We Are The West explores new, unconventional terrain on the concert front.

“I love that there (are) no rules when you make music,” says bassist and vocalist John Kibler. “You hear a lot about how you’re supposed to do things as an adult, but with music it’s wide open.”

That creative openness includes concert location. When Kibler lived in Holland and vocalist and guitarist Brett Hool came to visit, they founded their band on a sheep farm in a rented shipping container, which they used as their studio for a time.

After the indie-pop duo moved to New York, they still preferred the “unexpected and inspiring spaces,” like an impounded car lot and an old convent.

“We worked out a deal with the priest in charge there, and staged concerts in the decaying chapel, inviting our artist friends to show their work in the old nuns’ quarters upstairs,” explains Hool. “It was the Convent of St. Cecilia, who we later found out is the patron saint of musicians.”

Following a move to Los Angeles, the pair has hosted a monthly garage series under a Santa Monica office building for the past six years. Each Saturday before a full moon, a garage show features We Are The West with new artists – like Gaby Moreno, Lord Huron, string quartets or contemporary dancers.

Some garage shows have been particularly enchanting. “We had a big one a couple years ago where a transformer blew up outside and the power went out,” says Hool. “We ended up lighting candles and playing the whole show entirely acoustic.”

Their last garage show was also their largest, in celebration of their new album, The Golden Shore. The band’s first full-length album follows four EPs and brings in Elizabeth Goodfellow on drums. The trio recorded their lead vocals, guitar, bass and drums live – then spent a year adding orchestration and overdubbing.

A nautical theme weaves its way throughout the record, with the moody opener “Siren,” beautifully harmonized “Sea of Light (Dirty Ditty)” and Americana tune “Luck of the Sailor.”

Adding a winery to their venue menu, this show at Folktale features the founding duo on upright bass and acoustic guitar. “I’ve always felt that great songs can be put across in any number of contexts, solo or with a full orchestra,” says Hool. “We’ll present them in their simplest, most unadorned form, and folks can then listen to the album to hear the full vision.”

WE ARE THE WEST. 4:30pm-7:30pm Sunday, April 15. Folktale Winery, 8940 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel. No cover. 293-7500, wearethewest.com.