“It’s a miracle we can play gigs together”- In Conversation with modernlove.
by Oscar Ross, Music Editor
All sat in the small, but cosy, Louisiana greenroom, Barry, Cian, Danny, Graham, and I laughed and talked over an Irish-approved pint of Guinness, as the band took turns answering questions on how they all met.
Growing up in the port town of Drogheda, North of Dublin, the band met as kids, with Danny and Cian friends for a long time growing up skating together. “We just started off playing AC/DC and Led Zeppelin in a shed”, reminisced Cian, going on to explain the singer, Barry’s initial reluctance to join the band.
“I’m sorry to say that I didn’t know the word to Smells Like Teen Spirit” laughed the frontman, as the band all pitched in explaining their writing process. “We only really have our roles on stage” commented the drummer, Danny “we all kind of write ourselves then finish the songs in pairs before we bring them to the band”.
“When it’s three people we don’t get a lot done, people get distracted,” remarked Cian, also joking that “It’s a miracle we can play gigs together”. The band’s guitarist Graham also jokingly corrected me in saying that rather than being multi-instrumentalists themselves, the band members are “serviceable” in producing and recording music, noting how it’s never been easier to make your own music. The band's intimate, friendly dynamic was almost infectious as I found myself going off piece talking about Bristol, the TV show Skins and youth culture.
When I asked if the band had any impression of Bristol they responded, nearly in unison, that they hadn’t seen the city but they “do love Skins”. “Generation one is the best” insisted Cian, as I then went on to explain to the band about how my university was renowned for appealing to drug-obsessed Effy wannabes and Skins fanboys, all oblivious to the fact that they actually had to do a university course when they got here.
The band described how the idyllic teenage lifestyle of doing drugs down the park matched their younger days. “Growing up as a teenager you tried to recreate that”, noted Barry as he drew similarities between how the show approaches youth culture and the motifs of the band’s lyrics. “We’re really just trying to express our experiences and hope that people can relate and feel the same”, Barry went on, interjected by Cian who described these experiences as “mostly drinking and girls stopping liking us”. Me too Cian, me too.
Having released their latest single ‘until my heart stops beating’ just that day, the band spoke about their developing sound and how they got to their signature dream-poppy tone. “We always loved the 80s tunes”, said Danny, describing how the synth part of the band only came in as the band learned more about production and gained the resources to “play around with synths and weirder sounds”. “When we were younger, we didn’t have the money to play around with synths”, however, in recording their first song together ‘Us’, the band went for a Bloc Party, New Order sound, “it was there since the first song, it just took longer to learn how to use all those synths than learning a power chord”.
Overall, moderlove.'s future looks bright, with the band rearing to go on their sold out UK tour, and ready for more musical exploration and experimentation. The lads are a tight unit of usicians as well as friends, and their dynamic on and off stage brings a welcoming, come to party vibe. Look out for these guys.
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