“I’ve always had an affinity for people beyond the fringe, those on the outside looking out.”

That’s Dan Dellosso, singer and guitarist of Lancaster’s 8-track Radio, quoting John Zorn, a musician known for his avant-garde classical, jazz, klezmer and punk compositions.

It’s a fitting intro to the band on two fronts. One, it’s an obscure and brainy reference, something the members of 8-track Radio seem to delight in; two, it also describes the band’s music itself – on the fringe of the pop and rock spheres and faithful to neither.

Musically, the band simultaneously channels ’60s pop (Beatles, Beach Boys) and all of the bands that rebelled against it, from Sabbath to 13th Floor Elevators and all of their progeny. Like the Velvet Underground, 8-track Radio can either embrace traditional structure and melody as an honest art form, or shit all over the idea without so much as a blink. It’s the mental fence Lou Reed’s been straddling his entire career, with genuine artistic drive and honest curiosity on one side (see Reed’s Transformer) and high-brow pretension on the other (see Metal Machine Music, Reed’s double album of electronically generated audio feedback).

“I feel this band is much more open to experimentation than any other project I’ve worked with,” says drummer Dylan Labiak, most recently of Lancaster garage band Trash. “This band has really been a breath of fresh air for me.”

“I’ve played in bands since I was 15 and really took it seriously – touring and traveling, recording and spending a lot of my own money,” adds bassist Jill “The Destroyer” Fulford, formerly of Trash and The Statiks.

“The only thing I take seriously now is playing and writing good music while having fun with my band mates. The older you get, responsibility garners what’s important. That’s the music at this point. The rest will follow if we’re as great as we think.”

Fortunately, Labiak and Fulford are not alone in their high opinion of 8-track Radio’s music. Since uniting about six months ago (poetically, Labiak found Dellosso at the Queen 6-Pack downtown), the band has developed a quick following, thanks to performances in bars, all-age venues and one glorious pig roast “down by the river,” for which the band was paid not only in food, but actual money – an unfortunate rarity these days.

“We have been getting a very good response from people for the short time we have been together. I guess the best compliment I have received from a couple of people is that every time they see us we make them smile,” Dellosso says. “Now that’s a rep I can live with: The band that makes people smile.”

“Someone asked me to adopt their first-born son,” Fulford chimes in. “I think that’s dedication!”