Interview | Modern Color

featuring Fleming Valenzuela

It looks like you guys are enjoying rockstar life right about now. How is tour going?

This shit is insane. I’m so lucky to just be a fly on the wall for all the shit going on right now.

Are you guys playing tonight?

We actually just played Austin at the Mohawk. Citizen is about to go on right now.

Rad. How have the dates been so far? A lot of run and gun?

Honestly, it’s been really easy. These shows have been sold out pretty much entirely. Everyone's really cool and there’s no ego bullshit to deal with. It's been weirdly simple so it feels good.

Sometimes you’re just prepared for something to go wrong, but you gotta count the wins as they come!

I gotta say, I think years of DIY touring prepares you for the worst in every step, but it's kind of nice to be on the other side of it.

Totally. I’m sure you guys, along with a band like Citizen that’s been around for so long, have it down by now. Is this the first time you’ve played with those guys?

Yeah, first time playing with Citizen. They're fucking fantastic people. Super welcoming, super nice. Just normal dudes. Same with Narrowhead. I really appreciate they we’re on that same DIY grind forever. They're just down to earth people, it's that simple. It's so refreshing to be on the road with people that just fucking rock. You know what I mean?

Absolutely. I’m sure just being back on the road properly (aka post-COVID) has got to feel pretty nice, right?

Dude, in a weird way the pandemic kind-of reset us, so it feels good to hit it back in full force.

You guys really started to blow up in terms of streaming over those months when everyone was trapped inside. I know it’s ultimately worked to your advantage, but would you rather have spent that time playing normally and grinding it out? 

I really don't know if anything would have been different. I'm thankful for the way things played out. To be fair, I feel like we're here because of that in a weird, strange way. I don't know [how much] the internet explosion/TikTok bullshit helped us, but it got people listening to the record. Albeit weird times for sure, but I wouldn't trade anything. I think everything happens the way it needs to happen.

Agreed. From The Leaves Of Your Garden had to be the top album that got me through many of those uncertain months in 2020. 

I appreciate that. It was kind of like, ‘damn, we worked really hard on this for a long time. Let's just get it out. If we never play a show again, let’s just be happy that it exists out in the world.’

Speaking of things you’ve put out into the world - I got a copy of your Portuguese Bend photo zine. Being a current Redondo Beach resident myself, can you elaborate on what it’s like to have the Palos Verdes waterfront as a refuge in this area?

Dude, 100%. What's funny is that I grew up in San Pedro so personally speaking, going to escape to the fancy rich area was always like an excuse to smoke weed or drink or do whatever somewhere beautiful. Nowadays it's hard to get me back there, but at the time it was what we did every day. We’d go find a place to post up for a couple hours and escape whatever we were dealing with. I really owe a lot of my life to Portuguese Bend, coastal San Pedro, Redondo, all that shit. It was so integral to us growing up as kids.

Even as a transplant, I immediately recognized that area as pretty much the only place to get some peace and quiet in this part of the city. When I heard you singing about about going up ‘PV Drive’ it kind of blew my mind.

Not to say there aren't other bands that have been from there, but I just want to write about real things that we've experienced and I feel like we've done that. This new record is just all about being a fucked up kid in the South Bay and I fucking love it. It's so sick.

I have a San Pedro-specific question: at the gig you guys played at The Sardine a few months back, you mentioned one of the new songs was about the late nights-turned early mornings at some place in San Pedro. Do you recall what that was about? 

The Beacon House. It’s a recovery center where they hold Narcotics Anonymous meetings and whatnot. As a teenager, I was not the best kid had a lot of problems with drugs and whatever. When it all came to a head at some point, I took myself with the help of my mom, who was struggling as a single mom, to Beacon House. I spent a lot of mornings there at the crack of dawn, hating my life. It's a very dark place but, you know, I'm thankful for it. If it wasn’t for that, I probably wouldn't be here talking with you right now so I really appreciate it.

That’s heavy - but good that you can find the silver lining. 

Now that you’re touring more frequently, I’ve seen you hit huge crowds like Sound and Fury along with smaller rooms in between. What sort of vibe do you prefer playing?

Personally, I think I strive as an artist to play to as many people as I possibly can. That’s a huge thing for me. It's rewarding now to be able to play these bigger stages and venues but at the same time, at the end of the day, I just want to play our music. I love performing and that's the end-all be-all for me. No matter what it is, I'm happy to do it. I will say, I'm thankful to be able to do this at a larger scale - it's just more fun and more people to spread MC to.

I was going to say, as long as you're in front of a roomful of people, it doesn't really matter where you are - it’s just the fact that you're out there leaving your mark.

