A Chat With: Modern Me
We recently caught up with San Diego's Modern Me to chat all about their brand new single "Dead To Me," which was released last week. The single, which was produced by The Colourist's Adam Castilla, is the first dose of the group's new material. The tune shows Modern Me diving into more emotional territory, putting their own spin on influence they pulled from some of our indie rock favorites like The Killers, Young The Giant, and Joywave. Tune into our chat with Modern Me now to find about more about their process, who they'd love to work with, and what they hope to get up to in 2018!
Photo Courtesy of Modern Me
ANCHR Magazine: When did you guys all meet and decide to form Modern Me?
Modern Me: Some of us have known each other since Jr. High and some since high school. We have definitely done some life together. We decided to form Modern Me because we love alternative rock and we want to play it together the rest of our lives.
AM: Who do you consider to be some of your biggest influences, both on your writing style and on your stage presence?
MM: We’re heavily influenced by band such as The Killers, Muse, Death Cab for Cutie and Young the Giant. We love the way Coldplay throws a show, so much energy and quality fall out of their shows.
AM: For your new material, I heard that you all tried to dive into more personal and vulnerable territory. Was it challenging to open up in that way? On the flip side, what have you found rewarding about getting more personal with your writing?
MM: A lot of people have challenges and diving into each others and trying to get a song out everyone is definitely not easy. We know each other really well considering we have been friends for so many years but writing sessions that go into depth about the dark places some of us go to and trying to capture on a page can get rough. The more personal these songs become, the more attached we become to them. It’s like melody incarnate.
AM: How would you sum up the sound of your new material in 3 words, for people who haven’t heard it?
MM: Dark, Rough and strong.
AM: How was it working with Adam Castilla, and what other producers would you love to work with in the future?
MM: Adam Castilla has become an amazing friend to us. Working with a producer is essentially hiring another band member to work on those songs and we’re proud to have worked with him. Throw us in a room with Rich Costey, Jack Antonoff or Rostam Batmanglij and we know some gold would rise out of that room.
AM: I also love the video for “Dead To Me.” How did you come up with the video concept, and how was the experience of making it? Any interesting stories from behind the scenes of the shoot?
MM: I’ve imagined disrupting the date of an ex-girlfriend and I thought let’s try to capture that and see what happens. Initially for this video we wanted to shoot gorilla style. Setting up all of our instruments in the front yards of band members past relationships, without any forewarning and playing "Dead To Me" until they walked out and said something so we could capture genuine responses. We thought we’d just play it safe and sit in beamers and rot in motel rooms together instead.
AM: Who are some of your favorite new bands at the moment?
MM: Hippo Campus, The War On Drugs, The Wombats, Bear Hands, Saint Motel, James Vincent McMorrow.
AM: Do you have any plans to hit the road this year, and which cities would you love to play in?
MM: We don’t have plans as of right now. We definitely want to hang out with some fans on Phoenix AZ.
AM: What are your goals for the rest of 2018?
MM: To quit our day jobs.