File this one in our 'things other people do that we only wish we’d have done first’ folder. Just shove it in there, we know, it’s getting rather full.

Indie-pop meets psych-rock outfit Tennis was bred from a chance encounter in college between vocalist / keyboardist Alaina Moore and guitarist Patrick Riley. After forming a close bond, the two embarked on a seven-month sail boating expedition down the Eastern Atlantic Seaboard. The time spent on the ship was how the two began the current musical act and honed its popular sound. It’s a romance story straight from the shelves of grocery store novels and is something that would make sappy author Nicholas Sparks roll over in his grave with jealousy…if he were dead – which he isn’t. But we’re saying…it could.

Before the band hits stage tonight (5/21) at the Ogden Theater in support of HAIM and its many sold out shows, Moore gave us a bit of an insight to what the band’s been up to, where they see themselves now and if we can expect them to stick around Denver (where they call home) a bit more.

You’ve said in the past that as you grow you want to challenge yourself musically. How are some of the ways that you’re doing so?

It's as simple as wanting to write better songs, the pursuit of an unattainable goal. What makes a song connect, what makes it timeless? The goal is more conceptual than anything, but it keeps us focused when we write.

There’s a lot more of a pop, soul and R&B flare to some of the new work. Is the mission to grab a radio spot or is it just a natural progression for the band?

If we were trying to break into radio we would write songs with conventional pop structures. We like to leave the song in the form in which it was written– which is less contrived and more like a natural discovery of melody. The R&B/Soul influence comes from our complete obsession with Shuggie Otis, Funkadelic and Curtis Mayfield. If I was a dude I would exclusively sing in falsetto. Since I'm not, I try to model my own head voice after Laura Nyro's. She had a really interesting take on male falsetto–super exaggerated with a lot of breath. We're experimenting really.

The act was created while traveling the world on a sailboat and is now evolving on the road – would you credit traveling as one of the biggest influences in the music?

Not traveling so much as constant change and newness. Oddly enough I don't like to travel, but I learn more about myself and am more creative when I am in an unfamiliar setting. Also the momentum of touring life is conducive to writing, which requires what feels like a blind, routined energy.

You’re coming back to Colorado soon – a place you both called home for a while – are you anxious to get back?

Colorado is still home. We leave a lot, most recently we moved to Nashville for 8 months, but we always come back. We are all really excited to play the Ogden. It's all of our first times and I can't think of a better bill than opening for Haim. It will probably be my most nerve-wracking show. Playing at home is always harder. I can't ask people who've known me for years to suspend disbelief–to immagine that I am a cool rock and roller who belongs on a stage. I can pretend in front of strangers, but not in front of people who know me.

Some artists don’t like to admit it, but some of them have a plan b for when things slow down. Do you have a plan b, or will you still continue to pursue music as a career?

We have no problem admitting we have a plan b.

In fact we try to make our plan b more enticing than our plan a, so that resorting to plan b feels less like a disappointment. Right now our plan b is to move back onto our sailboat and cross the Pacific–something we've always wanted to do. Our plan c is to build a studio in Denver and really commit to the music scene there. We want to contribute to the community that already exists.

Is there a date yet for the new album?

We haven't chosen a release date yet, but the new record should be available sometime this fall.

What can we expect from the future of Tennis?

If I could tell you the future of Tennis I wouldn't have any backup plans.