EATIN' GOOD IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The Walkmen (L-R: Paul Maroon, Hamilton Leithauser, Peter Bauer, Walter Martin and Matt Barrick) are two-fifths local.

City Paper: How did all ya'll meet?

Paul Maroon: Walt and Ham are first cousins. I met Walt when I was 5. Matt when I was 14 and Pete and Ham probably a couple years later.

CP: The Walkmen started recording pretty quickly. You had an EP out before your first shows?

PM: We were excited to record just about anything, so as soon as we had something resembling a song we would put it down. When the band started we were also building a recording studio in New York. It was a blast.

CP: How did you end up covering Mazarin's "Another One Goes By"? How'd you meet Quentin Stoltzfus?

PM: That Mazarin song is fantastic. I think we did it because we wish we'd written it. Mazarin met The Walkmen in Tempe, Arizona. We pulled into town and there they were, standing next to a cactus with graffiti on it.

CP: How did you wind up in Philly?

PM: My wife is getting a degree at UPenn and once her coursework ended we decided we liked Philadelphia better than New York.

CP: No, really.

PM: OK. I came over in the Chris Webber trade.

CP: So where do you live exactly? When you paid, would you say you got value for your dollar?

PM: We live on the edge of Powelton Village and Mantua. Our condo was $3 million. We was robbed.

CP: So what's been the favorite and least favorite thing so far about living here?

PM: I'm a real architecture buff and for some reason it's an important thing for me, about where I live. Philly is unstoppable in that respect. On the downside, I could use a tad less gunplay in my neighborhood.

CP: Where do you drink, where do you eat?

PM: There's a Mexican restaurant on Lancaster Avenue called Zocalo—very good, very salty. The best place to drink is Doobie's on 22nd Street. I think it used to have a thatched roof.

CP: And your neighbors?

PM: Our neighbor just told us that we're probably as good as the people who lived here before. On the downside, I got called "the 40-year-old virgin" by some kids the other day.

CP: In local music, who do you like and where do you dig playing?

PM: Of course Mazarin is our favorite band here. Strangely, I think the Theater of the Living Arts is a very welcoming and good-sized place to play, even though it's not exactly the Vienna Opera House.

CP: Picking up any colorful Philly expressions?

PM: I like the expression "old head" for an older person.

CP: What's the weirdest Philly thing you've seen?

PM: I've witnessed several ladies store their cell phones in their cleavage.

CP: Are you pulling groupies locally just by telling them "Hey, I'm in The Walkmen" and they're so impressed?

PM: The guy at the video store just cancelled a $7 late fee because he's a fan. On a personal note, the late fee was not my fault.

The Walkmen play Fri., May 26, 9 p.m., $14, with Rockwell and Mazarin, The TLA, 334 South St., 215-922-1011, www.thetla.com.