That image is a snapshot of the impact the band's music has on the listener. Propelled by guitarists Gabe Carter and Jason Guyer, drummer Greg Ferguson, and Carstens on vocals and occasional guitar (Juno are currently without a permanent bassist), Juno's music is an emotionally visceral powder keg waiting to be set off. Once described as "a man losing an argument with himself," the space where Carstens' lyrics meets the band's music hits like an emotional kick delivered only the way a knowing lover could. At once very intimate while being outwardly cathartic, time spent with the band's music--either live or on your stereo--is a singular release of all the fears and joys we keep bottled up. Juno is our rainy day and we love them for it, because "someone somewhere will always sing the words you need."

First of all, the new album, A Future Lived in Past Tense, is fantastic! It has a very cohesive feel and the songs flow really well. When you set out to record the album, did you have it in mind to do such a conceptual piece or was that just the way things turned out?

Gabe Carter: When we started writing the record we had no idea how it would take shape--none at all. But when it actually came down to sequencing it, one of the things we wanted was to make it circular in a way so that everything was part of the picture. I think the impression we have of ourselves--which is one that we didn't arrive at on our own--is that Juno is a cinematic band. So we tried to arrange the songs on the record in terms of themes, really.

What are the songs that stand out the most, the ones that you enjoy the most?

Arlie Carstens: Since I write the lyrics, for me a lot of the times the lines from one song tie into images and ideas in the next. At the moment, one of my favorite songs is "We Slept in Rented Rooms (the Old School Bush)." That's probably my favorite slow song on the record. My favorite fast song at the moment is "Help Is on the Way," and my favorite mid-tempo song is "When I Was in ______."

Gabe: I think everybody feels stronger about different songs because everybody's involved differently in the writing process on a personal level with different songs. We had to write more as individuals this time around, I think, and less as just a bunch of guys jamming.

How does the songwriting process work?

Gabe: We each have our own approach. This time around we recorded practices of stuff we had been doing, and then listened to the different things we liked to further expand on those ideas. I sat down and made a 90-minute tape of 30 different ideas. Three or four of them made it all the way to actually being songs on this record.

People came up with ideas that others might not have intially liked, but we would comply with someone's request--and some of those ideas turned out to be the best songs on the record.

Arlie: Traditionally, the way we've written music is from an instrumental approach, but it's truly a collaborative effort. I'll write a guitar part that only works a certain way for a certain number of bars. Then suddenly it's incompatible with what Gabe's written because he's playing in a different tuning. My part's gotta drop out so that his can take over. Then there will only be so much room for Jason to do something, so he's relegated to looking at this conundurum and asking himself what he can write to fit in between what Gabe and I are doing.

Along with how well each song compliments the next, the other thing I noticed about the album is how competent the songwriting has become, and just how much more presence your (Arlie) voice has gained. Juno have always had strong chops, but there are some deliciously subtle hooks and turnarounds on this album that really showcase some of your strengths as "song" writers and not so much as "thematic" writers.

The vocal line that closes "Covered with Hair," for instance, or the way the vocals shadow the bass line during the turnaround on "We Slept in Rented Rooms"--Is this approach to the music intentional, or, again, is this just how the band's music has naturally progressed?

Arlie: I think it's two-fold. One, we were a band for almost three years before we put out the first record (This Is the Way It Goes and Goes and Goes). The songs that were on that first record were songs that we had played for over three years, and in many cases were the first songs we had ever written. And now that we've been together for over five years and have written a bunch of songs, played a bunch of tours, and have tossed around a bunch of ideas...just by the virtue of those things we're a much more cohesive band.

We started out saying, "We're in a band...crazy! Let's write some songs!" And it's moved on to "We're a band." We know what our strengths and weaknesses are; it's just a matter of knowing intuitively what the other band members need, and recognizing and complimenting their strengths and weaknesses.

I think something else that was important was Nick Harmer and Nate Mendal [bassists for Death Cab for Cutie and the Foo Fighters, respectively, who helped with the recording of A Future Lived in Past Tense]. Nick Harmer is an enthusiastic person who loves to play bass and loves to make music, and Nate Mendal is an incredibly confident, accomplished player, who also just loves to play music. So you've also got these two bass players who have really reinvigorated us, who have really infused our playing with a sense of playfulness and exploration that has been lacking.

We sat around for the longest time...I know I personally sat around for the longest time...insisting that if we just played music all the time, as much as possible, that we would eventually build up some sort of momentum. But we never did. Every little piece that we got we had to fight for.

Arlie: I think because we're in this band all the time, we don't always have the best sense of what's good or bad, terrible or brilliant. But when Nick and Nate come in, those guys are just psyched to be playing music outside of their own bands. They could hear our music from a a more objective point of view.

Let's put their contributions into a bit of context. Last year, the band had an amicable split with Travis Saunders, your original bass player. How did Nate and Nick end up coming into the picture after Travis' departure?

Arlie: Nate Mendal is one of my best friends. We've known each other since we were kids growing up in the punk rock scene, and then we went to school together at the University of Washington. We sometimes play in a side project with Gabe called the Special Chargers, and we've always wanted to do something more. Nate really likes our band and between Foo Fighters tours he totally gave his time up to us--which is amazing, because between tours you want to do nothing but hang at home and watch basketball.

Gabe: Yeah, we recognized that in his case spare time was like gold bullion. All said and done he probably gave the most for what his time was worth.

Arlie: And Nick Harmer, we knew each other from playing shows together. At the time, he was working at Sonic Boom, the record store, and he said that any time we needed someone to play shows to let him know...and we did. The guy is like The Little Engine That Could. He just has so much sheer enthusiasm that he's bouncing off the fucking walls!

How did the band first come together?

Arlie: Travis and I had been playing together in projects on and off for a number of years. I went away for a winter and during that time he met Jason Guyer and the two of them started playing together. When I returned we decided we needed a drummer and my friend Steven Cobb played drums for us. Stephen knew Gabe, so when Gabe came on board it just sort of clicked.

I think Greg is an incredible drummer! On "We Slept in Rented Rooms" he's tugging at the beat with his high hat and pulling it in different directions. Amazing playing!

Arlie: Indeed.

Juno as a band has kind of always been known as this "three guitar front." And one of the things that really stands out on this new album is the bass playing and how much it drives a lot of the songs.

Arlie: Because Nate and Nick are psyched to play bass!

Has that inspired any new songwriting?

Arlie: Not really. They've both been on tour with their respective bands.

Gabe: They basically came in, did their tracks, and left.

So is the band still in an ongoing process of finding a permanent bassist?

Arlie: No.

No?

Arlie: No. You know, we're not really all that interested in finding a permanent bass player. The four of us just finished this record, and we had the opportunity to work with two people who are friends of ours, we had a ton of fun, and we're going to borrow a bassist to go to Europe with us. Right now everything is working out really well, and trying to work in a fifth member on a permanent basis is not conceivable. The headache of trying to imagine a fifth member with all the same responsibilities and all the same hangups...

Gabe: And taking on all the debts and everything else...I just can't imagine anyone signing up for that.

Arlie: I can say for certain that one of the most invigorating things about being in our band for me personally over the past eight months and writing songs for this album has been having a revolving door of players. Because it brought out things in us that we didn't necessarily see in ourselves. It was fun to play this music. And it was fun to be in a room full of people and joke again, because previous to that we'd been on tour for four months, and before that I'd broken my neck, and everything was just a mess. We were not celebrating being a band. Having this revolving door really changed things.