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

And then they usually take the audience with them. After Digital Summer finished its gig last November, two-thirds of the estimated crowd of 900 ditched out almost immediately.

At the same time, they're cautious of playing too many gigs, which is why they perform only every two to three months.

"I don't care if you're Metallica — you play every weekend, your crowds are gonna thin out. People are gonna get bored," Ian says. "We space it out so that when do play — killer turnout. And we pride ourselves on having a huge draw. There's nothing better than walking out on stage and having a venue packed front to back and those people are singing your songs."

Earplugs are a necessity when listening to Digital Summer practice.

It's 8 p.m. on a weeknight in late April, and the band's moving through a tight set in the garage of Kyle's northwest Phoenix home. The massive amount of noise-deadening foam rubber might make the neighbors simpatico with the place, but it also concentrates the band's hard melodic beats into a slick-sounding sonic boom. It has also turned the jam-space into an oven after only two songs.

Carlson seems extra-sweaty, probably because he's been an absolute madman on the drums tonight. As Kyle hollers out the lyrics to "Now or Never," the shirtless drummer beats the skins mercilessly. His passion for working the sticks came somewhat from growing up around the heavy metal ways of father Ed Carlson, guitarist for Valley thrash legends Flotsam and Jetsam. (There's a video of a young "Cooter" playing the drums at age 7.)

Ian says Carlson's kind of a Beavis-like spazz, which makes him a natural at banging out the band's backbeat.

"I have a theory with Cooter, why he's such a good drummer. He's got the worst case of ADD I've ever seen," Ian says. "But I think that's why he's so good at drums, because he's got so many things to concentrate on and hit at one time that his mind can't wander."

It's not just Carlson, though — the entire band seems like they're putting something extra into rehearsal tonight, probably because Kyle says their EP/DVD release show this weekend at the Venue of Scottsdale will likely have A&R scouts in attendance.

They've had many successes over the past two years: They won a KUPD contest in 2007 that nabbed them a slot opening for Godsmack at Dodge Theatre. They've also gotten regular airplay on the station, as well as a few spins on The Edge 103.9. Kyle estimates they've sold 6,000 copies of their 2007 album Cause and Effect through local stores like Zia Record Exchange and over the Internet (iTunes, CDBaby, Rhapsody). Then there's the fact they're hoping to start distributing their music through Best Buy stores around the Southwest later this year.

"We're trying to be our own record label. There's certain things we don't have that we could gain from working with a label," Kyle says. "We don't have the capital. We don't have 100 grand to put into marketing and promotion. That's, like, the only thing the labels have to offer right now, outside of distribution — which there's ways to get on your own now."

But is there a chance they could get signed by a major label? McFeely thinks so.

"I do think they have what it takes to make it," he says. "Unfortunately, sometimes labels will take over bands and 'shelve' them. And I would hope that would never happen to these guys. It would probably kill them.

"Fortunately for them, they're still at the point where they can play a show, rock the crowd, sell a bunch of CDs and merchandise, make a lot of money, and walk away with it all and they don't have to pay the label back because they're not signed."

Elyea thinks it's not so much a question of Digital Summer's talent, but rather the state of the music business.

"If it was six years ago, they'd already have a huge deal and be touring. It's just a good reflection of how depressed the music industry is right now, to see a band like that and them not having any kind of a deal," Elyea says.

Either way, Kyle says they're fine for the moment.

"Right now, most of us in this band make okay money. We've got careers. We're not starving. We gotta do what's smart for us, business-wise. We move — not an exorbitant amount of product — but we move a decent amount of CDs and we make decent money at shows.

"Doing it on our own takes a lot of time and is stressful," Kyle continues, "but if we can keep pushing the machine the way we are and if it keeps growing at the rate it does, ultimately it could almost be more profitable to do it on your own, if you do it correctly."

See Digital Summer's PR machine in action for yourself in our pair of Digital Summer slide shows.