I fucking love playing music. That's just it.

Seeing the fan base is expand, is it crazy to meet/hear about people from the South Bay coming out to the shows and joining the movement?

It's dope. I'm happy people get to spread their wings and find happiness elsewhere but there’s something about the South Bay that brings everyone back and people hold on to that sentiment so hard.

That’s why they call it the South Bay bubble, right?

Dude, people never fucking want to leave San Pedro. People I went to high school with there will probably live and die there so respect to them.

Even just living here for a few years, I’ve met a bunch of Pedro Lifers that don't know it any other way and probably wouldn't want it any other way.

They just want to skate Channel Street and drink a tall can and that's it. But it's dope, I fuck with them. 

I respect it. Let’s chat more about the new album. What are you guys doing differently with this one?

With this record, it’s probably been our most focused effort to write something with our childhoods in mind. I feel like FTLOYG was my favorite collections of songs, but it was a bunch of songs that were written over time. This record was very much focused on writing songs that are upbeat - a little bit more happy and fun, at least sonically - so that we’re not always in that negative, dark, moody space. We wanted to offer a little bit more of a positive outlook on things. The lyrics might not reflect that, but to a certain degree I'm kind-of over that mid-tempo slow jam. I just want to have fun.

Singing these songs day in and day out, I’d imagine you’d have to find the best way to maximize the enjoyment in playing them. 

Yeah and to a certain degree, we really try to work at our instruments and what we're doing. I feel like we strive to be more honest and to be able to express ourselves to the fullest extent. With this in mind, it was a no brainer to step things up. It was like, ‘let's like really try to push it and be something different.’ It's funny because “Fortress" is a little bit more like in our old style, but it's been a really fun endeavor to push those boundaries for us.

Did you guys write/record these songs in a tighter timeframe than your previous albums?

We probably rewrote this record two separate times, but it was always about asking ‘do we feel that this is in a better space, emotionally speaking? Are we excited about this?’  We really took that to heart when going over the songs again and again. We had a goal with this album for the first time so it was important to reach that.

This isn’t technically your sophomore record, but in a lot of ways it feels like it is. 

100%, I totally agree.

I’m expecting it’ll obviously be a departure from from ‘Chromesthesia’ and ‘Time Slips Behind Us’

Yeah, I love those songs but like, none of us are singers. We never were. Being able to express ourselves a little more freely after having all this time to dial that in has been it's been fun. We’re trying to grow out of that with like less reverb and more direct vocals and musicianship. It's been freeing in a sense.

Interesting. How did you how did you end up on the mic then? Someone just had to step up and do it?

Exactly. We tried out a bunch of people and we sat there and thought about it for so long. Then we we're like, ‘no one's biting, we just want to do this.’ Lo and behold, we are like seven years later.

That’s the essence of DIY right there. Not waiting on anyone but yourself to get to done.

If you got a will, you will find a fucking way to make it work.

What else are you guys looking to accomplish as we head into 2024? 

We're just going into new album mode. Once we get this out, it's just hitting the ground running trying to play to as many people and spread this as much as possible. We have some tours lined up that are exciting so we’re working on some bigger stuff for that. That's pretty much it. It's just ‘hey, record’s out. Let's tour as hard as we can.’

Are there are there any cities on your radar? Bucket list venues??

I'm sure everybody has their own, but personally, I know it's a long shot - but if we could play the Hollywood Bowl, I think that would be it for me. I would be fucking set. I could quit the next day.

I was just recently at a show there and seeing that place fully packed out was wild.

I used to take the bus with my family from Torrance to go to the Hollywood Bowl and see a symphony play. Later in life I went there to go see fucking Thundercat and Flying Lotus; it holds such a special memory in my heart. I feel like that's like the pinnacle of cool venues. Where else can you sit in a box and drink some wine?

It’s the crown jewel of LA!

Last question - what other bands are on your radar these days? 

There’s a band from the DFW called Trembler. They're fucking fantastic. Also, some honorable mentions would be Trauma Ray and Downward; excellent friends and fantastic musicians.

I just heard about Trembler because they did a show at one of our skate shops out in Scranton the other day. They were on a bill with Prize Horse and a couple others.

That's another one, Prize Horse. Fantastic people. Fantastic band. Those are probably the newest bands that I totally, fully back.

Everyone deserves a shout out. Any other parting words? 

I appreciate what you do and I'm fucking stoked. Please listen to the record when it's out. I hope everyone likes it.

Photos: Samuel David Katz

Originally published in Issue 2 - January 2024