“There is no need to tell us, for we can read your MIND.” Michael Benjamin Lerner (second from left) wrote and recorded Telekinesis’ debut. Photo courtesy of Merge Records.

The new album from Seattle indie rockers Telekinesis begs to be judged against the finest of its breed, an assured, razor-sharp entry into the Merge catalog and an early contender for best debut of 2009.

When you consider that “Telekinesis!” was written and performed entirely by Michael Benjamin Lerner, a 22-year-old sound engineer who caught the ear of Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla (who produced), the feat is even more impressive. It also makes sense: Lerner’s vocal melodies often recall a mix of Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard, Rogue Wave and Elliott Smith.

In advance of the band’s Monday set at the Hi-Dive with Say Hi and Fellow Citizens we spoke to Lerner about the new album, playing drums while singing and his not-so-chance meeting with Sir Paul McCartney.

The video for “Tokyo.”

Thanks for talking with me, Michael.

You bet.

Sounds like you’re fighting off something…

We got over something about two or three days ago, a pretty gnarly stomach thing we got at South by Southwest. We kind of picked it up sequentially, which was not fun.

How was the festival for you?

We played five or six shows down there, which is quite a lot. But we had a great time. It’s tough to gauge when you’re playing, but it seemed like people were enjoying it. We played one show at 11:45 in the morning on Wednesday. I think it was the first show of South by Southwest and everyone was really sleepy.

When I saw you guys at the Merge showcase there you said from the stage how proud you were to be on Merge, and rightfully so. How’d you hook up with them?

It really is through my lawyer and my manager, both of whom work with people or know people at Merge. We had finished the record and were talking to a bunch of labels and just got it into the hands of Merge, then they got back to us and said they were interested.

What were some of the other labels you talked to?

Oh, Barsuk, Columbia Records… I can’t even remember. We really tried to talk to most of the big indie labels like Secretly Canadian and Domino, but Merge, Barsuk and Columbia were the most interested.

You’re also a relatively unusual entity in that you play drums and sing front-and-center during the shows.

I’ve been playing drums for about 10 years and that’s my primary instrument. I played everything on the album, so the album was written and recorded by me. Although Chris Walla ended up playing a little bit on the record, as did David (Broecker), who plays in the band.

How do you manage to pound the drums so hard and still hit all your notes while singing? It seems like it would take a lot of breath out of you.

I don’t really know. It’s the most comfortable I feel on stage. If you put a guitar in front of me and put me on a stage, I’m not comfortable. If you put a drum kit in front of me and put me on the stage singing, I’m totally comfortable.

Why is that?

I think because when you’re a drummer you’re making four different limbs do something at once, and adding a fifth thing isn’t like a big deal because you’ve already taught yourself how to make things work differently at the same time. The worst thing about it is breathing while expending so much energy. It’s a struggle but I feel like since we’ve been playing quite a few shows and doing it every night, it’s easy to get strong doing it.

Did you seek out Chris Walla for the record or vice versa?

I know all the people in Death Cab for Cutie and I work for Jason, who plays drums in that band and he’s a really good friend of mine, but I didn’t know Chris as well. Chris actually sent me a message on MySpace and was like, “I really like your music.” The they were playing the very first show of the “Narrow Stairs” tour in Bremerton, Wash., and me and my sister were hanging out backstage when Chris comes up and says, “Hey, I wanna make your record. Can I make your record?”

That’s pretty impressive considering he’s worked with the Decemberists, the Postal Service, Tegan and Sara and tons of others.

In the back of my mind I was thinking, “No way, this is never going to happen.” I thought he was kidding. But it was so fun (recording) and we had such a great time in the studio. He has a really specific way of working and he’s also really flexible. He’ll try stuff to the point of breaking equipment, like putting a really delicate ribbon microphone in front of a kick drum. I’m an engineer and I know you’re not supposed to do that, but he’s so passionate about getting a specific sound that he’ll go at it until it happens.

So you’re a sound engineer at Seattle’s Two Sticks Audio, where the new Death Cab record was done and where you recorded your album. Are you originally from Seattle?

Yeah, but I went to school for one year in Liverpool, England, at Paul McCartney’s School of Music.

Did you ever run into him there?

I got to shake his hand at the graduation. It was horrible. I was so nervous. I was like, “I am totally going to trip going up to the stage in front of Paul McCartney.” Thankfully I didn’t.