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What comes to mind when you think about sea monsters?

For me, I'm awash with childhood memories. But, in Somerville, one is taken to the depths of Precinct--where a collective of local musicians emerges every Sunday night, for one of the Boston area's most-favored musical options.

"Precinct was a great place to get our project off the ground," said Sea Monsters co-founder, guitarist/vocalist Christian McNeill, whom I spoke with briefly on the eve of the band's performance at the Boston Music Awards.

"Over the last three years we turned Sunday night into one of the biggest nights in town and I have to say, I've had some of the greatest musical experiences of my life on many of them," he said.

Band's Residency Coming to an End

If you haven't checked out their gig yet, better do it soon since the band is wrapping up its residency (at least, for a while) at the end of this month to make a record which will be released at some point next year. 

If you do, you'll likely find that the performances are just as off-the-cuff as the band's name. They don't rehearse, and are often joined by a never-ending canon of special guests like Sarah Borges, Jimmy Ryan and various members of the local alt-folk outfit, Gretel.

Retro-soul singer/songwriter Jesse Dee regularly shares guitar and vocal duties with McNeill and a pair of revered Berklee grads make up the rhythm section, Mike Miksis (Headshaft) on bass and Tom Arey (Uncle Sammy) on drums.  

Brothers John and Scott Aruda comprise the live-in horn section which puts even more of a genre-defying spin on the Monsters' improvisational groove.  And yet, despite the spontaneous nature of the shows, the band has continued wowing repeat audiences for three years by consistently landing on its feet. 

Band Shares the Spotlight

"I've heard us referred to as 'The Cambridge/Somerville Mafia' which is hilarious to me," said McNeill. "I feel like a few onlookers get a wee bit threatened by us, to be honest. They feel like they're excluded, but that's wrong."

He insists that, talent aside, egos get checked at the door and that anybody who knows them,"knows that we're all about sharing the spotlight--and most importantly--the song. I don't see us as a 'super group' either; that term gives me nausea. As far as I can tell, there are no rock stars in our band. Thank God!"

That's not to imply that McNeill is unaware of the band's musical prowess; he feels that Sea Monsters came together in response to the current lack of game-changers on the Boston scene.

"It's true, we have a healthy music scene in this city," he said. "But I think Sea Monsters happened as a by-product of a market congested with mediocrity. Personally, I was sick of the same old crap around here. "

Keeping a Low Profile, Below the Radar

Armed with the knowledge that only experience can bring, McNeill and Co. have also kept Sea Monsters decidedly below the radar, choosing to build an organic buzz through word-of-mouth. There's no website, no Myspace page and a presence on Facebook has only emerged in the last few weeks (likely in preparation for the upcoming album).

McNeill, 38, is a busy man. An Ireland-to-Boston transplant who's been here since 1997, he rotates a half-dozen musical projects, all with distinctly different flavors. He's also tasted what some might consider big-league fame as a member of the Irish band Schtum. While signed to a Sony subsidiary in the mid-'90s alongside artists like Fiona Apple, Neil Finn and Midnight Oil, Schtum scored a hit single with "Skydiver," which McNeill wrote.

And what about the name? I'm immediately transported to the mid-'70s: Sid & Marty Krofft's "Sigmund & the Sea Monsters" or those ads on the back page of comic books for sea monster 'families' – small, water-activated organisms that you could mail order and put in a bowl or tank for 'hours of entertainment.' But no dice on my nostalgia trip; O'Neill's reference is a purely musical one.

"'Sea Monsters' is the name of one of my favorite records by the English band The Wedding Present," he confessed. "I was looking for a good name for a collective of like-minded musicians, something fun and not too serious. I think it works. Although, it is quite a silly name isn't it?"

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The Sea Monsters residency at Precinct will continue for the next three Sundays: 12/12, 12/19 and 12/26. But if holiday obligations keep you from attending, the band is scheduled to return specifically for three-day weekends next year, beginning with President's Day weekend, Sunday 2/20.