The Soods are ready to hit the road.

The indie-rock collective is embarking on a short Midwest tour, which runs October 11 to 16.

The tour includes shows in Grand Rapids and Lansing, Michigan, as well as Chicago; Davenport, Iowa; and Fort Wayne, Indiana. It will also celebrate a milestone for one of The Soods’ side projects—Elroy Meltzer.

“This one will just be Steven [Meltzer] and me,” said Jason Roy, frontman and co-producer for The Soods, who’s based in Grand Rapids.

“It actually marks 10 years this year since we started Elroy Meltzer together, so we actually will be doing some songs off those first two albums. Steven still actively writes, records, and performs as Elroy Meltzer and has an album coming out on October 10 called 9 Out of 10 Ain’t Bad that people should check out as well.”

For its tour, The Soods have prepared an extensive setlist filled with new songs, old favorites, and covers.

“I think we have rehearsed about 25 or 26 songs, five covers ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Gorillaz, and then a pretty even split of Soods songs and the aforementioned Elroy stuff,” Roy said. “We’re pretty excited to play five unreleased ones as it’ll be the first time we played a few of them.”

I recently spoke with Roy about the collective’s tour and recent releases.

Q: What’s been inspiring you lately from a creative standpoint?

A: It has been nice to get back at it and rehearse for this tour. Honestly, our rehearsals have inspired me to consider booking more shows in the future. Creatively, we haven’t written too much this year. Last summer, Steven and I wrote 11 songs, nine of which are recorded. I think finishing those [songs] is on the agenda next. Apart from that, I’ve got probably six to eight in the archive with Chris Coble of McWeakerton and Shane Tripp on vocals. I’m sure we’ll put those out at some point, too.

Q: What will your candlelit acoustic show on October 11 at The Lit in Grand Rapids be like?

A: Well, I actually wrote a paper many moons ago when I was in school about the building, [the Ladies Literary Club], as part of a history class, and I always thought it was a great space. This will be my first time performing there, and honestly, doing a show like this. I think it’ll differ in the respect that we’ll be doing a large set of songs with a real emphasis on the intimacy of the actual stage setup, all the way to the arrangements of the songs and how best to present Steven’s lyrics. I think [those lyrics] set him apart from everybody else. He’s really gifted in that respect, and I’m lucky to get to still be writing and performing this stuff.

Q: What can people expect from your October 12 show at The Avenue Cafe in Lansing?

A: I love playing The Avenue because our buddy Tommy [McCord] from GTG Records books the place and runs sound. We usually get to see some of our Lansing buds in bands like The Aimcriers and The Stick Arounds as well. I think the show will differ because of its atmosphere being more of a bar/rock club, which we’re pretty comfortable in. I imagine we’ll be loose and improvising as well as making fun of each other in between songs and things of that nature. I think we just try to do what we do regardless of the room we’re in, but we like to tailor and adapt things to the specific scenario when it calls for it.

Q: How will the rest of the Midwest tour go after that?

A: These will all be new venues for us. At Café Mustache [on October 14], it will be super fun to see some Chicago friends I haven’t seen in years, and the venue itself looks really cool. It’s completely artist-owned and operated.

I’ve wanted to play the Raccoon Motel in Davenport, Iowa, for a long time. Sean Moeller, who runs the place, is one of my music business heroes, so I am looking forward to hanging out with him and sharing the bill with Vlad Holiday that night [on October 15]. Ironically, I’ll be seeing him open for Cage the Elephant the following Sunday in Grand Rapids as well. But Sean booked us for a Daytrotter session years ago for Elroy Meltzer and is an all-around great dude and music lover.

Draft Taproom and Coffee in Fort Wayne, Indiana, [on October 16], should be a nice way to round out the week because that will be a small room with intimate vibes in a ‘70s-style lounge. We’re really looking forward to meeting the folks who run that place as well. They have been amazing and seem like such cool people.

I would love the audience to take a night out and forget about everything else for a little bit. If they leave with a new favorite song or pick up a button to put on their backpack or favorite jean jacket, that’s even better.

Q: You released a cover of The Smashing Pumpkins’ song, “Sweet Sweet,” earlier this year. Why did you decide to cover that track?

A: I think what really stands out to me about that song is that it speaks so much to me. I felt compelled to actually sing it. People who know me know I hate to sing and that I can’t stand the sound of my own voice. The [Siamese Dream] album brings me back to riding the bus to school, talking music with Tansy Harris, and just being enamored with the overall sound.

I’ve been a Pumpkins fan for a long time and got to see Billy Corgan earlier this year at The Intersection with Matt Ten Clay. We geeked out like teenage boys all over again. Sometimes things speak to you and stick with you. I think that’s the beautiful thing about art made by strangers. You can literally connect with a thought or idea and never truly know the person, but you feel connected—that’s power.

Q: “Detectors” explores a need to escape society’s control and a desire to hide from others and the larger world. What inspired the track’s themes of escapism and disillusionment from everyday life?

A: I think the answer is really the question itself. I can’t speak for Steven as he wrote the lyrics, but I think somewhere we really connect is being drawn to the theme of escapism. For me, I definitely connect with this one on the level of trying to get through certain scenarios undetected. Most days, the world around us just feels so insane—like a bad dream. We all need to escape sometimes, y’know; this shit gets too heavy after a while.

Q: How did “Detectors” come together with collaborators Steven Meltzer and Alex Yeomans?

A: I wrote and recorded the instrumental track, sent it over to Steven for lyrics, and then we got together to record his vocals. At that point, I sent it over to Alex, who played and recorded drums at McWeakerton’s studio/rehearsal space, which, funny enough, is just upstairs from Matt Ten Clay’s studio, Amber Lit Audio, in the same building. From there, I sent the individual tracks to Matt, and he mixed and mastered them—voila!

Q: What plans do you and the collective have later this year?

A: I think we’ll probably release a single or two from songs we recorded last summer and winter to finally get those out there. Other than that, [we have] no real plans to write anything new at the moment. [We] feel more like playing shows, and we have piles of songs we’ve never played live before, so there’s plenty to keep things fresh at the moment.

The Soods perform October 11 at The Lit, 61 Sheldon Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan. The show starts at 7 pm. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. The collective also performs October 12 at The Avenue Café, 2021 East Michigan Avenue, Lansing, Michigan. The show starts at 7:30 pm and is free.

Other tour dates for The Soods include October 14 at Café Mustache in Chicago, October 15 at the Raccoon Motel in Davenport, Iowa, and October 16 at Draft Taproom and Coffee in Fort Wayne, Indiana.