Lying just 45 minutes west of Clarke County, Gwinnett County is in many ways the prototypical suburban branch of metro Atlanta.

Pristine, manicured lawns, neighborhoods named for European locales, high school football, involved families and church on Sunday.

As University demographics show, it is often the perfect breeding ground for future students. For two Gwinnett-based bands, however, it also served as home base for a musical operation that is bringing further attention to the already burgeoning Atlanta scene.

And though the subdued palette of suburban life may seem an atypical source for musical inspiration, Daniel DeWitt, vocalist and guitarist for Winston Audio and University alumnus, sees every type of hometown as a fount of inspiration.

“If there’s any environment to not influence you in, it would probably be the suburbs. But even then, wherever you are, wherever there are people, there are always situations that are going to be harrowing and difficult and dramatic for you,” he said.

DeWitt formed Winston Audio in 2003, though the band has been through various line-up changes since its inception.

“This band has been like three different bands … If our band had a family tree, it would just be ridiculously complicated.”

In its current lineup, Winston Audio produces music that sounds kind of like the popular grunge scene of the early ’90s met the pop sensibilities of bands like Weezer and embraced the humid, molasses-sticky aura of the South, an influence DeWitt said the band cannot escape: “It’s just there. You kind of breathe it.”

Lyrically, the heavily religious atmosphere of the South also manifests itself: “There’s definitely a ton of Biblical imagery … It’s very applicable to me, very personal to me.”

Tonight’s headliner, Manchester Orchestra also finds the Christian themes that so often permeate this region of the country a proper backdrop for its music.

“We were all definitely raised in the church, and Andy’s [Hull, vocalist, guitarist] father was a pastor. It influences our music because it’s ingrained in us,” Chris Freeman, keyboard player and backup vocalist for the band, said.

Indeed, the group’s latest album, “Mean Everything to Nothing,” seems to draw on these themes, a more volatile side of the group becoming apparent as the music alternates between soft and loud, calm and desperate. Often, too, the lyrics present a sort of desire for redemption, a sensation Freeman said can present itself on the road.

“A lot of the band [members] … start questioning while we’re out in this big, dangerous world, outside of the comfort of our homes and our parents reminding us that God is watching. Now we’re out on the road, and we’re living these lives that God isn’t always prominent.”

Certainly, for Manchester Orchestra, the road has become an increasingly closer friend. Fresh off a trip to London’s Abbey Road Studios and now embarking on a nationwide tour, the band has found relatively rapid success after its debut album, “I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child.”

“It’s funny because when people say that we’ve blown up … I don’t think we see it because we’re still sitting in a van driving 15 hours to every show. But the level of success we have been able to see is very surreal,” Freeman said.

For some of the groups Manchester Orchestra has surrounded itself with, the band’s success can be beneficial. The group’s record label, Favorite Gentleman, for example, has released a number of albums for local artists. DeWitt said he thinks the group’s efforts have contributed to the burgeoning Atlanta scene.

With the rising popularity of acts such as Dead Confederate, Deerhunter and Manchester Orchestra, the larger music community has once again turned its eye to the peach state over the past few years. For DeWitt, the internal change has been remarkable.

“We were all just sort of individual, and there was no sort of camaraderie or anything. But the last couple of years has been a complete 180 from that, at least in our experience.”

The rising Atlanta scene is, by all accounts, a positive change in the city’s musical landscape. However, the fame that has come to forefront bands such as Manchester Orchestra can, at times, make life difficult when the members return home.

“It’s difficult for people to understand that lifestyle and the change in lifestyle and the idea of fear of being recognized some place. It’s not that it’s annoying, but it’s an element, another element added on to going out in public, which is strange.”

With most members in their early 20s, the success is early, but according to Freeman, the desire to play music was not.

“I think from a young age, all of us have desired to do this. I remember I failed six classes my freshman year of high school, and I told my parents I didn’t care. I just wanted to play music.”

The youth of both Manchester Orchestra and Winston Audio also may lend credence to a belief that the bands will simply burn out, that music is only a phase. However, both DeWitt and Freeman said they don’t think there is any foreseeable end to their musical careers.

“There are times when I struggle, but there aren’t times when I don’t want to do this anymore,” DeWitt said.

Freeman echoed DeWitt’s sentiment.

“We’re not very good at anything else. I heard Jeremiah [Edmond, drummer] say one time that we play music because that’s all we can do. Not in a bad way that that’s our only skill … It just makes sense, and we’ll do it until it doesn’t make sense anymore.”