Modern Rifles


San Diego Punk: How would you describe your sound and what type of fans do you think the music appeals to?

Modern Rifles: Maybe this is the part where we say how we all come from different musical backgrounds and everyone brings something different to the table, and whatnot. The simple truth is, we all know that everything under the sun has already been done,

Modern Rifles
so we're not trying to reinvent the wheel. We're still relatively young as a band and our "sound" is still developing. We don't place limitations on what we want out of the songs we write, and we write songs that make us happy. Agent Orange mentioned in one of their songs about deciding to be a business not a band, and that's the last thing that we want to be. A lot of bands do that, where they actually map out who their target audience will be, how they need to dress, pose, and figure out countless ways how they can make money. We aren't trying to make assloads of cash. We play music because we have to. We've all grown up going to all kinds of shows and music means everything to us. People have said that they hear Drive Like Jehu, Jawbox, Blonde Redhead, Fugazi, and Cursive. As far what type of fans our music appeals to...it is hard to say. It might be easier to say that we probably don't appeal to people that have trouble passing a mirror.

What can a fan expect from your live show?

Swarms of angry bees! No, seriously we have a good time at our shows. Hopefully everyone else does too.

You put out a demo last year, right? How was the response to that?

Great, we got rid of all of them.

How do you feel about the overall product? Anything you absolutely love, or parts you wish you could go back and change?

We had a good friend of ours do us a solid and hook us up at his home studio. We had a good time doing it and the end result was what we wanted, our first demo.

Any plans for a new album?

Yeah we plan on releasing an EP this year. We'll be recording that soon and we're stoked to get it in people's hands.

You guys have been a band for about a year and a half. What's your take on the San Diego music community (bands, fans, venues, etc) in terms of accepting your band and offering support? Do you think the San Diego music in general is supportive of upcoming bands?

Definitely.  There's a bunch of great diverse venues here with some really good bands. Anyone that bags on this city for not having places to play has never lived in an area where you’re lucky if one kid has the initiative to rent a hall once a month and put on shows. Most of the bands we've played with have been awesome and we've gained them as friends.  Of course there are people that go to shows to be seen or whatever, but when you're having fun at a show they tend to just fade away.  What's interesting in San Diego is that despite the vast and diverse network of bands, venues, promoters, and music tastes there is a really close net music community. It's exciting to see people supporting each other, branching out, and seeing the fruit of that labor. 

Any exciting plans on the horizon for Modern Rifles?

Yeah, we have a song on The Black Box Compilation that is coming out soon, we're doing the EP that we mentioned, and we'll be putting out a split 7-inch later with a band called Shotgun Monday. Other than that, we'll be playing more shows in and out of town. 

Anything else you'd like to add?

Yes, lots.

website: http://www.modernrifles.net
 mp3s: http://www.myspace.com/modernrifles
(Modern Rifles photo by Marty Watson of Elementary Photography)

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