drawing acts in Arizona," Elyea says. "My band Giantkiller went with them to Flagstaff for a show, and they had a completely packed club in a city they're not from. I watched all the kids in the front sing the lyrics to their songs and it was amazing."

Also worth watching during Digital Summer show are the band's high-energy stage antics, which include leaping into the air, tossing guitars, and climbing amplifiers.

"Dude, if you're not bleeding onstage in front of people who've paid to see you, then you don't deserve to be there," Kyle says.

According to KUPD's Larry McFeely, Digital Summer's solid music, overzealous stage antics, and relentless promotion aren't the only reasons fans come out. The band has a professional demeanor and aura to them, and not just because they got a slick-looking, 12-foot trailer to lug their gear to shows (the kind of thing you don't see outside a major label band).

"They just look like a national-level act with what they do," McFeely says. "And these guys deliver when they put on a concert. You're always getting thousands of people showing up, you're always gonna get a really good show. They just have a metal-yet-mainstream sound about them. It's crossover music that appeals to everyone"

And a lot of people seem to like it. Digital Summer's fan base is broad and varied, evidenced by the diverse turnout for their performance last November at the Venue of Scottsdale. The band was helping celebrate the 15th anniversary of Elyea's Mind's Eye Digital Recording Studio, and the large crowd enjoying their 45-minute set included ghetto-fab hip-hoppers, grungy indie kids, tanned and toned beautiful types, older rock burnouts, and fresh-faced teens.

"The last time we played, this lady comes up to me, a friend of a friend who'd heard about us. She's 67, and I guarantee she's in the audience every time from now on," Kyle says. "At that same show, we were taking pictures with 7-year-olds. It's weird. At our shows, we get hit up by everybody."