If you consider yourself the consummate authority on South Florida music and you've never seen Modernage live, let us be the ones to tell you, there is a glaring hole of ignorance in your beautiful body of knowledge.
For the past ten years -- with their fair share of hiatuses -- these guys have been keeping indie rock flesh-colored and kicking in our neck of the Everglades. Over the weekend, Modernage performed at New Times' 2013 Beerfest, alongside the Hongs, Beat Machines, and Tremends, with great success.
We spoke with guitarist and keyboardist Xavier Alexander about the experience. And though this was, indeed, their cherry-popping Beerfest performance, Alexander and singer Mario Giancarlo knew what to expect, having DJ'ed Brew at the Zoo as Black Jesus. So when they saw a lady mad at her own shoes, they weren't shocked.
See also
"There was the lady who was somehow angry at her own sandals," Alexander remembers. "She was dancing and kicking her sandals away from her." Needless to say, he enjoyed that display.
Another "only at Beerfest" moment occurred when the guitarist watched people booty-dance to their set. "I've don't think I've ever seen anyone booty-dance to us." Dropping it to indie beats? Must have had strong glutes.
But the band clearly was neither deterred nor distracted by any vibrating bottoms. "We're really happy with our show," Alexander says. "Backstage, it was good vibes, no egos, a really pleasurable show to play." Also reassuring, is that after last year's break for the act, this show solidified their resolve to remain playing, Alexander thinks, "I have to say the show at Beerfest felt like the first show, so we're going to continue in the same path."
His only criticism? "The stage was nice, and the sound was pretty clear, but since we were playing directly to the VIP crowd, a lot of the people who had regular tickets couldn't come close to the stage." A little unfair for the plebs. He adds: "We're all for the people."
Though most of the band sampled brews, Alexander wasn't running around slurping them down. "I was really hungover from the day before. I had a few beers here and there." But he observed, "There were a lot of happy people there, for sure."
What's coming up for Modernage is a lot. This week on iTunes, they're putting out a single, "Euclid Avenue," following the theme of Miami places as titles. They're rolling out singles every month and a half with a promo video, so that at the end of the year, they'll have an LP. They'll then press it to vinyl, compile the videos into a short film, and screen them around town. Pretty clever in a world in which musicians can't ignore any medium.
Here's their latest track. Grab your favorite craft beer, press play, and pretend you're back at Beerfest.
Follow @CountyGrind
