Paying dues: "Journalists have asked us how we feel about our 'meteoric rise,' " says bassist Noah Harmon, 27. "There's been nothing meteoric about it. We've played 300 shows in eight months." The group will perform at Milwaukee's Summerfest (Sunday) before kicking off its world tour at Dublin's Oxegen Festival (July 11). The band is back in the USA in September for a fall tour.

Keeping up the pace: Airborne makes a concerted effort to avoid the usual pitfalls of the rock-star lifestyle. "We don't do drugs, not because of some moral obligation, but because we know that drugs are usually what split up bands," Jollett says. "And I want everyone to stay healthy."

Literary beginnings:  The band's unusual name refers to Don DeLillo's White Noise, a 1985 postmodernist novel about a man who faces death after a chemical mishap, dubbed the airborne toxic event.

Different vision of the future: The rootless life of a rocker wasn't what Jollett had envisioned for himself. "I pictured myself in a house with a wife and kid, living comfortably on my novel sales," he says. Then in one week, everything changed:His mother was diagnosed with cancer, he was diagnosed with a genetic skin disorder, his girlfriend dumped him and he quit a two-pack-a-day smoking habit. "I realized I wasn't working on a novel, I was writing songs," Jollett says. "So I started this band."

Creating Airborne: Daren Taylor was the first to join. "He was a pizza delivery boy, but all drummers used to be delivery boys," Harmon says. "(They) get a lot of practice banging on their steering wheels." Keyboardist Steven Chen and viola player Anna Bulbrook held office jobs until the band took off. "Noah was the best bass player in L.A.," Jollett says. "He turned me down for months, but I just had to have him."

Treading carefully in today's economy: "We're still a DIY band — we load our own equipment, we sleep several to a hotel room," Jollett says. By necessity, rock stars are being forced to cut back on "private jets, big entourages and pouring Champagne on themselves," Harmon says. "It's not a great business model."