Miracles of Modern Science – “I Found Space”

In the last decade it’s become quite common for rock bands to utilize string players to expand their sound, but not for rock bands to structure their sounds around these instruments the way Miracles of Modern Science have done. Since Arcade Fire’s Funeral was embraced by music lovers in 2004, what has been described as chamber pop has taken a big place in the modern rock spectrum. The rock formula of guitar, bass and drums has been given additional flourishes with cello, mandolin, or violin. It’s not entirely new to rock, but it’s the most prominent classical instrumentation has even been in rock.

Sure, in the 90s Primus often showcased upright bass and mandolin, and since the days of The Beatles string accompaniment has been in rock music, but Brooklyn’s Miracles of Modern Science have taken it one step further and structured a pop rock band around the classical instrumentation (cello, violin, mandolin, double bass, and drums). The resulting sound is what cellist Geoff McDonald describes as a  “Civil War string band shot into outer space on a disco ball spaceship.” Miracles of Modern Science is not gimmick driven band. They are not Yellowcard. They are a band taking a much needed different approach to a tired form of music with the  type of enthusiasm necessary to make it work.

Like any good band with something new and interesting to say, the list of influences that is are injected into their songwriting is eclectic, from Stravinksy and Mahler to Van Halen and Pavement. Formal classical and jazz training gives them an understanding of their tools that won’t be found in a garage rock band, while also providing them with a different approach to songwriting than most rock bands.

They no longer wear silver spacesuits on stage as they did in their earlier days, but their performances are still thoroughly engaging and not to be missed.

With a 3 week residency beginning this Thursday (June 10) at Cake Shop, the members of MOMS answered a few of my questions about their histories as musicians and their approach to music:

What’s the biggest challenge in performing at rock clubs with classic instrumentation?

Josh Hirshfeld (mandolin): Strings sound the best unplugged. We play rock music, but we always go for that natural sound. We’re not putting the strings through distortion pedals to make it sound like that metal violinist who plays in Union Square (as bad-ass as he is). But problems arise when we try to bring that natural acoustic sound up to rock club volumes. If we’re on a small stage and the bass amp is pumping right into the hollow body of the cello, there can just be crazy amounts of feedback. But if our songwriting approach is partly about the strings being played in ways they aren’t traditionally played, it makes sense that live we’d have to take them to places you don’t traditionally hear them.

Kieran Ledwidge (violin): Despite the fact that there’s often a question of balancing our unusual instrumentation (particularly at clubs built around accommodating bands anchored by guitars or synths), our biggest challenge has been being able to hear ourselves clearly. Listening to the sound you’re currently creating informs every mechanical action and adjustment you make. Since we have no frets (mandolin aside), visual feedback isn’t accurate enough. Bowed instruments are also inherently dynamic in their volume – and if you can’t hear yourself, there’s a temptation to play louder with the bow until you can… but in the context of a rock show, that can easily lead to overplaying the instrument. The sound of an overplayed amplified string instrument is one of the more horrible sounds in this world – trying to drown out the sound of a cat being strangled by drawing a rusty nail across a blackboard would probably paint the sonic picture.

How long have each of you been playing your instrument of choice?

Kieran: I’ve been playing violin for 19 years.
Geoff McDonald (cello): 15 years
Evan Younger (bass, vocals): My path to the double bass was gradual – I jumped from piano (17 years) to guitar (14 years) to electric bass (11 years) to upright (9ish). I didn’t start singing seriously until college, when I came under the tutelage of Geoff McDonald.
Tyler Pines (drums): I’ve been playing piano for 16 years and drums for 12.
Josh: I’ve played guitar for the last 19 years, but I picked up mandolin 9 years ago, and really began to focus on it as my main instrument when we started the band about 6 years ago.

You’ve clearly studied a wide range of the music spectrum. Who are are your favorite musicians/biggest influences?

Geoff: My biggest influences are Stravinsky, Mahler, and Younger.
Kieran: Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bowie.
Josh: Pavement did the most to make me want to be in a band.
Evan: Van Halen are a huge inspiration for us. I like to fantasize that someday we’ll do for “rock strings” what VH did for rock guitar. And of course David Lee Roth is the greatest frontman of all time.

How do your classical and jazz backgrounds influence your songwriting process?

Geoff: My answer to this question is tempered by the fact that a lot of my musical contribution to the band might be described as “editing/arranging”…but as far as those things are concerned, I definitely think in terms of texture a lot, and I would say I sometimes draw on training in classical orchestration for that.  That doesn’t mean I’m trying to recreate sounds from classical music, but the principles are still there: voicing, dynamics, balance, contrast, which instrument would be best to carry a particular hook or figure.  To that end I think it’s interesting that often one of us will write something that is comfortable or idiomatic for our own instrument, but then that same snippet sounds cool and different thrown to another instrument…for instance the way the mandolin takes the melody from the cello in the first verse of “I Found Space.”

Kieran: My compositional background before MOMS was almost completely classical – mostly for string ensembles of various configurations. Despite the difference in style, that experience has been surprisingly helpful when we’re writing songs – in terms of general songwriting elements and specifically with the string parts. Being familiar with the capabilities of the instruments has been a definite help in working out parts that better complement each other and sound more natural for them, and also helps in broadening our textural range (by making use of the various tone colours created by different techniques). I’ll take any opportunity to re-purpose my classical training.

Josh: I don’t think we’ve ever said “How can we make this part sound classical?” or “How can we fit this classical technique into this song?” It’s more about how we all come from such different backgrounds (Kieran and Geoff from classical, Evan and Tyler from jazz, me from rock) and bring such different things to the table. I don’t know nearly as much about the range of all the cello or violin’s sounds compared to someone who has been learning all of it’s crazy secrets for years. Our string players aren’t a passive string section, set off to the side with sheet music. We’re all part of the process. So once an idea is on the table, it goes through this gauntlet of people with very different backgrounds and tastes — it’ll either be expanded, chopped down, or even scrapped, but once we’ve all had a piece of it, it has probably turned into something that sounds very MOMSy.

Evan: Josh came up with our name – I think we just liked the sound of it, and all the science and space imagery followed from there. From our first show in 2005 until last summer, we wore silver spacesuits on stage, but nowadays we like to be more subtle about it. The futuristic imagery juxtaposed with our “antiquated” instrumentation makes for a nice visual contrast that sort of works as a metaphor for our music.

Josh: In terms of that theme going into our music — when we started MOMS our freshman year of college, I was coming off of a few years of playing with my high school instrumental space rock band. So in the early stages of MOMS, my mind was on twinkly lines that eventually explode (in the sky). I think we retain some of that sound (we still like build-ups with big pay-offs), but we don’t tell ourselves that we have to make a song spacey as we write it.

How do you describe the sound of MOMS to someone who’s never heard you

Geoff: “Civil War string band shot into outer space on a disco ball spaceship” is still pretty damn on the money.  But I always tailor my answer to that question to my audience.  I play up the “disco” part to the young folk, the “spaceship” part to the scientists, and the “Civil War” part to U.S. History buffs.  Those three categories are basically the demographic breakdown for “When I’m Asked What MOMS Sounds Like”…

Thursday, June 10 at Cake Shop
4th: Miracles of Modern Science
3rd: The Albertans (http://myspace.com/thealbertans)
2nd: The Royal Chains (http://myspace.com/theroyalchains)
1st: Quiet Loudly (http://myspace.com/quietloudly)
Presented by Jonny Leather