The D.C. combo Twins of a Gazelle has a lineup that ranges from three to eight or more members, which makes it one of the smaller groups Dave Mann plays in—there's the 40-plus-member Spelling for Bees collective and the 18-piece Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie, not to mention Mittenfields. Twins performs tonight at the Velvet Lounge, opening for the Caribbean and Ryan Holladay of Bluebrain. I e-mailed Mann some questions about his latest folk-pop endeavor.

Washington City Paper:  How many people are in Twins?

Dave Mann: The folks in Twins of a Gazelle are actually thee main permanent members, which are Emily (violin/vox), Liz (violin/vox) and myself (vox/acoustic guitar/bass). At [tonight's] show the remaining lineup includes Lisa (keys), Igor (electric guitar), Shannon (bass/acoustic guitar), Hallsi (glockenspiel), and my personal favorite, Art on theremin!

WCP: Do you do any covers?

DM: We are covering "Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake" by the band Grandaddy, who I am heavily influenced by. The fun thing about this cover is that the main melody is normally played on a keyboard, but our violin players are playing that melody, which gives it a nice tone. I would like to see us add more covers as time permits, possibly something a little more obscure from an earlier decade, but for now Grandaddy is solid enough.

WCP: Do you have any music available (mp3s, YouTube videos)?

DM: We have a free three-song demo that was recorded at the Art Institute of Recording in Rosslyn. If anyone wants one all they have to do is e-mail us at lifeunderradar@gmail.com and we will be happy to send them one.

WCP:  Is working with these folks more "manageable" than working with the whole 18 -group?

DM: Working with any band that does not have 18 people in it is definitely manageable, in the sense that you don't have a likely trainwreck on your hands. However, Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie does not allow for such a thing, since our songs are composed and the parts are all played by classical musicians who can play to sheet music. With Twins of a Gazelle, I write the songs and have different musicians play with me from show to show. All I ask of them is that they have fun and be creative with their instrument.

Twins of a Gazelle, the Caribbean, and Ryan Holladay of Bluebrain perform at 10 p.m. at the Velvet Lounge, 915 U St. NW. (202) 462-3213. $8. Photo courtesy of Michael Jantzen.

However you come down on those questions, what's indisputable is this: D.C.'s Spelling for Bees collective approaches everything it does with earnestness and enthusiasm.  So when its members gather at the Velvet Lounge tomorrow night to interpret their favorite songs by Minor Threat and Fugazi, there'll be nary a drop of irony in the room.

The event, Fugazi in the Key of Minor Threat, will give all proceeds to the Red Cross for Haiti-earthquake relief. From the announcement:

SO... "Full disclosure" (if you will): I don't think it's any secret that we Bees are a proud bunch. We are proud of each other, of the music we create, of the scene we take part in... and a large part of these things is the music that, in our developmental stages, inspired us the most. That's why with this next coming residency night. We wanted to pay homage to two of the most ground breaking bands of our youth: Fugazi and Minor Threat!

Lead bee Dave Mann told me the collective will devote the first half of the evening to covers—like a go-go-esque interpretation of "Cashout" and a post-rock take on "Strangelight"—and the second to Spelling for Bees originals. He said he wasn't sure how many of the collective's 53 members will be able to attend. "Lost is our competition, so that sucks," Mann said, referring to the season premiere of the popular ABC show. "I thought DVR was invented for nights like tomorrow night."

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Velvet Lounge. $5.

Related: One Spelling for Bees member made a video using the comments from a One Track Mind I wrote about the collective's song "Love at First Sight":

Spelling for Bees refers to itself as both a collective—in that it's an umbrella for music by its 40 members—and a supergroup, meaning that its participants, drawn from indie-rock bands the District over, occasionally create songs together. The two cuts on the project's MySpace page, "Love at First Sight" and "Giboullee (Bella)," are delicate and slow-building with an orchestral flair, and the group's leader, Mittenfields member Dave Mann, says he eventually hopes to incorporate every player, Polyphonic Spree-style, into the live set. Mann formed Spelling for Bees this March with members of Mittenfields and another of his projects, Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie, as well as Dangerosa, We Were Pirates, the Mean Ideas, Sun Committee, and others (one member, Austen Brown, used to be a singer in the Spree). The group has a residency at the Velvet Lounge, and each month's performance resembles an open mic centered on a theme; at the show this Tuesday, every member will cover a Radiohead song. The Charlottesville, Va., band Invisible Hands opens, and doors are at 7 p.m. $5.

More overstaffed bands after the jump: cute orchestral indie, a Canadian choir, and Thin Lizzy and the Sex Pistols getting festive!

Emanuel and the Fear (2007-present): This Brooklyn outfit has 11 members and, to date, a five-song EP. Although the band cites Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and Philip Glass as inspirations, mostly it concocts cutesy, heart-on-its-sleeve indie pop that places the onus for emotional gravitas entirely on its orchestral component.

I'm From Barcelona (2005-present): If Karen O had demurred, this 29-member Swedish band—whose songs revel in an almost fetishistically adorable vision of childhood—could have easily soundtracked Where The Wild Things Are. In the small world of raucous campfire pop, I'm From Barcelona is the tight, twee ying to Animal Collective's messy, abstract yang.

The Choir Practice (2006-present): This Vancouver group has one 11-song album and a roster that fluctuates between 11 and 15 members, and it sports what has to be the most spot-on name since The Band. Its members have ties to the, erm, brightest stars of British Columbia—like the New Pornographers, Destroyer, and P:ano—but the Choir Practice's reference points aren't eccentric indie bands. Rather, with its many voices and sparse instrumentation, the group comes off as a stripped-down update of harmony-happy late-'60s groups like the Free Design and the Mamas & the Papas.

The Greedies (1978-1979): When the big-riff Irish band Thin Lizzy discovered punk rock, all it came away with was ... Christmas? The Greedies featured half of Thiny Lizzy, the quiet half of the Sex Pistols, and recorded only two songs, the single "A Christmas Jingle" and its B-side—you guessed it—"A Christmas Jangle." Words cannot do it justice: