Walking into the dimly lit interior of the Blue Moon Tavern in the University District, one wouldn’t guess that this would be the ideal venue for small, local bands trying to pursue their dreams.

The unfinished walls are covered with enlarged, vintage black and white photos, environmentalist-themed posters and portraits of what one might assume are Blue Moon regulars.

According to a friendly patron, the Blue Moon Tavern has a torrid history: Previous Seattle mayors have threatened to close the bar on numerous occasions or have it torn down for development. Due to popularity and community involvement, it remains open.

On the western side of the U-shaped tavern lies a small stage, where Pillow Army — made up of guitarist and lead vocalist Tim Franklin, 33, cellist John Simpson, 23, violinist Ben Hawthorne, 22, and absent-for-the-night drummer Paul Culala, 38 — tune their instruments and begin another show for the tavern’s regulars and a small batch of groupies.

As the band begins to play its set, the melodies seem to resemble familiar tunes by other musicians. Franklin’s voice, for example, resonates like that of Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong. Pillow Army could be categorized as orchestral and alternative. That said, the band takes much of its musical influence from artists who fall under the same umbrella as Arcade Fire, Travis, Dispatch and Neutral Milk Hotel (Pillow Army Even covered the latter’s “King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. 1,” doing a marvelous job).

The band became official about six months ago, although the members have been playing together for about a year. They got their name from two contrasting images — a soft pillow and a figuratively hard army — to describe the band’s musical tone, using “soft” orchestral instruments with “hard” rock ones.

Franklin, who is originally from Boston but moved to Seattle last year, attended UC Berkeley, where he studied music. He gets his influences from singers and artists who experiment with instruments to create unique sounds, like the Violent Femmes and the aforementioned Neutral Milk Hotel.

Simpson emulates bands like Travis and Dispatch, who use orchestral tools to harmonize with pop-rock tones. He is a graduate of the UW, where he studied ethnomusicology.

Hawthorne is a graduate from Berkeley, where he studied biology and minored in music.

“I like working with other string instruments,” Franklin said. “I think it’s good to have that dynamic, especially since everyone knows his instrument so well.”

Simpson has been playing the cello for 13 years. Hawthorne has been on the violin for 18.

Reach reporter Benjamin Schock at arts@dailyuw.com.