Weekly > Interviews
Modern, The
Well before Christmas I started to tell you about an unsigned band that i’d heard a sampler of, A band that were a little bit different to most people out there and definitely ones to watch out for.
I then went as far as promising you an interview with them last month, before failing to deliver through no fault of the bands I must add.
We all love a happy ending though right? So here it is, yours truly has now got the interview with The Modern which you can read below and in the time it’s taken me to get around to that they’ve gone and got themselves signed up!
Thanks for taking the time to speak to us, things seem to be moving along quite quickly for you at the moment, how long is it since you actually formed?
It fell together about 8 months ago.
You must be excited with signing a deal with such a big company?
Mercury were the first record company who really understood us and were not scared of our ideas.
Does the size of the company worry you at all in that the bigger companies have in the past had a reputation for interfering in the artistic process, and sometimes not giving the artists the time to develop, expecting success almost immediately?
No, so far they have let us do what we want. They are the only company who want to nurture our ideas and let them develop into a reality.
So tell us about the download only single Industry, coming up in April.
Industry highlights the juxtaposition between the machine and the frailty of the human condition within the traditional structure of a love song. It’s a perfect representation of the modern in that it represents a timeless theme with a contemprary twist.
Any particular reason why you’ve opted to go down the route of releasing download only material for the time being?
We are The Modern and in our pursuit to find Modernists we felt new media was a way of finding them in the vast matrix.
Have you got any plans for the full release of your material yet?
We’re aiming for a summer release refer to our website for details as they come.
Downloads have obviously become a very large part of the UK music market at present, do you see a future for the old fashioned single still?
People will always buy singles, I think downloads will push the single even further into the foreground because people download songs not albums. If you really like a band your always going to go and buy the album anyway if just for the sleeve.
Weblinks
Add to favouritesI’ve reviewed both your 5 track sampler and the Eastern Bloc EP for our site – you have a strong 80s theme running through both your music and your image with bands like New Order and the Human League seeming to be big influences, would you say that was a fair comment?
Early human league and New Order are definately big influences but we also take references from a much more diverse spectrum of music from the cure and the pixies to Bowie and Roxy music and more current bands like Interpol,and The Killers.
Although you obviously have a very unique sound do you feel anything in common with bands such as The Bravery who seem to have similar influences?
The Bravery share our ideals of combining the gritty elements of rock with the groove of dance with a dash of trash synths.
What other scenes have influenced you?
Aesthetically we take cues from the art deco era to post modernism ,pop art and classic hollywood glamour and the 50s vision of a utopian future.
It seems that the British music scene is the healthiest it’s been for years with no one scene dominating but plenty of exciting bands with very different sounds coming through, how doe it feel to be part of that?
There’s a real buzz around the vitality of the British music scene and we’re very excited to be a part of that.
Do you ever read your own press?
We read it and then we eat it!
Are there plans to go on tour and take your sound around the country? (it would be good to see you up in Leeds)
Thats the best part of being signed is it affords us the opportunity to play the cities that we couldn’t get to before.
Thanks for taking the time and best of luck with the single.
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