Traditionally, I am not all that down with New Year’s Resolutions in the sense that there is no time like the present to get busy with achieving most any objective. However, due to numerous circumstances, I find myself in a position in which several projects which I have wanted to pursue will come to fruition during the quickly-approaching new year. Because of this, I will be posting blog entries covering the basics of each and every one of these pursuits.
Although a relatively new project by name, the origins of the Mode Nouveauxx concept stretch back nearly 15 years. While I have made past attempts to head in this direction over that time, my solo musical career (which will also be explored in this blog entry series), other band projects, and virtually every other aspect of my life have gotten in the way until now. Due to the fact that Mode Nouveauxx represents everything I have wanted in a band for many years, it has definitely become something of an unrequited artistic desire of mine, and I simply refuse to wait any longer in fulfilling it.
Stylistically, I’ve referred to it as a combination of funk, punk, and crunk; and while such an assertion is not entirely accurate (particularly in regards to punk), the music is a hybrid of rock, pop, dance, and urban influences executed with a strong “do-it-yourself” aesthetic. My beloved British post-punk influences cast an extremely long shadow over this project in conjunction with both 70′s funk and latter day hip-hop largely in the vein of Lil’ Jon and his like-minded contemporaries. Legendarily eccentric visionaries such as David Bowie and Prince continue their respective influences over my overall musical oeuvre, and Roxy Music will most definitely be at the party as well. If you haven’t guessed by now, the music overall is definitely of the dance party variety; not in the nameless, faceless, Philip Glass-esque repetitiveness style of rave and the like, mind you, but rather in the tradition of danceable songs (with verses, choruses, bridges, and lyrics) which have filled the air at clubs and parties for decades.
The projected Mode Nouveauxx lineup definitely breaks from tradition in many respects: along with your’s truly filling the slots of guitarist and vocalist, I will be seeking out two female vocalists to round out the core personnel. In that sense, the band’s lineup will largely resemble that of The Human League, although in a much tougher and sexier way. In female vocalists, I’m certainly looking for singing ability, and not in the monotone, vocal fry style so prevalent amongst many a female pop singer these days. I’ll readily admit that physical appearance is also a determining factor, but that also applies to any potential male member we may have. Since the music is largely electronic-based, there’s really no need in the immediate future for any additional members. Long term, I possibly would be interested in adding a multi-instrumentalist, and perhaps a fretless bassist, but the immediate lineup will consist of me and two female vocalists.
Currently, I have been working on original material for Mode Nouveauxx. I have a few new compositions in the works, and I’m dusting off and reworking a few of my old standards from back in the day, such as “On Fire” and “Black Leather”, as hindsight has allowed me to objectively recognize that these two songs still indeed work. I’ve also been lining up a number of covers, particularly for the purpose of live performance, although the proposition of getting booked in Arkansas venues would appear to be zilch at this point, mainly because I know of no other act with which we could share a bill. In other words: I’ll definitely have to be creative in drumming up early gigs for the band, but what else is new? I’ll work it out…
As modest as it may be, Mode Nouveauxx has already introduced itself to the world at large (so to speak) by contributing the score to both LRC, and The Crisis (which will be completed and uploaded in a matter of days), and I will continue to utilize the Node Nouveauxx name as my own personal Tangerine Dream, as it were, for my film projects. While that alone gives the band a definite degree of coolness, I have even greater expectations…
Tags: david bowie, lil jon, mode nouveauxx, philip glass, prince, roxy music, tangerine dream, the human league
