What do both Alaska and Portugal have in common? They yield one of the most jaw-dropping, breathtaking groups to hit the scene since the psychedelic era, Portugal. The Man.

Hailing from Wasilla, Alaska, (yes, where former VP candidate and mayor Mrs. Sarah Palin is from) and now based in Portland, Oregon, Portugal. The Man consists of John Baldwin Gourley (vocals, guitar, organ), Jason Sechrist (drums), Ryan Neighbors (piano, Rhodes organ, synth, vocals) and Zachary Scott Carothers (bass, percussion, vocals).

The name comes from the group wanting to have the bigger than life feeling. According to John, Portugal was the first country that came to mind and being that it's a country, or a group of people, they added the period next to complete the name. The Man part refers to one person.

Having now released four albums in four years, their latest release, The Satanic Satanist (released July 21), blends rock, soul, Motown and the psychedelic '70s to present an 11-track, 40-minute mind-trip. Songs like "The Woods" explain life for John growing up in Wasilla and songs like "Mornings" make you close your eyes and sway with the music.

Just search Portugal. The Man on YouTube and you'll be quick to realize why John Baldwin Gourley was named Alternative Press Best Vocalist of 2008. Whether in an underground subway, hallway, backyard or in front of thousands of people at Bonnaroo, you'll be amazed at the immense talent these guys portray.

The band is also beginning to receive some national and global recognition. The Satanic Satanist debuted at #81 on Billboard's Top 200 Chart and has been receiving radio airplay in major cities including Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles. Globally, they reached #1 in College Radio in Germany.

"Save me, I can't be saved."

The first line from The Satanic Satanist and my exact feelings after witnessing back-to-back shows in Madison and Milwaukee.

From the second they walk on stage, they have your attention. Playing song after song with little interruption to speak to the crowd, Portugal. The Man deliver the best show you'll ever see. You simply get lost in the music. Psychedelic backdrops and colors only enhance the experience.

From the opener "And I" (2008's Censored Colors), which included an extended jam with parts from "One" by Three Dog Night, to "AKA M80: The Wolf" (2006's Waiter: "You Vultures!"), which also featured another extended jam, you'll find yourself dancing, clapping and singing.  Before you know it, they've played two hours and are walking off the stage. At both shows, they could barely get their instruments off before the crowd screamed for "one more song!"

Not only did they deliver one more. But they delivered three more. Starting with "Chicago" (Waiter: "You Vultures!") and closing with a beautiful version of "1989" (Censored Colors) they brought you back to the moment where it all started.

Hands down, when this band comes around to play, they're a can't miss show. The Seattle Post Intelligencer was right in saying "...Portugal. The Man is the best band you aren't listening to."

I was lucky enough to catch up with Zachary Scott Carothers while the band was on their way to play in Vermont.

RR: How much longer are you on the tour?

ZC: We have about another week here in the States and then we're flying over to Europe for about couple weeks and then we're done. We get home on the 9th and 10th of December. And then we got a handful of shows, couple in Portland, and probably a couple in Alaska before the year's done. So the year's almost done for us. Looking forward to Christmas.

RR: Thanks again for coming to Wisconsin.

ZC: Oh, no problem. We had a really awesome time there. We were surprised by how many people came out. It was pretty awesome for us. We have a really good time in Madison for sure, and I believe we'd been to Milwaukee once before but we didn't get to hang out there too much. We're all pretty tired from our night in Madison. The venue we played at in Milwaukee was pretty amazing, the Turner Ballroom. It was awesome.

RR: It was. It was a great show. Both nights were amazing. How does Wisconsin rank among some of the other shows? I know you were in Chicago the next two nights after that.

ZC: It was really nice. Oddly enough, we haven't spent too much time there. They were both really good, definitely up there. Both venues that we played at were really beautiful. Everyone that worked there was really nice and the food was great.  And we got treated very well. It's definitely nice to have that kind of stuff.

Chicago's really cool. We played there the night after but it was in a tiny little packed bar with a real small stage. The crowd's always fun in Chicago but it was kind of nice and relaxing in Wisconsin.

RR: Now I want to know a little about the new record. I was reading on Twitter that you played a little bit of it in Boston.

ZC: Yeah, in between all the bands as people were setting up and getting ready. We just basically put the new album on the loop and just played it for a while. It was pretty cool. We had never tried out an album like that before. But we got some good responses from a few people on Twitter and a few who noticed it. A lot of people don't pay attention to background music. It was pretty fun thing to do.

RR: Awesome. I remember in Madison when you played in the summer, me and my friends hung out with you for a little bit. It was before The Satanic Satanist came out and I know you said that was your Motown, pop, more straightforward record. Personally, I think that's mission accomplished. It's an amazing album start to finish. So what's the next record gonna sound like? What are you going for on this one?

ZC: It's pretty weird. It's definitely more experimental, more loops and sequences for sure. It was pretty much John who did the whole thing by himself. We came in and did some bits and pieces. But John, he flew out to Boston for two weeks and made this new one. And so, it's pretty crazy.  Has a lot of hip-hop influence, a lot of loops. And it's pretty cool though. Definitely more crazy, experimental record but still has a lot of structure and songwriting in mind.

