{"id":19658,"date":"2020-10-16T05:30:31","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T09:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=19658"},"modified":"2020-09-14T10:38:51","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T14:38:51","slug":"modern-strangers-self-made-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/16\/modern-strangers-self-made-men\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern Strangers: Self-made Men"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Infectious tunes like the speedy pop of Modern Strangers\u2019 \u201cWhere\u2019s Your Man\u201d \u2013 the speedy pop gem that\u2019s the leadoff single from Modern Strangers\u2019 debut album, Dangerous Fiction<\/i> \u2013 combine rock grittiness and the sleek, streamlined vibe of classic pop. Listeners yearning for weepy, introspective balladry are advised to look elsewhere; this band is all about fun. Modern Strangers unveiled the album with a live stream performance on September 26.<\/p>\n

Drummer Courtney Cahill says that Modern Strangers came together in 2012 to address what he and co-founder David Rogers saw as an unaddressed need in the Asheville music scene. \u201cWe wanted to fill a gap by creating some \u2018pop\u2019 rock and roll,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I hadn\u2019t met Courtney, I would still be playing these songs in my basement,\u201d says Rogers, guitarist and the band\u2019s primary songwriter. Cahill confirms that Rogers isn\u2019t engaging in hyperbole: \u201cI don\u2019t know if he never wanted to \u2018play out,\u2019 or if he just didn\u2019t have the gusto,\u201d he says. \u201cBut my goal was to use my organizational skills to bring his songs to the people; I thought they were too good not to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lead guitarist Troy Crossley and bassist Alex Deutsch joined the group in 2016. Even though they came from different musical backgrounds (punk and the jam band scene, respectively), their addition gave Modern Strangers all of the elements needed to deliver a signature sound. \u201cWhat really made me want to join the band in the first place was how catchy David\u2019s vocal lines are,\u201d Crossley says. \u201cThey just begged for harmonies, and I was more than thrilled to [add] that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band self-describes its sound as \u201cjangle pop,\u201d though some would call it \u201cpower pop\u201d \u2013 tuneful, uptempo rock with Cheap Trick-like energy. \u201cFrom the start, we were trying to get that British Invasion jangle sound,\u201d Cahill says.<\/p>\n

To date, Modern Strangers hasn\u2019t mounted a tour; because all four musicians have day jobs and families, touring isn\u2019t practical. Instead, the band has focused on building an enthusiastic local fan base. One tangible result was landing the number two spot on last year\u2019s \u201cBest of WNC\u201d poll in the rock band category. \u201cThat definitely helped in bookings,\u201d Cahill notes.<\/p>\n

The group also scored a high-profile gig opening for Gin Blossoms when the latter headlined at The Orange Peel in December 2017. \u201cThat was huge for us on a couple of levels,\u201d Cahill says. \u201cOne, it got our name out there; it kind of legitimized us.\u201d Secondly, video footage of the band\u2019s well-received set served as an effective promotional tool. \u201cJust one little shareable clip can go a long way,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Deutsch chimes in to add another benefit of that performance. \u201cThe fact that we made it through that was a good boost for our confidence,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cI had never played in front of 850 people before. That was one of the best nights of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

With all that momentum spurring the band forward, Modern Strangers got busy making its debut album. But even though Rogers is credited as the group\u2019s songwriter, he emphasizes that the music on Dangerous Fiction<\/i> is the result of a collaborative creative process. \u201cI\u2019m proud of the album on a personal level,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I\u2019m even more proud of it on the level of what [we all] made it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

New songs are run through the band\u2019s rigorous quality control program. \u201cBut most of them make it through,\u201d Deutsch says with a laugh. \u201cBecause we’re able to work on them until we get them where we want them.\u201d The goal is to create catchy songs that feel good. \u201cAnd if one falls a little flat \u2013 if it’s not something that\u2019s fun and that you could sing along to \u2013 we drop it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crossley reiterates the point that fun is the goal. And because Modern Strangers has enough original material that meets its standards, each live set is crafted to match the room. \u201cWhat works at Jack of the Wood at 9 o’clock is different than what works at the Odditorium at midnight,\u201d he emphasizes. \u201cAnd that\u2019s different from what works at 5 Walnut at one in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The current pandemic has severely limited the band\u2019s opportunities to play in front of an audience. But the band knows what works at 7 p.m. at The Orange Peel. So even though the group\u2019s debut album release event is a live streamed performance, the goal of that September show is to bring all the excitement and energy of a \u201creal\u201d show. Cahill says that\u2019s<\/i> what Modern Strangers is all about: \u201cbeing able to go play downtown in a world-class music scene on a Saturday night. This is our fantasy band.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Infectious tunes like the speedy pop of Modern Strangers\u2019 \u201cWhere\u2019s Your Man\u201d \u2013 the speedy pop gem that\u2019s the leadoff single from Modern Strangers\u2019 debut album, Dangerous Fiction \u2013 combine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19660,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,49,55,62],"tags":[237,4293],"class_list":["post-19658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-new-release","category-powerpop","category-rawk","tag-asheville","tag-modern-strangers","cat-41-id","cat-49-id","cat-55-id","cat-62-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19658"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19661,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19658\/revisions\/19661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}