CoolJunkie Interviews Modernage

July 27, 2009 3:25 PM
by Marcos Colón

In Miami the live music scene still has a lot more room to grow. But it’s tough to do so in a town where the DJ gets most of the attention. If you think back to around 2004 when bands like Bloc Party, The Stills, The Walkmen and Interpol were making a lot of noise, the scene in Miami was beginning to look its best. But it once again took a spill when electro reached its peak of popularity. During that time one band in Miami flourished and picked up momentum on the scene and since have released three EP’s that have nailed down a signature sound that is comparable to other bands of the time, however, it’s unique nonetheless. Having maxed out their experiences and shows in Miami, the band now looks for that next step, a full-length album that will be the true spark to their flourishing careers.

CoolJunkie recently caught up with Modernage vocalist Mario Garibaldi and chatted about the Sirhan Sirhan EP, being a band from Miami, and releasing a full-length album.

CoolJunkie: What have you guy been up to since your last release, the Sirhan Sirhan EP?

Mario Garibaldi: Since it was just an EP we got together with Muse Box and did a lot of online promotion. We tried to set up a tour but we still haven’t been able to, but I think we’ll get one going toward the later part of this year. That release of five songs can be seen as a tease. We weren’t ready to drop an album yet, but that’s what we’re working on right now. We have 12 to 13 songs in the works. It’s really going to be like a debut because we haven’t released anything more than an EP. That’s pretty much what we’re working on right now. We’re also working on some live shows, but we don’t play that many shows locally. We’ve pretty much done it all. Right now we’re working on looking for some shows that could be potentially fun and a sure thing, meaning that we could build up a nice crowd for it.

CJ: What was the thought process going into the studio for the Sirhan Sirhan EP?

Mario Garibaldi: We started our thing back in 04’, and I guess we rode the wave of a bunch of stuff that was going on at the moment. It was parallel to what we’re doing now but obviously on a bigger scale. By that I mean bands like The Walkmen, The Stills, Interpol. I can see how originally our sound was coming up in that world, but with Sirhan Sirhan we expanded. We didn’t think we were necessarily a post-punk band. Yes, we do have roots that will always go back to certain bands and certain influences that define us, but for the most part I think that Sirhan Sirhan was a way for us to express that we weren’t just like that. Hopefully that will open up the doors so that when we do release the full-length, we’ll be completely conscious of it, but not exactly like the original stuff we had. There will be more things that we can do acoustically, more musical arrangements, more of a challenge in that sense.

CJ: Based on the different released of Modernage, how do you think your sound has evolved?

Mario Garibaldi: We’ve evolved. When we first got together 70% of the music came from Xavier our guitar player. He was heavily influenced by all kinds of music, including Oasis and Radiohead, and he brought in the darker aspect of things. I grew up listening to Depeche Mode. So we sort of found a happy medium. We like writing songs that have memorable parts. But I think that now we are focusing on the song from beginning to end, and making it more cohesive. We found out during our first couple of shows that Miami is a city that has ADD, if you don’t entertain them quickly they’ll leave. So we made it a point for every one of our songs to have some sort of a punch. So we’ve evolved in that we’ve tried to make sure that all of our songs encompass mood.

CJ: Who’s the main songwriter in the band?

Mario Garibaldi: As far as the lyrics go I write all of them. They really haven’t changed all that much. If you hear the entire Sirhan Sirhan EP there’s a really negative tone to it. I guess it came across that way because that’s how we perceived things going on around us. Even though we love Miami and we do consider ourselves local, it just seems like it’s a lot harder when you’re doing your thing from Miami as opposed to doing it somewhere else.

CJ: What do you think about the live music scene here in Miami?

Mario Garibaldi: Miami’s always had a live music scene and it always will. I think that there’s serious talent in this city, I just don’t think that anyone outside of this city gives a shit, in general terms. It just seems like the entertainment map falls off somewhere in Georgia. On a national level no one really seems to know what’s going on down here. I could be wrong! But that’s what we were thinking when we were writing Sirhan Sirhan, when we were down on ourselves. But some great songs came out of it.

CJ: This city seems to be ruled more by the DJ than the live band.

Mario Garibaldi: We saw that change happen a couple of years ago, when we were playing Revolver with a couple of other bands from Miami, but shortly after that all of a sudden it went back to the domination of the DJ. Miami is simplistic when it comes to entertainment. They want it hard, they want it fast and they want it now. Simple as that. At the end of the day we’ll always have Churchill’s, but I don’t think that we’ll have a great rock venue and it’s partly because the city itself might not be all that interested. But we still haven’t given up on it. We feel that this is our city, this is who we are, so fuck it.

CJ: Do you think you guys will ever come to a point when you guys will have to relocate?

Mario Garibaldi: There’s always that possibility. We were very close to going to LA not long ago. But because of different reasons we opted to stay. But that’s always possible. I would like to see more people that are interested in making creative music in Miami to come out and actually make it happen.

CJ: What do you think the next logical step is for you guys to get where you want to be?

Mario Garibaldi: For a very long time, in a very naïve way, we were sort of just waiting around for someone to come up to us and say, “You guys are fucking amazing. Here’s your penthouse in Malibu.” We like what we do and we love writing music because it’s cool. I think that the next step for us is to get off our asses and finally drop a debut album. We have to put everything that we have into 35-minutes. To me that’s what we need to do. Then just let that speak for itself.

CJ: What do you guys have planned for the remainder of the year?

Mario Garibaldi: Definitely playing selective shows. Maybe opening up for some acts that come down that are on a national level. I’d like to go back to LA as well. We have serious contacts over there that are willing to help us out. And hopefully by the remainder of the year finish up a full-length and drop it.

Click here to hear more from Modernage.