Modern Chemistry and Every Time I Die opened up the show for Taking Back Sunday at Tricky Falls on Tuesday, July 25. The Prospector caught up with Modern Chemistry vocalist Joe Zorzi before the show and the frontman provided insight on their tour with Taking Back Sunday and the band’s future.
Can you describe your sound a little bit for the people that aren’t too familiar with you guys?
Z: I’ll do my best, that’s usually hard for me. We’re kind of like an alternative rock band, very loud leads, big choruses and a lot of self-verses, ups and downs. We just try to keep it dynamic and catchy.
Can you describe some of your guys’ influences?
Z: Well obviously Taking Back Sunday is a big one for us. A lot of bands that we listen to now are like Wolf Alice, The 1975, etc. Those are contemporary but were kind of all over the place. We listen to a lot of pop music. Like, we’ll take melody ideas from Justin Bieber, just as much as we would from Black Sabbath. So, we are definitely all over with that. We just try to take from it as much as we can. I really like Jack Antonoff and all the stuff he does as a producer.
What was it like working with Adam?
Z: Working with Adam was great, he was incredibly nice, incredibly genuine. He gave us a lot of great input. It was cool because we had no idea what to expect, we never had a full-time producer work with us. He genuinely listened to all these terrible voice recording demos, that’s all we could give him. He would listen to those and he would give us ideas and we would give him ideas back. He was very cool and very committed, but at the same time if we had specific visions and stuff. He was never gonna stop what we wanted at the end of the day. It was just great to work with someone who I have always loved listening to and talking to.
What were some of the key things you guys were able to learn, not only from that recording sessions and production process but touring with them also? Maybe something you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t touring with them?
Z: I don’t know, I’m not sure how to answer that. I think that we’re learning stuff from them every day, we watch them every night. Not only are the songs unbelievable and the kids react to that, but it’s cool to see Adam specifically as this unbelievable front man and how much more energy that brings to the table. It’s like there are certain bands that would just play their song straight through and call it a day and it’s cool but it totally brings us up another level when you see someone like Adam commanding the crowd. It’s pretty unbelievable. We’re always learning from them for sure.
What are some differences from Adam the producer to Adam the front man?
Z: Well he’s not as loud when he’s talking to us as he would be on stage. It’s a totally different thing. I think it’s just the same way as it would be different if I was a room having a beer with someone or if like we were playing a sporting event. You know, it’s just a whole different aspect of a person.
What are some of your guys’ plans for the future as of now?
Z: Well right now we’re just excited about our new album that we just put out, “Everything in Gold.” That came our early July and were just excited we get play all these shows and get to play those songs for everybody because we’ve been holding out on them for a while and we’re just gonna keep promoting that and keep pushing it as much as we can throughout the year and see how it goes, see what it brings us. We’re very excited.
