Merrick-based The RBC building slow, having fun

John Carey says The RBC isn't exactly a dub band, though that's the music that he and singer-guitarist Andrew Gedacht grew up listening to most, and the addition of Jimmy McGerald on melodica certainly makes it closer.

It's not quite a jam band, though the rhythms of Carey's basslines and drummer Mike Celano certainly lean that way.

"We're a pleasure band," Carey says. "We have some punk-rocky roots, too. But we're mostly about having fun."

That fun vibe is what has helped the Merrick-based band get noticed. They won a contest to play this year's Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tenn., this weekend, alongside Jay-Z, Dave Matthews Band, Weezer and the year's buzzed-about bands The National, Black Keys and LCD Soundsystem. Closer to home, The RBC will be playing the Great South Bay Festival in Patchogue in July.

And they're also working on their debut album, the full-length follow-up to their "Pleasure" EP, in between playing more than 200 shows a year.

"We're trying to build this nice and slow," Carey says. "We've started to develop a kind of jam band following. It sort of reflects how free-flowing we are now. Our songs will be sometimes three minutes, sometimes six minutes. We trade off vocals. It all depends on the night. The songs are changing, too. They change so much, the more we play them live. Each song takes on a life of its own."

Carey says it's exciting to see all their hard work starting to pay off.

"When you start seeing the same people at the shows, it feels good," he says. "That's a grassroots following."

The RBC plays Stephen Talkhouse, 161 Main St., Amagansett, 631-267-3117, at 10 tonight. Tickets are $10.

Contact The Long Island Sound at glenn.gamboa@newsday.com or follow @ndmusic on Twitter.