Birds of Tokyo have embraced their seemingly perennial underdog status. Although the band's second album, Universes, debuted at No.3 on the ARIA charts and their last tour sold out, the Western Australian quartet still toil in relative obscurity.

Frontman Ian Kenny, who also leads another Perth act on the rise, Triple J-approved rockers Karnivool, shrugs at his band's tendency to fly under the radar.

"We don't give a shit about anything outside of the people we play in front of," he says. "We know we're not the most marketable sort of band. You have to have some sort of deliberate style, and we're not deliberate stylists."

Still, this week they begin their biggest national tour yet.

"We've recognised the band's growth," he says. "The more we visit places, there is more support. It's a really healthy growth."

Born in Ireland, Kenny migrated with his parents to Perth at the age of six. Both his parents, and a number of his relatives, were musical.

Kenny, however, did not begin performing until high school.

After leaving school, he earned a trade - in timber flooring and staircases - while trying to determine how he would pursue music.

Eventually, in 1996, he formed Karnivool, and after years of sweat, the prog-rock-inspired act began to build a fan base and airplay. Still, the band wasn't successful enough for him to give up his trade.

Then, four years ago, local guitarist Adam Spark approached Kenny with some basic acoustic songs he had written. The intention was for Kenny to lay some basic vocals over the top of the tracks as a simple recording exercise.

"After we spent some time on it, we were both interested in how it sounded," he says. "The project spawned from that. There was never any interest to form a band out of it."

Birds of Tokyo was born. The group released their guitar-rock album, Day One, which sold solidly.

Before long, Kenny found himself split between the two bands - it suddenly became a difficult balancing act. This year Karnivool played the Big Day Out before he headed to Margaret River for a month to record the latest Birds record. When he spoke to EG this week, he was in the studio for the next Karnivool record.

Does he have a preference between the two acts? "I enjoy what's different about both bands," he says. "Sonically they are quite different. I enjoy spreading myself over the two."

Both acts release their music independently. "We spent years building up what we consider to be the best option for us - being indie," he says. "Labels can't really offer much better than what we are doing ourselves."

The bands' combined success has finally allowed Kenny, at 28, to toss in the day job.

"I'm very lucky in that respect," he says. "The trade-off is you have to run around the country with $30 in your back pocket. It's been chaos ... Between Karnivool recording and Birds touring ... I knew it was coming, but I've become a social retard."

Universes is out now through MGM. Birds of Tokyo play the Hi Fi Bar, city, on September 18 and 19.