Austin three-piece Shearwater began as the side project of Okkervil River members Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff, but as the folk rock project launched to unexpected heights, the demand of recording and touring for both bands led to a shake-up in 2008. Meiburg — who is also a graduate student in ornithology — stayed on as chief songwriter, while Sheff split back for the father group.

The band released its sixth full-length album (“The Golden Archipelago”) earlier this year and is currently on tour in support of it. Meiburg took the time to chat with The Daily about birds, Thor and the Peace Corps.

The Daily: Much of your music is tied together by the loose theme of island life; how do you recreate that mood with music without sounding so kitschy?

Meiburg: (laughs) Are we able to do that?

The Daily: I wouldn’t be asking if you didn’t.

Meiburg: Well, I’ve always been so inspired by my trips across these different islands during my fellowship studies, and they are all such uniquely beautiful places. I didn’t want to be so obvious like a lot of island music tends to be. I wanted it to be more about the feeling coming from the birds, the water and the shells rather than the clear and present nature of them.

The Daily: How does having your songwriting/album concepts informed by your fellowship surveys differ from most songwriters?

Meiburg: I think we are all just kind of looking around in the dark (laughs). I think you just kind of try to find a tread to follow, and for me, it has been my studies.

The Daily: I know that you have studied ornithology for many years, so why did you settle on the name Shearwater?

Meiburg: I’d always just liked the word, even before I really looked more into its habits, but it’s a beautiful, sort of poetic creature. People never really see them because they spend most of their lives off at sea.

The Daily: How has the band grown since it was first formed? What have been some of the biggest changes, other than no longer working with Will Sheff?

Meiburg: Well, that really was a big change right there. It was about the time of the “Palo Santo” album. It really felt like the first, true Shearwater album. I even thought about changing the name of the band at that point. But we didn’t. I think of those first records as training records, where you try and figure out how to make records and what you want to do with them and how to write songs. There is a lot of pressure nowadays to make some definitive statement right out of the gate, and I think it’s more realistic to expect that people are going to come into their strengths over time.

The Daily: You guys have released new music, EPs or full albums almost every year since forming. Is there an importance to keeping busy for you guys?

Meiburg: (laughs) You have to keep busy, or you die. Playing shows is great fun and exercises certain levels in your mind and in your body, but then writing music is an entirely different kind of work. You have to keep that part of your brain active too.

The Daily: Did you try anything new with “The Golden Archipelago”?

Meiburg: Naw, we pretty much did everything the same (paused, then laughs). No, I’m kidding. Yes, we did a lot of different recording processes. I really wanted to get (drummer Thor Harris’) drums sounding how they did live, which is something that was really important to me. I also wanted to make a record that had a depth and space to it, and also a willingness and warmth. The past recordings have felt a little cold when I hear them now. This one, I wanted it to seem more unpredictable and alive.

The Daily: You have all sorts of acclaimed albums and a lot of loyal fans, so what’s the biggest compliment the band has received over the years?

Meiburg: A lady came to one of our shows in Dallas and brought me a shell at the end of the set that she had gathered when she was living on the island of Kili working for the Peace Corps back in the ’80s, which is the island from which the recording that starts the record was taken. To bring me this piece of the island really was incredibly touching. I was really moved that she had also enjoyed our music. That’s something that stays with you.