RR: That's awesome. When are we going to hear some?

ZC: You know, I'm not sure. I'm not sure when or how we're going to release it. I think that we've been talking about not just putting it out as a CD, but finding some weird way to release it. We're not really sure what we're gonna do with that. I'm not positive on a tentative date yet. I guess we're still waiting to figure it out.

RR: I got a question about The Majestic Majesty. I honestly didn't even know the album existed until I was browsing on iTunes one day. How did that idea come about? I think it's amazing when a band can strip down their music and it really brings it to a level of pureness.

ZC: Yeah, it's fun for sure. It was basically a last minute decision. We always try to throw as much as we can into the packaging and artwork, give everyone as must extra stuff as we can. It actually happened on my birthday. We went to Seattle. We went into the studio. We never played any of the songs acoustic or even live at all. So, we went in there, brought a bunch of drums, banjos and guitars and we all put on headphones and started playing it and it was actually pretty fun to do.

RR: Sounds amazing too. I've seen all the videos on YouTube. Like the Censored Colors acoustic songs shot in hallways, basements and outside and where does that come from? Is that the same idea? Random? Trying to give us some extras?

ZC: Our buddy Graham in Chicago does most of those. I guess it's kind of fitting in this day and age with this technology and so many mediums at our fingertips, that we think it's important to get as much information out there. We don't want to be one of those bands that annoy people too much. We'll never send out comments to everyone's MySpace, but if you want to sign up to find more about us, we will definitely overload you with information. We're trying to always put up new photos, videos, acoustic tracks, Twitters, and all sorts of things on a pretty regular basis. We think it's pretty important for building a fan base and keeping it.

RR: Right. It's kind of funny you mention the photo gallery. You guys are all Trailblazers fans?

ZC: Yeah, we definitely are.

RR: Yeah, I saw the photo of you guys in Chicago in front of the Michael Jordan statue.

ZC: Yeah, we kind of thought we were gonna get our ass kicked for that one. We all walked up to it wearing hoodies and just took them off real quick for a picture and then put them back on. It was pretty funny. We like doing that kind of stuff. The whole reason we do it is because the games in Portland, there's a contest they do called Wear in the World, W-E-A-R in the world. So on the mega-tron at the games, they'll have pictures of families and whatnot wherever anywhere in the world that you put on Trailblazers gear and take a picture, they show you on the jumbo-tron. So since we have a job that we're lucky enough to travel all over the world with, we get to take pictures in Blazers gear all over the place. We're gonna turn them in and see if we can get on the jumbo-tron because it'll be fun.

RR: I could see that one getting on there.

ZC: Yeah, that's a pretty good one.

RR: Does it haunt you to this day knowing you guys passed on Michael Jordan?

ZC: Yeah, yeah. We obviously regret that one (laughs).

RR: Yeah, it was quite ironic to see that.

ZC: For sure. And that statue's pretty funny. On the bottom it says, "The greatest there ever was and the greatest there ever will be." And yeah, that dude was a bad ass for sure.

RR: I've seen John wear a Wisconsin Badgers hat in some of the videos too. Do you have any other ties to Wisconsin sports, like the Packers?

ZC: Actually we don't really follow much sports besides the Trailblazers. It's kind of a new development. We never really did before. And once we got our keyboardist, Ryan Neighbors, a couple years ago, he's been a huge basketball fan forever so he kind of got us all in to it last year, especially with the Blazers making the playoffs. We all got pretty heavy into it. Started playing all the time. We've been having a pretty good time with basketball.

But the Badgers hat, he just pretty much liked the style. He actually got two of those. He found one and just loved it at a thrift store. I want to say in Alaska he found it. And it was his favorite hat and wore it forever and then he lost it someplace. So when we played in Madison last, we went to some thrift stores we'd been to before and he randomly found the same exact hat he had lost. So obviously, it's in Madison, but still, it was kind of crazy, it was a pretty weird hat. He was pumped to find it again for sure.

RR: (laughs) That's awesome. How many times have you been in Wisconsin?

ZC: Not a whole lot. I think we played Madison three times all together and Milwaukee three times all together out of all the time being a band. I know about a year and a half ago we had to cancel a show in Madison because our van broke down outside of Chicago and we ended up having to buy a new one because the part that they needed to replace was going to take a week and a half to get. Which is weird, because Chicago's a pretty bustling metropolis and you'd think they have a rear differential for a Dodge Cargo Van. But who knows? They didn't. We had to buy a new van and miss the show in Madison and were pretty bummed about that.

RR: I'm not going to take up too much more of your time. Just one more quick, final question. And you might be the best one to actually ask this since I've seen you endorse it a little. But, Pabst Blue Ribbon the greatest beer of all time? (laughs)

ZC: Oh yeah, for sure (laughs). Definitely our most frequented beer for sure. It's huge in Portland. It's pretty much all we drink. Sadly, it's not that popular in Alaska. It's a little bit tougher to find in Alaska. But in Portland, pretty much every bar we go to, we'll have Pabst. Yeah, and if it doesn't, we don't go there. So, we're all about it. We probably drink it every night.

RR: That's what you'll have to figure out for your next tour. Only stop in the cities where Pabst is served