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So-So Modern
27 June 2008 15:04:06
So-So Modern

So-So Modern
We use that last minute approach to its death! We turned up in New York and I think at the time we only had two shows booked, but somehow managed to network our way into playing every night for two weeks'
 There's a riot going on down New Zealand way, but not as you predict. About two years ago, four splashes of primary colour rumbled out of a room in Wellington ('a really compact big city with heaps going on'), channelling the sullied spirit of punk and blending it in a colour-shaker with funk and a hint of madness.

The four-piece were part of a scene of sorts in Wellington, a city with an artistic community that was wired and well connected. 'We'd all been in bands from a young age. There were no preconceived notions behind the band. We just wanted to try as many different things as we possibly could, and had a strong sense of DIY. We were all into punk rock and hardcore communities early on in our teenage days. I guess when you're a teenager, you're drawn to more extreme things. The punk philosophy is definitely still there, and we're still feeding off ideas we had when we were young.'

As you will understand by the end of this article, it was a case of one nibble and they were nobbled. Following successive tours of their home islands, SSM decided to see if those in more northerly latitudes would bite if their frenetic twists and shouts were dangled in front of them.

'We toured NZ once and then again, and again, and then we thought, hey let's see what the reactions are like over there. We left the country for the first time in March and the reactions were amazing, so it's inspired us to go back to NZ to do a quick tour and then get out again.'

Next time around, the band found that things weren't quite as together as they could have been. 'We ran in a mode of counter-perfection. We use that last minute approach to its death! We turned up in New York and I think at the time we only had two shows booked, but somehow managed to network our way into playing every night for two weeks, running between venues, someone would see us and ask us to play in their bar etc. So this time around we've planned it better after knowing what it's like to run around like headless chickens!'
Word spread like the clappers that the Southern Hemisphere's new heroes were a safe bet on stage, delivering a fluorescent tempest of, as Grayson puts it, 'a lot of colour and movement'. He explains: 'A while ago we decided that we wanted to turn our performances up a few notches, and we ended up designing these suits that we now wear live.

The original idea was like break dancing, beat boxing storm troopers! There's a whole aesthetic side to our live sets, but we've also made an name for ourselves here for making gestures like baking food and making ice blocks for our audience and passing them out into the crowd if they get too hot, and trying to get people to come up on
stage and have a good time. There's a high level of energy in our sets. It  just sort of comes out.'

SSM also developed a habit in their early years of taking over peoples' houses, by request of course, to play impromptu party gigs. 'That sort of stuff happens from time to time in NZ. We played a house party in London when we were in Camden and it's still being remembered. A band doesn't always have to be on a stage, being praised and lauded as rock gods; a band can play in a basement or living room or side of a street and be equally amazing.'

That'€™s SOSO modern for ya.

 

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