When you immerse yourself in any music scene (writing about it, playing in it, etc.), you unwittingly surround yourself with people who take "music snob" as a compliment. These are the type of people that see a poor, Top-40-loving soul and make it their mission to enlighten the sap with an esoteric history of underground music. Don't get me wrong: Learning about new music is exciting, but the amount of information can be numbing. Sadly, that numbness can lead to apathy—which is the root of musical pretentiousness. It's all very Star Wars/dark side-ish.

But then you meet people like Stevens and Madden who are so in love with music that their nerdery defies any pretension and becomes completely endearing. Oddly enough, this becomes apparent when Christina Aguilera comes up during the interview.

Madden: (to me) So, what are you listening to these days?

Me: Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears (not a joke, but long story).

Madden: Oh man, the production on her newest songs is amazing …

Stevens: Did you know that her producer for "Genie in a Bottle" got his ideas from Aphex Twin?

I did not know that—which throws the duo into a back-and-forth dialogue about the complexities of the new Britney Spears album ("people don't even recognize how weird that production is"), Timbaland's debt to Basement Jaxx, and how they would looove to work with Missy Elliot. Although some of the references fly over my head, the conversation is grounded with a trait rare in musical exchanges (at least, exchanges with self-proclaimed music nerds): accessibility.

Lapsed + Nonnon make experimental music, a vague classification encompassing anything from dance to electro to industrial to rap—basically everything that Lapsed + Nonnon utilize in their music.

"My first memories growing up were listening to my parent's Beatles records," Madden says. "I was always so amazed at how they could mix all this experimental stuff with pop on records like Yellow Submarine or songs like 'Revolution 9.'"

"Hip-hop has always been a huge influence for that same reason," Stevens adds. "When I was first making sample-based hip-hop, I always wanted there to be that underlying pop to it."

Before adding Nonnon to the project, Stevens singularly worked as Lapsed, whose critically acclaimed debut Twilight and self-titled follow-up made obvious his hip-hop roots. Madden, then a contributor to Chicago music magazine Splendid, was among the critics who praised Lapsed's solid repertoire.

"I was at a friend's barbeque and they were playing [Lapsed] album, and I was like 'Who is this?'" Madden says. "Jason happened to be there and he gave me a copy, which I reviewed for Splendid. We kept in touch and until he asked if I wanted to work on a track with him."

From that one track, Madden quickly found himself helping Stevens with Lapsed's live shows.

"I always felt like my live shows were lacking," Stevens admits.

A former DJ himself with a degree in music composition, Madden was the perfect fit. The duo began recording tracks as Lapsed + Nonnon—tracks which would eventually become their behemoth album The Death of Convenience­­­.

"I would write some beats or just come up with basic concepts and then hand them over to Dave," says Stevens, describing the arduous process of recording Convenience.

"And I would just lay it out and listen to it," Madden continues, "and I'd think 'Oh here's a cadence part!' or 'Wouldn't it be cool if the drums dropped out here?' I'd throw samples over the top, or I'd just work on one snare for the whole day, making sure that it didn't sound too much like an obscure beat from 1982," he laughs. "Most people wouldn't recognize it, but you never know. I would know."

"He has a lot more patience than I do," Stevens says.

The process paid off: Convenience is unlike anything you've heard or probably will ever hear—it's smart and risky but, like our pop culture conversation, it's not elitist. The immediate hip-hop and dance influences can appease anyone who prefers less noise with their experimental music, but those who stick around for repeat listening are rewarded with a deeply-rich palate of subtleties, glitches and hidden samples.

"There are easily [more than] 100 samples in Death of Convenience," Madden says. "Most of them are fairly well-known, but we try to hide them well enough to avoid legal troubles. You still may find some Frank Zappa though."

"We just love new sounds," Stevens says. "It seems that plenty of people are content in their musical niche, but we're always looking to change."

"Yeah, some bands are happy to re-release the same album over and over," Madden quips. "Bands like AC/DC or Aerosmith—and look where it got them."