A fresh take on pop music: modrn
“It’s never like, oh well we don’t make that kind of music, so we’re not gonna make it.”
modrn makes pop music that lingers between danceable and sorrowful, the airy guitar and bright keyboard being the main course. They stand out in my mind through their ability to make recognizable melodies and being genuinely kind and likable people. The duo consists of Charlie, vocalist and guitarist, and Sofia, drummer and guitarist, but both are a bit ambidextrous when it comes to the aspects of their music. The two were friends before starting modrn, and chose their genre of pop through personal taste.
“I think for me like I listen to the stuff I like and then it all kind of mixes together and sometimes I guess I can see when I play something or write something I’m like oh, I can see where that came from.”
I have seen them play a handful of times but specifically, their show at the Coast on the 29th, was a top-tier show for the duo, Charlie’s vocals were the best I’ve seen from them, and the airy feeling in their music was captured well that night on stage. While that night Halloween costumes were the outfit of choice, you can usually find the band in their crisp, borderline iconic white jumpsuits while on stage. The band started in 2017 and released their ‘Bloom EP’ in 2020 with two singles since, but they promise newer songs are made and are in the process of recording. The two, even off stage and in the coffee shop we talked in, have a similar quietly intense, but laidback energy that clicks. That energy transfers over into their music and their live performances as well, watching them on stage is akin to having a glass of iced tea on a porch: sunny and content.
“Hopefully, we’ve been lucky in that in this past like year, I think every show that we’ve played it’s been people reaching out to us. So, we haven’t had to focus in on trying to get gigs, which is really nice.”
The band played a newer song that night, and can often be seen playing songs not publically released yet. To get the full experience, a live set is required, and thankfully for you, the two say they are focusing on a new chapter for the band with a focus on live gigs and finding time to write and record together. We were lucky enough to hear a real vault of theirs, ‘Cream Soda’, which is appropriately mellow and sugary. The ease their music brings is also seen in the duo, only praise seems to follow the word of ‘modrn’ and their fresh take on pop music.
“If it weren’t for the local community there wouldn’t be much of a scene.”
If you like bright, citrusy pop with sharp guitars and bouncy keyboard melodies like Dayglow or Omar Apollo… then you’ll love modrn.
Interview
Q: How did you guys meet?
C: We went to school together. We were friends, to begin with, and we had, I don’t even remember, we just were one day like let’s start a band. With no instruments. So, we were a band with no instruments for a while, and then we were in our first band that we were in together. This other guy, for 2 years? A year and a half maybe?
S: A year and a half.
C: Maybe a year and a half. And then, he joined another band and then we were in our second band, another one of our friends for maybe like a year and a half again? Yeah, I don’t really remember.
S: No, I think it was longer.
C: Oh, was that longer?
S: Yes, we were up here by then.
C: No, maybe it was longer. We’ll give them two years, and then he moved away and then it was just the two of us so we were like, well, let’s just do it the two of us. So we’ve been modrn for, since 2017, so like 6 years?
Q: What made you guys choose your genre? Did you play similar things in your last band?
C: No, that was actually kind of part of the reason why the other people left. The first guy we were with, he plays more like blues kinda stuff. And I mean you listen to the music, obviously, that’s not what we make. Then the other guy he does like post-hardcore now. So, it was just like a really big difference. So, we were kind of the only two that like, were like “We’ll make pop music and we’ll be okay with that, it’s what we listen to, so it’s what we like to play”.
Q: Do you ever think about expanding into other genres?
S: If we want to, we can.
C: Yeah. We don’t really do things that like consciously, I think. Just kind of like if we both like it.
S: It’s never like, oh well we don’t make that kind of music, so we’re not gonna make it.
Q: Do you guys both work in the creative process? Is there one that kinda takes the lead?
C: Yeah, I do all the lyrics. That’s like, I’d say that’s like the one thing, cause I usually do all the lyrics, and she usually does all the drum parts and then everything else in between is the both of us.
Q: Are you guys working on anything currently? I know you have some songs that are unreleased.
C: Yeah, we have a lot of stuff that’s unreleased *laughs*. It’s mostly like, we have a couple of songs that are finished that just need to be mixed and mastered. That’s something that’s very time-consuming for us to do ourselves, so we’re kind of thinking about sending it out to someone else, to do that. But, that’s also a process, finding someone to do it, and then more often than not it’s kind of expensive. So, we’ve been thinking about that. We’re always writing, it takes us a long time to finish things though.
