Modern Chemistry is an indie band from Asbury Park, NJ that has toured the country several times with their powerful and emotive music. They are inspired by music and art from everyone from Taylor Swift to David Lynch. They are motivated by the fringe experiences of life, such as dreaming, time travel, and UFOs.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Modern Chemistry about the music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
We are based in Asbury Park NJ. We are always changing/evolving our sound. It feels like every time we have music coming out, we are already working on something that sounds totally different. Sometimes it’s cool to look back at music that we released when we first started the band and compare it to music that we make now. It all still feels like us, but it’s totally different. We always just make whatever sounds exciting to us, and that’s always changing. Rightfully so.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Music is really all I’ve ever thought about. It’s the only thing I feel like I can truly wrap my head around because it’s been the most consistent thing in my life. I’m not sure what motivates us to keep going. I suppose it’s just our favorite thing to do.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Well for one, I (Brendan) am singing lead for this one. The lyrics are very much inspired by things we can all relate to after this past year. Sometimes it’s hard to keep yourself out of a rut if you’re stuck home in isolation with nothing to do and no reason to get out of bed. It can start to feel like a weird bad dream. And once you get into a rut it’s hard to even be motivated to get yourself out of it. The song is about submitting to those defeating feelings, and hoping to try again some other time. It’s also the second song in from an EP that we recorded totally by ourselves in our bedroom studios, so that’s exciting.
What was the last song you listened to?
1979- The Smashing Pumpkins. Great summer song. Half melancholy, half happy. Ideal for me.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Vinyl is really nice but I don’t listen to it half as much as I should. I love that it’s making a comeback. I do miss CDs. There’s something special about having a few CDs in the center console or your car, and one in the CD player. It forces you to really get to know full albums at a time, and sometimes there will be songs that really grow on you that you would never expect on first listen.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Join the club!! modernchemistry.club OR our youtube account. There’s lots of little gems on our youtube.
Anything else before we sign off?
Thanks for reading this, thanks for listening, thanks for everything. Keep on the lookout for tons of new Modern Chemistry music coming out. XO
