"Often the avant-garde is presented very self-consciously as the avant-garde and it can be a bit intimidating if not off-putting," Anderson says. "We really try to invest ourselves in saying, well, 'We like this and we believe you'll like it too'."

Though it isn't as if the band is only swimming in avant-garde waters. "Avant-garde is just sort of one end of the spectrum that is available to us to express ourselves," Anderson says. "It's something that we find is a useful resource and it's definitely a part of who we are. But at the same time we really always want to communicate and we always want to present ourselves in a clear and concise way."

Anderson is quick to point out that being experimental and pushing musical boundaries is not a tool the Bad Plus use to be taken more seriously.

"It's just something that we are naturally drawn to," he says. "We just want to be honest in the music that we make and the avant-garde, whatever that is, is just one of many things that we draw from."

Together with pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer David King, the trio is also committed to making group music, in a leaderless set-up.

"In jazz there is unfortunately this established tradition of the so-and-so quartet, or the name of the leader and then add interchangeable side men, which in our opinion doesn't really make the best music," Anderson says. "When we go on stage we are always playing our music. Each one of us is playing our music. Not the music of somebody whose vision we are trying to adhere to or trying to support."

This creates a very different energy for performing, but also a different energy for living life as creative artists.

"It is not as easy to pull off. It's not easy to just say 'Oh yeah, everyone needs to be making group music or everyone needs to be an equal voice in the ensemble', but it's certainly something we've fought for."

When they started, the group became known for taking their interest in experimental music and clashing it against a more recognisable palette. It was an approach that saw them do their own versions of tracks like Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, Black Sabbath's Iron Man and Blondie's Heart of Glass.

"We tended to take on more iconic pieces and some very unlikely choices," Anderson says. "But it's all just music that we feel we can say something with, that we can make our own in some way."

Though people coming along to see the Bad Plus at their Canberra gig shouldn't expect to hear these songs crop up in their set.

"The truth is it's always been a small part of what we've done. People sometimes get the idea that maybe we are some kind of cover band and that's actually far from true. We've always been composers first and foremost, and we play our own music. We occasionally play maybe one of the so-called cover songs but our sets are basically our own music and have been for years."

THE BAD PLUS

Where: Capital Jazz Project, The Street Theatre

When: 7.30pm May 31

Tickets: $45 standard/$40 Concession. Ph (02) 6247 1223 or thestreet.org.au