Check out this interview with Modest Mouse Bandemonium host, A. Noah Harrison:
Why did you choose Modest Mouse?
Modest Mouse have transformed my experience as a fan. I had no idea about the power of lyrics until I actually started listening to what Modest Mouse had to say. Over the course of a few months in early high school, I devoured each of their albums, more or less chronologically, exposing myself to more pain and loathing than is possibly healthy for a 15 year old. Each album flows like poetry. They sing about the desolate landscapes of the American West and of outer space. I’ve always been captivated by their heartbreaking melodies and spine-crushing riffs.
What is your favorite story/tidbit about the band?
Frontman Isaac Brock is a total asshole, and he doesn’t care what you think. And this puts him in a great position to be the leader of a band all too familiar with the term “pathetic existence.” He was a just kid when he started Modest Mouse but proved a more mature composer and lyricists maturity than almost all the band’s their contemporaries. They’re one of those early indie acts who found its sound from the get-go that could actually pay the rent. But fame never made them lose sight of their creativity or ironic sensibility…or maybe it did.
What is your favorite song and why?
Such a tough question! My current favorite is constantly changing, but I keep coming back to “Teeth Like God’s Shoeshine” from ’97. It’s as much an epic narrative as it is a personal plea, strung together with hard-hitting metaphors and even an Orange Julius namedrop. It has a complex and rewarding song structure that illuminates many sides of the multifaceted Modest Mouse: as a post-hardcore band, as enigmatic poets, and as captives of ’90s suburbia. What else do you want?
Can you give a basic background story of the band?
Modest Mouse formed in Washington in the early-’90s as a collaboration of singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. Over the last twenty years, they’ve put out five studio albums and a heck of a lot more cassettes and EPs. Modest Mouse have had a fascinating evolution from lo-fi crooners to bleak experimental jammers to anthemic indie rockers. Their cult following turned to mainstream success following their 2000 album The Moon and Antarctica with idiosyncratic hits like “Float On” and “Dashboard.”
Tell us why you love DJing on KRLX!
I’m a servant of the people. I love helping others discover their own music taste, often by subjecting them to noises they’d never listen to willingly. KRLX is the perfect resource for sharing your love of music and a great way to connect with fellow music lovers. And of course, I love to escape from schoolwork and blast some of my favorite tunes for a couple hours each week.
-A. Noah