When Punch Brothers come to town, you go. This loosely Brooklyn-based five-piece is made up of all virtuosic musicians in their own regards, fronted by one 2012 MacArthur Fellow mandolinist and profound songwriter, Chris Thile. Punch Brother’s recently released their fourth album off of Nonesuch Records, The Phosphorescent Blues, that on the whole is a response to our modern day super-connected era. Themes follow digital isolation but pairs it with Punch Brother’s emotive brand of innovative folk.

In a press release, violinist Gabe Witcher says, “We started writing these songs and had enough time to discover what they really are. And as we saw this story emerge, this narrative, we wanted to see if we could also tell the story sonically.” The band teamed up with producer T Bone Burnett on this album with uncanny parallels of thought. Prior to recording, Thile and Witcher met with Burnett only to find that those same themes of technology vs. human interaction were the subject of a commencement speech Burnett had just given as the University of Southern California. The Phosphorescent Blues is the result of that harmonious thought.

Allston Pudding caught up with Punch Brothers’ bassist, Paul Kowert, before they stop through Boston tomorrow night. We talked it up with Kowert  about the hyper-digital age, the anxiety of sharing music with your bandmates, and the dynamics of this band of pseudo-brothers.

Allston Pudding: There’s been a lot of talk about Phosphorescent Blues and these concepts of longing for community and the pitfalls of our hyper-digital age and how isolating it can be. Are there any little things that you do to try and combat that as an individual?

Paul Kowert: I think everybody thinks about this, at least somewhat, right? Being a touring musician, the smartphone has a very strong pull about it, the way it keeps you connected. Whether that’s to family back home or helping you find out where to get dinner in a town that you don’t know…which is every town we’re ever in. The touring lifestyle can really keep you glued to your phone but even if you’re aren’t of that lifestyle people have that pull for their own reasons.

I just have to make sure I don’t hurt my hands, you know? I’m compulsively pulling my phone out. But on a deeper level, I just moved to Nashville and I’m meeting new people and I’m realizing…I’m not great at that. Most of the world out there doesn’t always have that little shell to live in. Between Punch Brothers and my own work life, it’s pretty all-consuming, I’ll always have a crew of people around me. The phone facilitates me staying in my own little world. I’m realizing that I need to work on these skills. I just try to be careful and you know, be where I am.

AP: To shift gears a bit, do you all have a method of how you share music with one another – or is that something that you do regularly?

PK: Yeah, we don’t necessarily have a system or anything but generally after a show when we get on the bus we’ll wind down and share music with each other. If something cool comes along that we think may influence what we write, we’ll all want to sit around and check it out together. But also there’s a bit of hesitance for us to bring something to the group because we know we know we’re going to have to defend it. The rest of the guys in the band are going to be as harsh as they want to be. They’re going to be demanding of you, asking you why it is that you like it. If the other guys don’t like it, then what?

But also, we spend our whole day playing and working on music together. Practicing, writing, and then playing a show. If you’re going to barrage these guys with more music, you better have a good reason.

AP: Are there any particular songs, artists, or even sounds that you brought to the group during this last recording process?

PK: The song “Julep” came from a very simple 6 note bass line that I wrote that kind of came from listening to Thom Yorke’s The Eraser. It started out as just that, just a few notes, but it became a song that was turned into a group effort and is now the foundation for a bunch of texture changes and orchestration changes because of it’s simplicity.

The idea of bringing a new sound to the group though, that’s more Thile. Thile is the one as the primary songwriter who sorts a lot of the beginnings of ideas. Throughout our time together, he’s the one who would be bringing in a real new sound that he’s really into that could then have a big impact.

AP: What are Punch Brothers like out on the road together, do you all watch TV shows together? Do you cook together?

PK: When we’re out on the road together, we drink together. We’re fairly social beings and who we have to hang out with is each other. Even though we’re spending all day together, we’ll still all get a drink after the show. Pairs, trios, the whole band, whatever the case. There’s not a whole lot of splitting off going on. We’re in cities we don’t know, we’re out here together.

I mean, I don’t have any brothers. I feel like we’re friends but we’re also sort of brothers. It’s like family, you don’t choose your family and in a way…you don’t choose….the band brought us together. There’s a brotherly thing about this, we’re all different ages. I’m the youngest in the band, all of them but particularly the older guys….they’re at slightly different points in their lives and there’s a power in those differences that I imagine brotherhood would be like.

Catch Punch Brothers supporting their latest album, Phosphorescent Blues, tomorrow March 6 at the House of Blues.