MODERN MUSICIAN: A CONVERSATION WITH MODERN MOD'S ALIVIA KLEINFELDT-SIDE FOUR

SIDE FOUR: THE "SPEED ROUND," THE FUTURE OF MODERN MOD, THE BEGINNINGS OF DASH HOUNDS AND FINAL THOUGHTS

How about a little bit of a “speed round” for you. Who is your favorite artist or band and why?

Paul McCartney, hands down. I, like practically everyone else I know, grew up listening to the Beatles, but I never really paid a ton of attention to their music, or anyone's for that matter. But, when I really got into music, I watched a special on the Beatles and Paul inexplicably was my immediate favorite, and I pretty much decided that day that I was going to be a bassist. I guess it took me until I became a musician and songwriter myself to realize why he was my favorite all along. His bass playing and sound is iconic and is a huge influence for me, not to mention his vocals and overall songwriting, and his natural ability and love for the stage. I could talk about him and his music all day. He’s got my vote for the greatest pop songwriter of all time. Also Wings was great.

That answer thrills me. You just hit me right in my hearts of hearts! Who do you feel is extremely underrated artist?

Either Alice Cooper, or the guy who inspired him: Arthur Brown. The Godfather of Shock Rock and the God of Hellfire! Neither of them got as much attention as I think they deserved.

How about the most overrated artist?

I feel sort of bad to say it, but I have to go with The Eagles. I was just never interested in their music.

Well…that one hurt a little bit. But, I’ll let it slide for now. Just kidding. No worries whatsoever. Is there a musical trend that you feel needs to vanish and very quickly?

Songs with a group of people yelling “Hey.” I don’t know why, it just bothers me.

That’s funny…and quite true. I can go for that one. How about the opposite…what is a musical trend that either needs to stay or even return?

Crooners, especially slow pieces backed by an orchestra. Props to Michael Bublé!!

Wow! Now, I have to say that it is interesting to me how you hold an affinity to crooners and Brendan Manley wishes for the return of big band jazz. To what would you attribute this similarity?

I am not really sure actually but it is pretty awesome!

What are your most cherish desert island albums?

Hmm, how many should I choose? I’m going to go with 5 if that’s alright. I’d go with “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath; “Abbey Road” by The Beatles; “Fleet Foxes” by Fleet Foxes; “Band on the Run” by Wings; and “Louder Than Bombs” by the Smiths.

 

Excellent selections. Just great! Now, let’s return to you and Modern Mod. Despite all of the attention, higher profile shows and that momentum we spoke about earlier, that sense of change remains as well. Cal Pocernich departed the band this summer and his role has since been filled by Guitarist Henry Stoehr. All of the band members possess additional interests and artistic ambitions, including yourself, and we’ll get to that in a moment. While nothing has been formally announced or even floated publicly, is there any reason that you think Modern Mod should or could disband?

We aren’t entirely sure what’s next for us yet. Like several other past members, this is my first band that I’ve been in. We started as middle/high schoolers, and evolved not only as musicians but as people in general. Tastes and interests have, and continue to change, which is why several band members changed along the way. We’ve learned an immense amount about music and what it means to be in a band, and we have met and connected with so many amazing musicians. But I think for all of us, Modern Mod has been a fantastic starting point for us all, and a great introduction to the music industry. It’s unbelievably surreal for me to think Modern Mod might not be my main musical project in the future because it’s been my life for the past 5 years, but it’s really just the beginning for all of us.

I was curious, especially as you look to your musical future and in regards to all of the other instruments that you are able to play, would you like to incorporate those additional sounds into any future music?

I do, and in fact already have been! In Brendan’s and my new project, Dash Hounds, he and I write, play, and record everything ourselves. We have so much freedom in our writing since, aside from me not knowing how to play drums (yet), we can both write on any instrument so we can perfect each part together. We are really going to experiment with layering in our new music too, so a wider array of sounds will come in handy.

Could you please explain the origin of Dash Hounds, including the name, and your hopes for this project?

