Evans Blue CD cover art

St. Louis singer Dan Chandler, formerly of local band Switch Three, says he didn’t know much about Toronto-based rock band Evans Blue last fall.

But now he’s Evans Blue’s lead singer and will be fronting the band Tuesday night at Pop’s to celebrate the release of the band’s self-titled third album.

“I have friends who were big fans of theirs, and I knew they had radio songs,” Chandler says of his limited knowledge of the mainstream rock band.

Evans Blue, influenced by bands such as Deftones, Incubus, Seether and Rage Against the Machine, released its debut CD, “The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume,” in 2006. “The Pursuit Begins When This Portrayal of Life Ends” followed in 2007.

Chandler heard through friends that Evans Blue was looking for a singer and contacted the band on MySpace.

“I asked them what do I need to do to get involved, and they hit me back with tracks,” he says. “After doing those songs, they sent me an original guitar track to write to, and I sent that back.”

Next thing he knew, he was off to Toronto to meet the band.

“I didn’t know what to expect, and they didn’t either,” Chandler says. “We really hit it off. It wasn’t awkward, and there wasn’t an ego thing.”

And Chandler knows that’s a good thing, because it can be tricky being the new guy in an established band.

“I do have to prove myself,” he says. “But I don’t want to focus on that too much.

“I like that this band has done more and seen more than I have. They’ve been to places I can only dream of getting to, and they’re still hungry. And I want to get in there and help them get even further.”

Chandler’s good fortune with Evans Blue follows trying times with Switch Three, which played locally from Pop’s to the Pageant about 2002.

“We did everything we could with it here in St. Louis, then moved to LA for a year,” he says. “We wanted to pick up management, someone who could take us further. But it was a struggle. It was expensive and different from being on your home scene.”

The band moved back to St. Louis in 2007; then Chandler returned alone to Los Angeles to try again. He came home after six months and jammed some with his old band.

Since hooking up with Evans Blue, Chandler has decided to continue living in St. Louis, though most of the band members, as well as their producers, live in Toronto.

He says he’s looking forward to his friends here checking out what he’s up to now.

“You’re going to see us having a good time doing what we do,” Chandler says. “There’s lots of energy and us trying to connect. But that’s all pretty obvious when you see the show.”

Evans Blue, Fer De Lance, Allusive, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Pop’s, $12-$14, popsrocks.com

Rock band Evans Blue (singer Dan Chandler far right)