An indie-rock band with a local cult following was born in a dorm room at Tufts University 32 years ago — and this week, they’ll be melding their sound with the Boston Pops.

Boston’s own Guster joined Boston Public Radio Tuesday ahead of their sold-out shows at Boston Symphony Hall with conductor Keith Lockhart, who they’ve performed with a number of times over the last two decades.

“He [Keith] was the young conductor at the time, coming into this — this was 18 years ago — and was realizing, ‘Hey, we need to bring youth into the Symphony. Let’s partner with a Boston band that can bring young people’ — meaning, like, 40-year-olds,” said Adam Gardner, the band’s guitarist.

“This was our first-ever orchestra show, 18 years ago,” frontman Ryan Miller chimed in, estimating that the band had performed with the Pops about a dozen times. “And then Keith walked in yesterday. I don’t know if he said this, but in my mind, he was like, ‘Oh, time is a cruel mistress.’ He looked at us and his own life flashed before his eyes.”

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The band members also took the time to address their friendship and fans.

“We’ve been having a blast for 30 years now — and if we weren’t, we probably wouldn’t be doing this,” drummer Brian Rosenworcel said. “We keep the relationships strong. If you’re communicating and your friendships are strong, you’re gonna want to make music together.”

“A lot of it, too is just having people that continue to show up to support the band,” Miller added. “Part of it for us, I think, is the amazement that every time we can put up a Tanglewood or a Pops or do three days at a festival that there could be 3, 4, 5,000 people that show up, that still cares about our music. We feel like we have to take this very seriously, keep trying really hard, to challenge ourselves, and really honor our relationships — and just try and make good stuff so they’re not embarrassed to wear their Guster T-shirts.”

Tickets go on sale June 12 for Guster’s performance at the BSO’s Tanglewood. Later this summer, the band will headline its third annual On the Ocean festival in Portland, Maine, August 11-13.