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What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

Owen Gildersleeve: Chris and I have both lived in London for over 10 years now. It’s a brilliant city to live, full of creativity and possibility, but it can also be quite an intense and unforgiving place at times, especially when you’re not in a great place. At the time that Modern Technology first came about Chris and I both really needed to vent, emotionally and physically. We’d been jamming on and off before then for many years without things quite clicking, but coming together again at that time just the two of us things immediately took a far heavier and darker turn. We realised then that we had something interesting going, playing not just with the riffs but with the emptiness too.

Chris Clarke: There’s a real transparency in being a two piece band — each instrument can be heard in real clarity — when we started playing this way, we really liked the ‘audio arm wrestle’ you get between the instruments. Often the bass taking a backseat for a more complex drum arrangements. We started adding aspects of spoken word and looming vocals which really started to add a richness to the sound.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

Owen: Our self-titled debut EP is all themed around the current social and political climate, exploring the causes and effects of this chaotic time. When Modern Technology first started forming it was a really hard time to be a creative – The Brexit process had just kicked in and Trump was taking hold of the US – So it was difficult to create anything artistic without it feeling totally meaningless. Because of that Chris and I started chatting about the lyrical content and direction of the band and realised that through the music we could try to make a stand in some form, as well as to trying to give something back to those affected by all of this mess. That’s when we first decided to give any profits we make off the physical and digital releases to Mind and Shelter – Two charities helping those most affected by this political and social mess we see ourselves in.

We recorded the EP with the brilliant Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse Studio who really understood our sound and what we were trying to achieve. He’s got a great ear and is super quick when he works, aiming to capture the energy of our sound. He also made us sound massive, so we’ve since had to rework our sound a bit so that we can capture that in our live performances – Always great to have that extra push!

The EP can be purchased now from our Bandcamp as a limited edition vinyl and cassette, with all profits going to charities Mind & Shelter: https://modern-technology.bandcamp.com/releases

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

Owen: Our influences are quite varied. There are obvious links to the metal and punk scenes, which is rooted in us both having grown up in the west-country – a real haven for heavy music – but since being in London there are lots of new influences that have flooded in, both musically and artistically. From the likes of the exciting new jazz scene that’s been hitting the city this past few years, helped along by the likes of Gilles Peterson, to London’s incredible art and design scene – Probably the best in the world, but I am biased!

Chris: Absolutely — we both have a wide musical background, where we lean on aspects of different genres. I think as designers we also rely too often on precision, order and structure, this feels quite prominent in our compositions — and something we take great pleasure in taking a sledgehammer to.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

Chris: We really enjoy the interplay of light and shade in our music. The choices of instruments really allow for that too. We’ve been described as having a slightly haunting, melodrama to the vocals, which acts a catalyst between the two instruments.

Owen: Part of it is the bringing together of so many different influences and styles as we mentioned, but also Chris’ interesting take on vocals. I haven’t really heard much like it applied to the type of music we play – That post-punk, almost theatrical tone and range. The lyrics themselves are also so poignant and important at this time – I really feel proud to be able to say something through what we do.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Chris: In reality I would take really mundane things, like a book on survival. Probably an art book to look at paintings I will miss. Film – Castaway so I feel like someone else is going through the same thing as me. However I want the last minutes of the film erased so I never get to see him rescued, or have to watch that crying scene again. Music – I want silence till the credits roll and I disappear into nothing.

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Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

Owen: Both are really enjoyable in their own way. Being in the studio can be a real time of enjoyable exploration and there’s nothing quite like when you first come up with a new song that you’re excitedly jamming it out. But playing live is also a brilliant feeling, especially if you’ve been locked away writing for months and then are unleashing your music on an audience for the first time.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

Owen: Not so funny but probably unique… As a drummer I’m used to being in the background during the writing process, waiting for riffs to be thrown at me. But one of the great things about this band is that we’re super collaborative with everything, with Chris throwing in ideas for the rhythm and me sending over ideas for riffs. So I’ve gotten into this habit of humming riffs into my phone whenever one comes into my head and sending it directly to Chris who very kindly doesn’t mock me. We’ve named them ‘Mouth Toots’ and they’ve actually become the basis for quite a few tracks on our last record… Although the Toots themselves will never see the light of day!

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

Owen: From our debut EP I would probably pick out Queue Jumper. It’s really two tracks in one, with the first half hitting in a very technical, industrial manner – All quite angular and discomforting. Then after the riff drops out it builds into this pummeling doomy ending that gets me buzzing every time we play it. I also absolutely love Chris’ vocals on this one, exploring themes of screen addiction, chanting “What’s worse you were made for this, swollen eyes staring at the abyss!”

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

Owen: We’re putting on a big charity fundraiser show in London on June 28th with our promoter pals Total Cult. As mentioned earlier we’ve aimed to raise money for charities Mind & Shelter through our EP sales, but we thought we could go a step further – bringing together a bunch of friends we’ve met through our music to put on a big show and hopefully
raise some more money for those that need it most.
The lineup includes the amazing noise-punkers Bruxa Maria, Newcastle sludge dynamos Lump Hammer, and writer / spoken word artist Christopher Nosnibor, who’ll be joined in a
one-off collaboration by absurdly prolific home-made electronics and noise artist Cementimental aka Tim Drage. DJs from the Hominid Sounds label and NTS’s Black Impulse show round off the night – you can listen to the line-up, alongside some top Hominid and Black Impulse selections on our Spotify playlist.

Tickets are ‘£5 suggested donation’ and available now from Eventbrite & Dice. You can find out more about the show on the Facebook event page. It should be a really fun night so if you’re in London in June make sure to be there!

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

For this one we asked Christopher Nosnbior,  to throw us a question: “The profits from your debut EP went to Shelter and Mind. Would it be fair to say you’re more concerned with societal issues than success in the conventional sense? And why did you choose those particular charities”

Owen: We never started the band to make any money or for any sort of success – In fact it’s been quite a pleasant surprise that people are enjoying what we do. So when we started looking at selling our record it didn’t sit well with us to keep the profits and we thought it would be much more appropriate to try to give something back to those affected by all of this mess that our songs explore.

That’s when we decided that any profits we make off the physical and digital release will go to charities Mind and Shelter. Shelter is doing some amazing work with the homeless and people on low incomes, which unfortunately has become far too common after years of austerity and benefit cuts. Mind is also doing some incredible work for mental health – An area which has in the past been overlooked, but is becoming an ever growing issue with society’s increasing demands, stresses and strains. Their work also links back to Shelter’s, as a lot of people going through housing issues unfortunately also suffer from mental health problems along the way, so the two charities feel like brilliant close allies.

So far we’ve raised nearly £600 through our record sales and we hope to make a lot more through the show – So if you’re reading this and are UK based or in London on 28th June please do come along, it’ll be a great night! https://m.facebook.com/events/592298321181327/

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

Recommended listening:

Connect with Modern Technology:

Facebook & Instagram: @moderntechnologyband

Bandcamp: https://modern-technology.bandcamp.com/