Q: Just because you’re hard on yourselves, or you’re doing a whole bunch?
C: For me, I won’t speak for her cause I don’t know. For me, when it comes to stuff like that, I’m not. If I sit down and do it, and force myself to do it I can, but it’s like hours usually for me until I get to something that I’m like, I actually like. So, most of the time for me it’s like, I’ll wait for like. If it comes to me, it comes to me.
Q: I ask people about their creative process, is it like surfing a wave or do you fish for it? Do you make your creative process occur or are you seizing the moment?
S: I think we’re different, no? Cause I’ll go with the wave for like an hour or two, and I’ll get 30 seconds and I’m done. That’s what I made and that will be it.
C: It kind of depends, cause we’re gonna play a newer song tonight, and that one, when I showed it to her I was telling her it was for that one specifically, I don’t know it doesn’t happen that often but for that one specifically, I would spend like three hours on it like every day for like two weeks.
S: That’s crazy. I don’t work like that.
C: Yeah, I was locked in on that one. I usually don’t let that happen.
Q: Do you guys have a favorite song that you’ve released?
S: Mine’s ‘Complicated’.
C: I do like ‘Complicated’, I really like ‘Bloom’. I think it’s one of my favorites.
Q: So I have written down, ‘the white jumpsuit’. What was the idea there?
C: We just thought it would be fun.
S: Yeah, thought we should have a look, something clean and nice, cute.
C: Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Cause I mean, no shade to anyone *laughs* but I don’t feel, I feel like I shouldn’t just go on stage in like what I wear every day.
Q: Do you get looks?
C: Yeah, we do get a lot of stares when we’re walking around and we’re wearing it.
Q: I know you guys have been playing a lot this summer, are you guys continuing that route or focusing on making more music or just settling down and taking a break?
C: Hopefully, we’ve been lucky in that in this past like year, I think every show that we’ve played it’s been people reaching out to us. So, we haven’t had to like focus in on trying to get gigs, which is really nice. So, probably trying to focus in on that a little bit, cause we did that in the beginning just like sending emails, getting a lot of ‘no’s, and taking the ‘yes’s that we did get so probably more stuff like that. Trying to actively book ourselves. As far as music, we have a lot of music it really is just like finishing it.
S: Yeah, finding the time to sit down together.
Q: What do you guys cite as major influences on your sound?
C: Do you have any? Like specifically?
S: To ourselves, no. Usually, I just play stuff and am like well I hope they like it, I hope Charlie likes it. I’m never like ‘I wanna sound like this’, to be honest.
C: Yeah, I don’t think consciously like anything really. Yeah, I don’t think any consciously. I think for me like I listen to the stuff I like and then it all kind of mixes together and then sometimes I guess I can see when I play something or write something I’m like oh, I can see where that came from.
Q: You said you’re playing a newer song tonight, what else are we in store for tonight?
C: Just the same old, yeah we got one new song and that’s about all the time we had to. Cause, transferring it from like writing into playing live there’s like some differences that we have to make and neither of us feel confident enough to like play something if we’re not like 80% sure but like 80% comfortable with it.
Q: Is that your favorite part of it, performing? Is it recording or writing?
C: Recording sucks, I hate it.
S: I like making the song, that’s my favorite part.
C: I like writing, but like the recording just for me cause I’m like it has to sound just right. I do like performing though.
S: I’m the opposite. It makes me anxious as fuck, I can’t. I’m a very anxious person so sitting there is like, no.
Q: I try to talk to bands about community and specifically Fort Collins. What makes a good partner on stage, in your set? What do you wanna see more in Fort Collins and our music scene?
C: I think the music scene now is really nice. We did, like a month ago, a neighbor-to-neighbor fundraiser, and just seeing everyone there. Julie, she works at the Music District, so obviously she knows a lot of the musicians around, paired up bands and they had to play a cover song. It was cool seeing like, hey I do know a lot of people here. Cause I know a lot of the big venues, when it comes to the little guys are very like they don’t give a shit. Which like, fair enough. If it weren’t for the local community there wouldn’t be much of a scene. Cause it’s where we play most of our shows like house shows, with blast’n’scrap, and parking lots and stuff.