Alice Chapter 3

ALICE: Do you have any pre-gig rituals before going on stage? Any superstitions or
good luck charms?
Modern Kicks: Ant & Alex like to flat iron their hair in the nearest gas station
bathroom. Ya HAVE TO put the right sock on the left foot, always listen to Rick Flair/
Paul Stanley stage banter. It’s nice to hide out in the van and meditate. Or dive in
head first and get on stage. The key is to not waste anytime, we gotta 30-minute set
and all 1800 seconds need to count.
AM: Who is the party animal in the band?
MK: Honestly it’s a tie between all of us, Stephen comes to mind first ‘cause he’ll
take the lead one walking sideways (always in good fun) but on the other hand Sean
Glass is a madman, quiet and collected usually, there’s something about midnight
that brings out the animal in him. Alex gives no fucks 100% of the time whether he’s
passed out in some awkward position or got his arm around someone yelling about
how Hanoi Rocks is the best band ever. (Which is a proven fact that people seem to
argue at times) Ant (stone sober) always seems to be hanging out of a moving car or
what we call in the bay “ghost ridin’ the whip” at some point in the night. We’re all
super sensitive, social dudes who just wanna hang tough and stay up past our god
given bedtimes.
AM: What is the craziest gig you’ve ever had?
MK: So they we were.... Driving past the Tacoma Dome to some dude’s basement in
Washington (State), I dunno how the universe works but for some reason we ended
up at one of thee wildest shows we ever seen. People were hanging off the rafters,
passed out, hugging, crying, dying it gets a little fuzzy but woke up to some random
dudes playing Mario cart in the living room. We have also had some of them “LA
NIGHTS” where Sebastian Bach shows up (you know the dude from Gilmore Girls)
and hangs out with you for a while with his latest wife.
AM: What is something you would start a revolution for?
MK: All of us had a hard time answering this question, Rock’N’Roll revolution? Higher
self enlightenment? Free Slurpee day at 7-11 all day every day? No matter which way
you cut it we’d all want the golden era that we glorify to live on and not be forgotten.
It’s more of Ant’s personal philosophy but in this day and age everything is disposable
and its going to take a lot more than a hand full of good bands to bring it back
and push it in a new direction. The revolution or shift has to come from the
community, but I found that people have this preconceived notion of what rock’n’roll
is/ means (which is fine, something that should be interpreted by the individual), but
we all been to a certain degree institutionalized as to how we feel. I hate to admit it
sometimes but when I think about my mind set as a 15-year-old punk kid and how I
am now, I see school, the news, religion, whatever element that shaped us, never had
a problem leaving us by the wayside, which is good and bad, we have to form strong
opinions and ideas about what to write about and how to live our lives, I love Johnny
Thunders as much as the next guy but I also ain’t going to follow in his footsteps. At
the rate we’re living we’ll be lucky to have an ounce of sanity left once we get to the
top. BUT! Long story short, we already have and will continue fighting the good fight,
don’t matter if rock’n’roll is hip/cool/dope/sick or ever relevant again, we’re just trying
to put out songs with some substance and help the genre grow, its a communal thing,
fashion, film, music, art anything weird or interesting we’ll back it!
AM: Who in the band is more likely to get talked into doing something stupid?
MK: Stephen usually is a pretty fearless dude, so he’ll usually get wrapped up in some
kinda dumb bet, if Ant doesn’t volunteer first... if it ain’t dumb it ain’t fun!
AM: Dream band to headline with?
MK: Limpbizkit? ....... Creed?..... T.REX or Cheap Trick!
AM: Favorite city to play in? Favorite venue?
MK: Portland/ Austin sad thing is a lot of the venues are getting shut down
AM: What song would be on the soundtrack of a movie about your life?
MK: We all grew up together, lived in the same neighborhood (except Stephen... met
his ass on Instagram) but we all gotta sweet spot for the oldies and soul music.... so
probably Ignition Remix by: R KELLY is and will always be the soundtrack of our
lives...
AM: Oakland? Discuss.
MK: Oakland has gotta a bitter sweet ring to it dontcha think? First of all, we invented
and innovated the Hyphy movement, e40 and LIL B probably some of the best music
coming out of the BAY AREA. In short its a cool town, probably has the most chill
people I ever seen. People in LA sometimes get up tight, east coast peeps is fun and
rowdy, but Bay friends are chill. We wish the rock’n’roll scene up here was better...
It’s the toughest town I’d ever seen, dangerous, exciting, but also a place we probably
wouldn’t miss if it fell into the sea.
AM: Are you tired of being told, “you look like Steven Tyler?”
MK: You mean Steve Buscemi right?...... haha
Could be my father....
Listen my mom is an absolute saint but I wouldn’t rule out that she finagled her way
backstage at an Aerosmith show and did the deed... just saying’.... but aye! Steve AKA
“pops” gotta make up for some child support. Ya feel?