It's been a year of constant creation and success for Alan Palomo. The 21-year-old former Ghosthustler frontman, who now splits his non-touring time between Austin and Denton, moved on from his previous band to a couple of buzzed-about projects.

First, there was Vega, whose modern disco tunes are reminiscent of Palomo's work in Ghosthustler but much more expansive and danceable (the rapturous "No Reasons" is a good example). Vega released the Well Known Pleasures EP earlier this year; Palomo has played the material live with and without backup players.

The other project, Neon Indian, has become more of a dedicated full band after the recent release of the lo-fi, chilled-out debut album Psychic Chasms. Palomo is joined on stage by Jason Fairies on drums, Ronald Geirhart on strings and Leanne Macomber (of Denton band Fight Bite) on guitar.

Neon Indian is touring like crazy on the strength of glowing reviews from the likes of Pitchfork and Rolling Stone. The heavy buzz culminated last weekend with several shows at New York's CMJ Music Marathon fest.

Palomo told us by phone that the touring has helped his band perfect the live versions of Psychic Chasm's tunes, including the headphone-centric singles "Deadbeat Summer" and "Should've Taken Acid With You."

"We've now exposed these songs to people live, and I think we've left an impression," Palomo said. "And there's been an evolution in a short amount of time to add better ideas and learn our parts by heart."

Palomo comes back to Texas this weekend for a free Neon Indian show on Halloween at the Granada. Palomo says there are some treats in the works for the gig.

"We're talking about costumes right now," he said. "I'm torn between something from Blade Runner and Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men, so we'll see."

Here's more from the chat with Palomo.

Hunter Hauk

Q: I hear you guys are couch-surfing on this tour. For all the pub Neon Indian's been getting, I didn't expect that.

Palomo: Yeah, it's funny. The booking agency we worked with for Vega, it seemed like the tour arranger made lots of preparations with lavish arrangements. But when it comes to indie bands, it's kind of an every-man-for-himself situation.

Q: You just left CMJ fest in New York, which you described to me in an e-mail as "a cluster[expletive]." Can you explain?

Palomo: [Laughs.] I can rephrase that as a "beautiful cluster[expletive]." Between Vega and Neon Indian, we played about 10 shows, and that's not including DJ sets I did on the side. It was complete insanity, moreso than South by Southwest. It's more difficult to navigate through New York. And it seems like the stakes are higher – every show you go to with a decent amount of hype, the lines are just out the door. You have people crawling over each other trying to get in. All the Vega shows went well, though. You just have to soldier through sound issues. We played the Fool's Gold showcase, and at the climax of the first song we played, right as I'm about to bust into a keyboard solo, the power just died and stayed that way for 20 minutes.

Q: What about the Neon Indian shows?

Palomo: We only played one official one [at Root Studios in Brooklyn], and it was awesome. The odds were definitely not in our favor, because we didn't have time to soundcheck. And it was the biggest show we'd done. It was packed. ... The stars just aligned. It was sponsored by this clothing company, Topman. It's funny, because most shows tend to be sponsored by Levi's or something. Not something I'd typically wear. But Topman was cool because they sell these slick, European, high-end suits.

Q: I could see you making use of those.

Palomo: Dude, absolutely. One of the stipulations was that we had to wear some Topman gear, so I was like, "Yeah, I'll wear that [expletive] jacket!"

Q: Seems like there'd be challenges in general in re-creating the lo-fi sound of Neon Indian live. What are they, if any?

Palomo: There are certain things you have to sacrifice in order to reinterpret it live. It seems like some of the more lo-fi components, we have to recontextualize. A lot of the synth sounds and samples sound bigger. But from what I've heard, a lot of people prefer it that way. I think a lot of people were just expecting a guy with a laptop. A lot of these bands that have coined these lo-fi, or glow-fi, sounds showed up at CMJ with a DJ and microphone and a laptop and plenty of reverb. But it was surprising to see Neon Indian, a full four-piece band.

Q: It's almost like learning to love a band you hear on AM radio and then going to see it live.

Palomo: Definitely. And on top of that, the setup we've created makes a lot of leeway for these interesting elements. Each song blends into the next in the show we're doing now, and not in the way that there's always a beat. A song will just disintegrate into a soundbite of Charlton Heston talking about Nietzsche, and later, "Terminally Chill" will start playing out of nowhere. If anything, the best reactions have been the little melodies we create between songs.

Q: With Vega and Neon Indian both getting a lot of attention as relatively new acts, how do you juggle both?

Palomo: I think it's about throwing yourself into a state of mind. Obviously, these past couple of months have garnered a lot more attention for Neon Indian. So we've worked behind that and stayed focused in terms of honing in on the aesthetic. And I do Vega stuff here and there. But for me, the approaches to the different projects, they don't step on each other's toes. The styles of recording are so different, so I just have to set up a good system of making sure the sounds stay separate. But I am definitely more influenced lately by the approach to making music for Neon Indian, and that's carried over into Vega's growth. There are going to be a lot of curveballs on the Vega album.

Q: Have you thought of how you'd do a combo show with both acts getting sets?

Palomo: Last night we were done playing our Neon Indian set, and they demanded an encore. And we'd done every song we have. [Laughs.] Literally, some guy was shaking his fist and asking for two more songs. So I asked the guys if we should play "No Reasons," and I just switched keyboards and controls. So that was a treat for the folks who like both Neon Indian and Vega. Maybe sometime in the future, I could create enough of a distinction between both live sets to tour with both. Coming up at Fun Fun Fun Fest [in Austin], I know the two will have sets a few hours apart on the same stage. So, I'll have to figure something out.

Q: Tell me about the Neon Indian album cover. Who's the artist?

Palomo: That was Alicia Scardetta. When I initially wanted to start working with her [on the visuals accompanying Neon Indian music], she had shown me these amazing stop-motion shorts she'd done for Ariel Pink. It was this collage of found images. She has a fantastic eye for that. So I sent her a few songs to give her ideas. It's funny, because she'd come up with the Neon Indian name in high school, as a mock band to retaliate against Ghosthustler. [Laughs.] She had a MySpace account for it that sat there for a few years. And when I started writing the material for Psychic Chasms about a very specific time in my life, it seemed to make perfect sense to use the name she'd created.

Q: So you posted the new music to that account she'd had for all those years?

Palomo: Oh, yeah. I asked her for the password. There had been a little statement on the "About Me" section that they had been waiting for a talented artist who could play instruments. So it was like this secretive band that laid low for a few years and just started making songs.

Q: When you look back on the past year, what are the events and memories that immediately spring to mind?

Palomo: Everything has happened so fast since the last South by Southwest. It's so weird that songs I wrote in my bedroom in March and April have led me to this point where I'm performing them in front of strangers in different parts of the world. It's been really stressful, and it's an adjustment to give up quite a few creature comforts to go on this epic journey. [Laughs.] But I would say there've been moments that remind me why I do it. The Grizzly Bear show in NYC was probably one of the happiest days of my life. Everybody was sitting around, barbecuing, and the backdrop to our set was the river overseeing Manhattan island. It helped me step outside the situation and enjoy the accomplishment. I understand that there's hype and press that piles up, and there's pressure, but I can sometimes just look at things from a better perspective. ACL was another moment like that for me. Getting to go backstage and play Beatles Rock Band. There've been happy moments.

Neon Indian shares a bill with White Denim, Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. Free; RSVP for tickets to Halloween@granadatheater.com.

• Hear Neon Indian's music at myspace.com/neonindian.

Hear Vega's music at myspace.com/vegavisions.

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