Chris Ward joked that he was tempted to shave his beard while spending a day off from touring on a very hot day in Phoenix this week.

The drummer from Pattern is Movement sports so much facial hair that he easily could pass for a lumberjack and win a "beard-off" against the hairiest of them, including bandmate Andrew Thiboldeaux.

The bearded duo are close to finishing a six-month tour of the United States before taking a few months off to work on a new album. Their previous album, "All Together," has received positive reviews from several music publications, including Pitchfork and Spin, as well as the New York Times.

Ward said the best way to listen to the record is on vinyl because it was recorded and mixed completely on tape, never touching a computer until it was mastered.

"The reason people are going back to vinyl is because it's a medium that connects for the listener," he said. "It's not just merely the music, it's the actual object that they are able to take home with them and have a memory created. Like ‘I was at that show and here's the vinyl.'

"Whereas buying a CD these days, usually you just pop it into your computer, you rip it to your iTunes and that's that. But you just can't do that with a vinyl."

That said, Ward loves his iPod and doesn't think his music, an amalgam of ‘90s hip-hop and show tunes, would be possible without the ability to store massive quantities of music of several genres. So the band does include download codes with vinyl purchases.

Pattern is Movement also has an affinity for old gear. They tour with the computer version of a Mellotron because they prefer to use the actual recordings of instruments stored in the machine as opposed to today's synthesizers, which don't replicate the sound exactly.

"We think it (the Mellotron) creates a mood," Ward said. "There's a moodiness to those keyboards, and I think it helps with the mood of our music because our music is pretty dramatic."

Thiboldeaux also plays a Fender Rhodes from the ‘70s. Besides proving to be a durable instrument, Ward said the older equipment usually has only a few working parts, so fixing them on the road is easier than trying to diagnose problems on current keyboards.

The instruments also help accurately reproduce the sound of the album live. When Pattern is Movement recorded, they brought in guest musicians to play the trumpet, flute and French horn. With the older equipment, they are able to reproduce the sounds with just the two of them, even if it means Thiboldeaux is playing the keyboard (the bass with his foot like an organist), operating the Mellotron, singing and occasionally hitting a drum.

"Andrew is kind of a busy man. He does a lot of things at once," Ward said, joking that Thiboldeaux is a great multi-tasker. "Right now, he's drawing a picture and eating a sandwich and calling his mom and faxing receipts. He's really good at that stuff."