In the five minutes I spent on the phone with Electric Six’s Dick Valentine, I noted a few things. He is not a man given to long and introspective discussion, at least not with strangers. He is direct and to the point, not spending a lot of time to deliberate over his answers. What he has to say mirrors the curt tone by which he says it, further painting the picture of a man living by the seat of his pants, and throughout the process, wailing like Tom Jones.

The Second Supper: What is different about KILL?

Dick Valentine: I’m not sure that there is anything different. I think it’s a quintessentially Electric Six album.

SS: Do you aim for consistency?

DV: I’m not sure we aim for anything. Each album takes the path of least resistance.

SS: What are your favorite things on this new album?

DV: I like “Steal Your Bones” a lot, and I like “I Belong in a Factory,” but I like them all. They all sound great. The process that goes into creating an album is a many splendored night spent discussing how the songs will sound, and then going out and executing it. There’s nothing like finishing the job.

SS: How quickly do you make each album?

DV: The last few albums have started in January, and we turn it in at the end of July. It’s a seven month process, but it’s not like we’re working every day, 24 hours a day. We work as we see fit.

SS: Do you see bands as putting too much of a long, drawn-out process toward making an album?

DV: Yes, I do. I’ve never been one to spend a lot of time thinking about the consequences of what happens if nobody likes my record.

SS: Electric Six tends to release one album per year, which is much faster than most groups. Do you think bands should release material faster?

DV: It works for our band, because we enjoy staying in the game and touring, and we don’t obsess over the album having to be a perfect album. You see bands taking a lot of time working on three minute pop songs, and I’ve never understood why it needs to take that long.

SS: They’re taking months to make something that lasts for 45 minutes…

DV: Exactly. There are a lot of people who define themselves by their band, spiritually and professionally. I don’t evaluate myself spiritually or professionally.

SS: Ever?

DV: Never. I’m a piece of trash, just floatin’ on by.

SS: So are you more of a live band than a studio band?

DV: Well, we’re both. You do approach the two differently, but we do spend time in the studio, too. It’s a different mindset. When you play live, you wonder what the people in the crowd are going to be like, if you’re going to have to deal with idiots or if they’re going to be nice people. In the studio, it’s more listening to your ideas take shape, and you don’t have to worry about idiots.

SS: How has the band’s many lineup changes affected the nature of your studio albums and live performances?

DV: The people we’ve added to the band have brought improvements to the creative process. Now we have a bunch of people who can write songs, and we look at it the same way. In the original lineup there were only a couple of people who could write songs, and we looked at things differently. It’s a more efficient process, now. We get more out of it.

SS: Has Electric Six become more of an equal partnership?

DV: In some degree. This lineup gets along on and off the road. With the original lineup, we didn’t get along at any point. The improvements have improved us.

SS: What do you have planned for the future?

DV: Just keep on keepin’ on. We’ve settled into an inertia, and the less we think about it and the more we just keep going, not questioning what we’re doing and not realizing that the precious years of our lives are flying by and we haven’t done anything else with them, the better.

SS: If you could do something else with them, what would it be?

DV: No.

Electric Six plays First Avenue in Minneapolis on Monday, November 23rd.