SIDE THREE: VISUAL AESTHETICS, PERFORMING LIVE
AND GENDER POLITICS
There seems
to be a strong visual component to the overall aesthetic of Modern Mod from
music videos, photo shoots and the like. Was that intentional?
It’s
pretty unintentional actually. We, for the longest time, had been going back
and forth on finding a certain “look” and we struggled to figure out anything
cohesive, so we just sort of had a general consensus on when we should look
“nice” or just to wear whatever we want, and it sometimes wound up working
pretty perfectly that we’d match. For the videos and shoots, we usually would
bring a lot of clothes and decide what in our wardrobes would go well with
everyone else’s, so there’s a little more planning in situations like that.
On the set of the "Papercuts" music video-November 2, 2014
What was it like to shoot your music video for “Papercuts”?
Shooting
the music video was a ton of fun, but very, very cold. That happened with our
“Monday Mornings” music video too; we never fail to choose the coldest days.
But, it was a really cool experience, just messing around at the top of a
parking ramp with some friends and making a video out of it.
The fun certainly translates! Now, how about that television
commercial that premiered this summer? Very cool!!
The
commercial was again, just making a video of us goofing around, so that was a
lot of fun as well. The directors had some ideas planned for us to try out, but
mostly just let us do our own thing. I’d always wanted our music to be in a
commercial, so it was a plus that we were in it too! It was filmed for an
eyewear event at a store in my hometown of Verona, so I was pretty famous
around town for a while –haha!!
Returning to live performance for a bit, what is your favorite
song to perform live and why?
It’s
hard to choose since it changes pretty often, but I’d say as of right now I
really enjoy playing “Papercuts” because it’s a fun, bouncy, upbeat song and
it’s one of my favorite bass lines I wrote. It’s just a really easy one for me
to get into when performing.
Outside of Madison, where has Modern Mod performed? Favorite
show? Worst show? -We’ve played a few times in
Milwaukee, Appleton, Eau Claire, and we’ve also played out of state in
Minneapolis and Chicago. My favorite show was this past spring when we played
the Rathskeller. It was one of our biggest crowds, and it was Emily’s sister’s
birthday, so we invited her up to sing “Come
Together” with us and everyone really got into it.
I’m
not sure if I have a “worst” or least favorite show, but several times, my
strap locks have failed and I’ve almost dropped my bass on stage, and at a
recent show I snapped a bass string during our first song, but luckily someone
lent me their bass.
What does it mean to you to be a working musician in Madison?
Pros and cons?
Madison
has been so supportive of us, especially since we started so young and weren’t
old enough to be in most venues. We were given a ton of opportunities to grow
and develop as musicians, and I feel like people really gave us a chance
despite our age. It was really difficult to get our friends out to shows most
of the time because we were playing in 18+ or 21+ venues, and even if it was an
all-ages show, most kids didn’t go out on school nights. It was harder for me
in particular because all my friends had to travel from Verona to Madison
somehow since there are no venues in or around Verona.
Modern Mod performing live from WSUM-FM studios-Summer 2015
You have also had the opportunity to perform live on the radio.
What is that experience like compared to a regular concert?
We’ve
played a few times on the radio and you need a whole different kind of focus
since it’s all about the music itself. No distracting from my mistakes! But, I
think it’s a nice change of pace and we can just really focus on each other.
You literally brought the house down at the legendary First
Avenue club in Minneapolis!! All kidding aside, I was stunned when I heard the
news of the ceiling collapse the morning after Modern Mod had just performed
there. What was that whole experience like for you?
It
was crazy! First of all, the whole venue is historic. The walls are lined with
the names of some of my all-time favorite musicians that played there,
including Prince, who made the place
pretty famous. We got to play at the smaller venue, 7th Street Entry, which kind of reminded me of a few really cool
venues I’d seen in New York.
This
was night one of two for us playing with the bands What Tyrants and Stereo
Confession, both great bands out of the Twin Cities, and another band
Brendan and I had been fans of for a while, Fury Things, opened the night. We played second and the crowd was
very receptive of us for being an out of town band, which was so nice because
you never know what you’re going to get in another place, but the Twin Cities
has an amazing music scene that seems very supportive as well.
