By DENNY DYROFF, Staff Writer

Longital is a hilly area in Bratislava. It's also the name of a rock band from Bratislava. So far, the group has released seven albums, with the latest being "Gloria."

Tonight, Longital will make its Philadelphia debut at the Khyber. The band includes Daniel Salontay on guitars, bow and vocals; his wife, Shina Lo, on bass and vocals; and virtual member Xi Di Nim.

"We started seriously back in 2000," Salontay said during a phone interview from his home in the Slovak Republic's capital. "Before that, I had been in America, studying jazz and blues guitar in Cleveland.

"At first, it was me on guitar and Shina on voice. Gradually, she started to play bass. We were a four-piece band for a while. People came and left. Then we found ourselves without a drummer a few times. So we decided not to use drummers anymore.

"In addition to playing guitar, I work with electronics. 'Xi Di Nim' is a backwards spelling of 'minidisc.' We discovered that we could travel around Europe together and make a living with our music. We play our instruments and make all these sounds with electronics."

Salontay plays guitar in a traditional style and uses a bow to play his electric guitar. Another addition to the sound is a machine Salontay uses called the Lemur Jazz Mutant.

"For me, guitar is a percussive instrument - a sharp attack and a quick delay," he said. "I was looking for something sustainable, so I began using a violin bow. Now I use a double bass bow.

"The Lemur Jazz Mutant, which is made in France, has a touch screen controller with its own operating system. It can detect movement and touch from 10 points and send actions from the screen to the computer. The software generates the sounds. It gives us the freedom of designing our interface and teaching Lemur how to make our music."

What: Longital

When: March 4, 9 p.m.

Where: Khyber, 56 S. Second St., Philadelphia

Tickets: $8

Information: 215-238-5888 or www.the-khyber.com