So, it pretty much started as my solo project because I was writing some music for myself that I wanted to do in a different style than anything we were doing in Modern Mod. With that intention, I asked Brendan if he’d be interested in backing me up and recording drums for me, but I still wasn’t extremely confident in myself to be able to go solo. I told him that my biggest problem was that I can start a million ideas and get a verse and chorus down and love every bit of it, but for the life of me, I cannot finish a song. But, he’s the opposite, and loves to arrange music and make final products, so we decided that we should make it a partnership, and that’s how the duo formed.

I showed him a few of my song ideas, and we’ve since taken those ideas and made almost complete overhauls of them, creating a new and greatly improved final product that’s completely ours. We are mostly writing new songs from scratch now, and I’m so excited about what it’s becoming. We’ve only completed a few songs but we are really pushing our creativity with every single one and are so excited to see what will come of it. I personally am working very hard to develop my personality as a vocalist and to be a more thoughtful lyricist, because the role is new to me and I have a lot of things that I want to be able to say. It’s going to be a lot less light-hearted at times than anything I’ve previously done, because it’s going to be my outlet for things I’ve not necessarily felt able to say or do before. We just really want to make something we are proud of, and experiment with new styles to be able to create the most accurate representation of who we are. We don’t necessarily know what “genre” we want to be yet, but we definitely aren’t going for anything in specific.

And we got our name from spending days of constantly shooting out random name ideas, and finally after we temporarily gave up, I said “Dash Hounds” and we both kind of liked it, then thought about it more and more and it just stuck. For some reason I’d always thought it was funny to call the dog breed "dash hound" instead of dachshund, so something prompted me to remember that and bring it up.

You have instantly intrigued me and I am very anxious to hear whatever you and Brendan have been creating together. Let me know when it’s all ready! But for now, I think we just may have reached the end. Thinking about everything you have experienced so far, and all that we have talked about, what are your grandest hopes for your musical future?

My ultimate goal is to get to a point where I can comfortably live as a working musician. I’d absolutely love to be in a well known band someday, y’know, tour the world, play festivals and Orpheum-sized venues in all different cities, get the glamorous perks that come with a large following and support. I definitely wouldn’t turn that down. But, really as long as I can keep writing music that I can fall in love with, and can get it out to the world, whether anybody listens to it or not, I’ll be happy. I know I’ll be doing music in some capacity for the rest of my life, and that’s the most comforting thought I can have.

It is an attitude of this sort, so clear, pure and gracefully filled with a healthy perspective, that makes Alivia Kleinfeldt the very type of musician that I feel the genre of music sincerely needs more of. Her enthusiasm towards performing is unquestionable, her affection for her bandmates is genuine and sincere and the joy she receives in the discovery that arrives with composing and recording is fully infectious and exists without even a drop of jadedness.

Modern Mod performing at Freakfest-October 31, 2015

Since the completion of our conversation, Modern Mod delivered what was reportedly a triumphant live performance from the main stage at Madison’s major outdoor Halloween festival, Freakfest. Since then, Guitarist Cal Pocernich just may rejoin the band for some more shows in the near future.

Dash Hounds live at Bright Red Studios-October 30, 2015

As for Dash Hounds, their first song, entitled “Idee Fixe,” and composed for a short independent film, has debuted upon their Soundcloud page, and it was truly a surprise as its eloquence and moody atmospherics have created a haunting spell that lingers strongly. And finally, as I reported at the start of this month’s activities upon this site, I was thrilled to have been a witness to Dash Hounds’ debut live performance, which was a brief four song set, confidently performed and executed and entirely made me anxious to hear whatever arrives in the future.

I sincerely hope and wish that for all of you who have taken the time to read this extensive interview have been inspired. Trust me, for I would never steer you in the wrong direction. Alivia Kleinfeldt's music with Modern Mod is bouncy, fun, richly melodic, undeniably romantic, superbly composed, arranged and performed power pop that I believe would delight your ears and make for infectiously repetitive listening. I invite you to check out any of the sites listed below and I hope that you become as enraptured as I have been all year long.

She’s the real deal. Now you can find out for yourselves.

MODERN MOD can be found upon
FACEBOOK
SOUNDCLOUD
BANDCAMP
music videos for “Monday Mornings,” “Tunnels” and “Papercuts” can all be viewed upon You Tube

DASH HOUNDS can be found upon
FACEBOOK
SOUNDCLOUD