Known as Zorch, Zac Traeger and Shmu (aka Sam) Chown are known for their mixture of hyper-kinetic electronic rock that spans multiple divides of today’s most popular genres. Recently signing to the darling indie label known as Sargent House, Zorch are set to spread their madcap sounds around the world — and what better place to start their invasion than the 2013 SXSW festival?

We threw some questions at the boys just before the festival in their hometown of Austin, Texas, and here’s what they had to say about their upcoming adventures and their new label.

Congratulations on your recent signing to the Sargent House label. In recent talks with a few of their artists, it seems their operation feels like a large family, and not so much a business — was having that type of supportive team the deal-sealer?

Sam Chown: It’s definitely awesome having the opportunity to work with a whole team of people who love and support what their bands do. Sargent House likes what they like, and they happen to like us. We don’t have to compromise anything we do musically, so it’s a perfect match.

Zac Traeger: Yeah, totally. We’re into family friendships. We already knew and worked with a good amount of the team at Sargent House, so it was natural to sit down at the family table and not throw food, or just limit the amount of food we throw.

Every artist builds their career from a ground-and-pound indie scene, where everything is a DIY effort. While Zorch has built up a solid following already, how does having new management affect your plans for the future? Do you immediately think you’ll have more time to focus on the creative side of your music?

Sam: Having new management allows us to take what we do to the next level, like touring the world and getting international distribution. And yes, it opens up more time for us to focus on the music, which is a privilege.

Zac: I think it will quantumly increase the potential for new trajectories. We’ve always been very DIY about everything and will remain so, but this partnership just increases the amount of things we can do. Its like only having red and green paint on your own, but then someone is like, “Here is a bunch of blue.” So we will still paint in our own style, but have more resources to make 3D IMAX movies instead of crayon drawings.

As far as having more time, yes, that’s the idea. It hasn’t been immediate, because its not like we have a table of big fat white guys with cigars saying, “Quit your jobs, here is a bucket of money, buy drugs.” We still work really hard, and will most likely always continue to do so.

Though you’re both originally from different areas, do you find that you’re hometown favorites when it comes time to play SXSW?

Sam: We always play around 15 to 20 shows that week, and it seems to work out.

Zac: Not exactly — we have buddies and a draw in town and such…but really, a good amount of people who come to see us during SXSW aren’t from Austin or even Texas. We always sneak in a few special shows for people from Austin.

While SXSW has been an important cog in the music and film world for some time now, it feels as if its weight of importance has exploded in recent years. Do you feel an odd pressure to perform on to higher expectations when playing a festival like this?

Sam: Our goal is to play as close to 100 percent every time we perform, regardless of what kind of show it is. We have trained ourselves to be malleable and adaptable creatures.

Zac: No… I mean, yes… I mean, we always go for it, that’s the idea.

Can this year’s SXSW audience members expect any special surprises? Will the set be heavy with new material from the forthcoming album?

Sam: The set will be heavy with material off the album, as well as even newer material. Special surprises usually happen impromptu, so if I were to venture a guess, I would say yes, most definitely, some sort of surprise will happen. Last year we played a show where we had the audience play tug-of-war while having a dodgeball fight; it was pure chaos. Meanwhile, a guy was crowd-surfing on a piece of cardboard. It was epic.

Zac: Yeah, we try and keep the surprises coming. We usually don’t design our set until we get to a show, and even then we are always changing things on the fly. Yes, we will play things off the upcoming album and a few brand new songs as well.

Going back to Sargent House and their close-knit list of artists: once you sign on, do you start to think of new ways you can expand on your sounds by collaborating with other label mates?

Sam: There are a couple of bands we are open to doing splits with.

Zac: So, I haven’t asked the label this yet, but something I’m really interested in is getting access to their catalog for stems or sampling purposes. I always make my own samples, but this is something I’ve thought of a lot. We also are always down for a jimmy-jam with new or old friends.

You have a slate of dates set up after your SXSW appearance. Are there plans to take the new record on the road for a longer stretch after that, or are you already itching to return to the studio, new album or not?

Sam: We are itching to tour forever. If we can do North America, Europe, and Asia in 2013 on this record, that would be a huge success for me.

For those who are about to first discover your music, how would you best describe what Zorch has to offer to their listeners?

Sam: Rainbow puke baboon sex, sometimes sensual love making in the bathtub too.