San Francisco psychedelic/jam band Tea Leaf Green hits the Loop Sunday night after (or during?) the Super Bowl. They’ll play the Duck Room. (http://www.myspace.com/tealeafgreen)

I spoke to bandleader Trevor Garrod (right) today as the group pulled into Lawrence, Kansas.

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RC: When did the band form?

TG: We started playing together about 10 years ago while we were in college (San Francisco State.) We all graduated at same time in 2001 and started playing around town at parties. In lieu of get real jobs, we started touring. We had the same lineup all along, however, last October a founding member, our bass player, decided to leave. So now we have a new bass player, Reed Mathis, and he has added new life and energy to the band. We jokingly call ourselves Tea Leaf Green 2.0 now. We were always strangely closed ranks with the same lineup, but now the death pact has been broken!

RC: Do you come from a musical family?

TG: I grew up amongst an extended family and we all lived next to each other (in San Jose.) We had a farm in the hills and we’d always get together, have dinner and then gather around the piano. My grandfather played upright bass. We were a very loud family, if not exactly melodious. Then I also had many mentors in the community. The older kids would take me over to their garages and by junior high, I was in a band. It was funny, a friend had Econoline van that fit a drum kit in the back and a mic and amp. We called it ‘van jamming.’ We would drive around playing music, we’d show up at Taco Bravo or wherever and trying to order with the music in the background.

RC: How many tours have you guys been on?

TG: Wow, we’ve pretty much been trucking back and forth across the country since 2001. I’m never sure sure when one tour ends and another begins.

RC: What have you released to this point?

TG: We have three records that are out of print. We want to re-release them as kind of a box set. We also have a live record (“Rock and Roll Band”) and we just finished recording a record which will be out in May.

RC: Where do you like to play in San Francisco?

TG: After years of working up to it, we’ve been playing Fillmore. We’ve pretty much played every club in San Francisco. Now we barely ever play there, we play the East Coast more often.

RC: What is your live set like?

TG: We have bass, drums, guitar and keys. Our songs can be four to ten minutes long depending on how we’re feeling. We’re having a lot of fun with our new bass player. I always leave a back door in songs, so if it wants to go (longer), it can go.