MODIFIED Vocalist Tricia Stanley On New Album - "We Would Have Loved To Put Out 11 Brand New Songs, But We Need To Win A Lottery First"
April 10, 2012, 12 years ago
Toronto's MODIFIED are featured in a new interview discussing their new self-titled debut album. An excerpt is available below:
Like any serious band, the members of Toronto-based trio MODIFIED – Tricia Stanley (vocals), Anthony Xander (guitars/vocals), James “Jones” Rose (drums) – are fuelled by their individual rock star dreams. Those aspirations are tempered, however, by keeping their collective feet firmly planted in the real world. Every step they’ve taken since the release of their EP debut Cruel Intentions in 2009 has been with a goal in mind rather than to prove a point to curious people watching from the sidelines. Battle Of The Bands competitions, sharing the stage with screamo, pop rock and death metal bands, shooting live-off-the-floor studio footage or an official video clip, Modified have taken on the music scene with a professional and thought-out approach unexpected in a young band still learning the ropes.
![](http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee242/KnuckledusterBW/Modified.jpg)
The new self-titled debut album, released at the end of 2011, consists of the five songs featured on the Cruel Intentions EP and six new tracks. It’s a move that may look questionable on paper, but has proven to be a solid introduction to the band for those that have been oblivious to Modified until now.
Anthony: “Like you said, we take things one step at a time and make sure that everything we do is the best possible decision. We’re constantly writing music. We’ve probably written 60 or 70 songs, so it’s not a case of having a lack of material at all. We just came to the conclusion at some point that instead of releasing EPs and demos, let’s put those five songs out there with the six new ones. I guess it looks a little bit better, and we had the chance to re-master the old songs. We feel they’re still a good selling point, so why abandon them?”
Tricia: “And a lot of people haven’t even heard those older songs before now. They’re only old to our 100 friends around Toronto (laughs). We actually set out just to do three songs for financial reasons; paying for a producer/engineer is expensive. Anthony and especially James really wanted to have a full length album, which is where we came up with the idea to combine the songs. It was kind of a last-minute thing. We didn’t know exactly what we were going to do, but we had to keep going because it had been long enough since we’d released any new material. We would have loved to put out 11 brand new songs, but we need to win a lottery first. The three songs turned into five songs because we brought back ‘Hollow’, which is an old Modified song…”
Probably the heaviest song on the album. Not at all what people would expect after hearing ‘Running From Myself’ or ‘When I Wake’, and it’s this broad dynamic that makes Modified stand out in a crop of new talent.
Anthony: “That’s the first song that Modified ever wrote, before Trish was even in the band. One of our key intentions with our music is to not only have vocal hooks, but to have guitar and drum hooks as well. I think that’s lacking in a lot of new music; there are no guitar riffs anymore, no cool little drum hooks. We try and do what sounds good instead of thinking that we need to focus on the vocals. Every element is important, not just one element. We’re also very spontaneous when we write. We don’t really have anything in mind when we start. Like the riff on ‘Running From Myself’… it came out and it sounds good, so I don’t care if it’s reggae.”
Click here for more.
Modified recently released a video for 'Die To Resist'. Check it out below:
The tracklist for the new album is as follows:
'Die To Resist'
'Cruel Temptation'
'A Part Of Me'
'Running From Myself'
'Threetwoone'
'Selfless Lies'
'Running Up That Hill' (KATE BUSH cover)
'When I Wake'
'Unfinished Game'
'Hollow '
'December'