But,
things got crazy after Stereo Confession started. Their set was cut short by
the sound engineers and the venue’s security guards were telling everyone to
evacuate the building immediately. I thought it was part of an act at first,
but it turns out a water pipe broke in the ceiling at 1st Avenue and pieces of
the ceiling collapsed. Luckily, only about three non-serious injuries occurred,
but there were cop cars, firetrucks and ambulances lining the street, and it
was very hectic. As we were leaving, a security guard ran after to me to assure
me that this has never happened before and that he loved our set, so that was
pretty sweet.
It’s
pretty wild we got to be part of a night that made national news. Also, we went
to a Perkins for breakfast at 1am, and the waitress kept sitting down at our
table with us to hide from her boss, so it was the perfect cap to one of the
strangest nights of my music career.
I should think so! I remember hearing the news the morning after
and just thinking of you and the band having been there the night before,
wondering if all of you were alright. I’m glad that you were all OK. With all
of our talk about live performances, I feel compelled to ask you about some
gender politics.
As a young woman who performs in a mixed gender band as opposed
to the typical all male band, have you ever personally encountered any
discriminatory oddities or treatments (either large or small) when performing
live? Have you perceived any differences that you otherwise would not
experience if Modern Mod was an all male band?
It’s
definitely not the same to be a girl or woman in a band. We’ve experienced our
share of unique treatments, from “compliments" about how surprised people
are that we can actually play instruments so well, to uncomfortable sexual
remarks, and flat out discrimination from people in the industry.
We
entered a battle of the bands contest and were treated so poorly by a judge and
the organizers, and from them, we received nothing but condescension,
illegitimate criticisms, and an overall sense that we weren’t wanted in the
competition.
What happened?
We
were supposedly disqualified- although we were never officially informed of it-
for a stunt we specifically cleared permission for, although a guy in the
winning band also did the same thing. It left such a disgusting taste in our
mouths to feel more than deserving of at least some sort of rank in the competition.
But instead, we had to listen to a judge talk mostly about our appearance, how
we basically are the band The Go-Go’s,
and receive “You’re just not there; there’s just something that’s not there” as
our only criticism. And as 14 and 15 year olds nonetheless. That was an extreme
case of sexism we experienced, and sadly we aren’t the only ones who’ve gone
through the same.
I
feel like there’s a different set of expectations for a female musician, a lot
having to do with appearance and attitude, but also more assumptions made on
our capabilities, such as people assuming that it’s not actually us playing our
instruments on our recordings. I could go on forever because this topic is
incredibly important to me, I definitely focused more on the negative here
since it’s still a prevalent issue. But I want to say that I absolutely love
being woman in music. We’re overall in such a supportive community and I am
very motivated from both the negative and positive aspects that my role comes
with.
You know, taking the time to address the
issues that you have been faced with personally I really think could go a long
distance in creating a larger understanding of these specific issues within the
music industry. Since this is your forum, is there any advice to other
musicians (female and male) about how
to persevere within the industry regarding the discriminatory treatment of
female artists and musicians?
My best advice to everyone is to take a moment to really
think about the comments you may make to or about a female musician, or any musician for that matter. Think
about if they are appropriate and legitimate-meaning they’re not degrading the
artist based on their physical appearance, and they’re not taking down a whole
group of people to “compliment” just one person. “Chick bassists are so hot” and “Usually girl bands suck but you were actually really good” are
both unwanted, generalizing comments I’ve received, and although they’re trying
to be complimentary, they’re still offensive and/or uncomfortable to hear. The
best thing to do is just to think about if your compliment to one person comes
at the expense of another, and that it’s not likely going to make the person
uncomfortable.
And as for the girls and women dealing with sexism in
music, there are many ways you can handle these situations, it just depends on
what makes you feel good and comfortable. You can try to confront anyone giving
you a hard time, or try to help them understand what they’re doing that’s hurting
you and/or any other women. But do what makes you feel better about the
situation. Sometimes you just can’t win with certain people, but never, ever
give up on your musical dream because there is such a strong support system out
there, of men and women, working together to support female musicians.
Stay tuned for the fourth and final installment of this exclusive series as Alivia takes on the Synesthesia "Speed Round," addresses the future of Modern Mod, speaks about her new band Dash Hounds and shares some final thoughts.
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