Sweet Dilemma is a rock band that works hard at making an impression. (Kevin Conners Photography)

Sweet Dilemma is a rock band that works hard at making an impression.

The five-member group made news last year for selling its songs as digital files saved to USB flash drives, and the musicians count Chicago; Cincinnati; Louisville, Ky.; and Dayton, Ohio, as cities where they're growing a fan base.

On Friday, vocalist Angela Dean, guitarists Kevin Conners and Kevin Clark, drummer Bill Stamper and bass player Michael Hall will appear at a benefit for the Church Within, 1125 Spruce St.

Billed as "Not Your Grandmother's Fundraiser," the 18-and-older event will feature music, two stand-up comedians and an auction of paintings created by homeless artists (who will receive whatever money is spent on their work).

The members of Sweet Dilemma recently talked to Indy.com about their music, gender politics in modern rock and the decline of the compact disc:

On being fronted by a female vocalist: "I've always had a stronger voice, so I think it fits what we do pretty well," Dean says. "Bands prop women up for a look or an attitude, and they're not really as talented as you would hope they would be," Stamper says. "I've had people come up and say, 'Wow, (Dean) can actually sing.' That's a great compliment."

On Dean's musical resume: "I've been singing in front of people since I was 5," she says. "I've done it ever since, whether it was in church ..... I sang opera and did musical theater, but I always wanted to be in a band."

On the band's songs: "I don't think we sit down and say, 'We want to sound like Pat Benatar in this song,' or 'We want to sound like No Doubt or Sheryl Crow,'." Stamper says. "We just play something. If we're conscious of anything, it's making sure that it's accessible and easy to listen to." Clark adds: "It's 3-minute rock-'n'-roll songs."

On selling their music on a USB flash drive: It seems like the next step," Hall says. "We didn't really know it was being done anywhere else until we started researching it. What's the next medium that's going to be big? We don't know if it's going to be (USB flash drives), but it's not a CD."

On future distribution of the band's music: "We'll probably work with anything that transfers digital media easiest -- whatever's 'right now,'." Clark says. "It doesn't really matter, because there's so many different ways of transferring and storing music."

On playing around the Midwest: "Basically, we get on MySpace and start hitting the towns we're going to about three weeks before we get there," Clark says.

"We send out some friend requests, and we send messages to friends we already have there."