El Cid: Lily Waters, Moderns, Uruguay and Strawberry Army

It was off to El Cid to catch 3 bands I'd seen before (Lily Waters, Moderns, Uruguay) and one that was new to me (Strawberry Army)

Things started off with Lily Waters. I just love those deep vocals. And there was that moment of a guitar hug.

Lily Waters

Moderns has those electronic beats. And those eyes that always seem to be staring off in the distance. It was a special night for Moderns as Rosie (lead singer) had her father in the audience for the first time ever.

Moderns

Uruguay has those singer-songwriter jams. And there is always a quick laugh. They mentioned that they won't be playing in Los Angeles for awhile and so purposely were playing songs that their friends had requested.

Uruguay

Strawberry Army closed out the night with a fun blend of garage rock and hair flings. You can definitely tell that they're having a blast playing on stage.

Strawberry Army

This was a Wild Riot event and they seem to always pick out awesome bands for their shows.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Moderns

Moderns at The Satellite

Interview with the band (with Rosie). Enjoy:

What's the story behind how the band started? Chris and I are good friends that go back a few years, and met through mutual friends. We initially started working together on random commercial music, and working with and for other artists. Chris invited me into the project MODERNS, and it’s been us two working together for about 4 years now!

For the band and its future, how would you define success? We’d define success as reaching an audience with what we are creating, and making them feel something they’ve never felt before through our music. We love to do things a little differently while sticking to our roots and passion. As long as we are happy with our art, and the people who hear our music are happy because of it; we feel successful! It’s not all about followers or money for us (although we won’t reject basking in what the future holds for us), we just love what we do, and have fun doing it.

Final fun fact about MODERNS is that Chris and I are often across town from each other when writing music. Chris will build a track, and me (Rosie) will add vocals and lyrics. We go back and forth adding and taking away what we see fit; and eventually get together in person to lay everything down at the end. I (Rosie) live in Santa Monica and Chris lives on the east side. Anyone in LA will understand that we hardly make the commute if it’s something that can be dropboxed or explained over the phone

The Satellite: Ariel Beesley with Moderns and Xuan (Softer Sex Productions)

It was a night of some great music and fun moments. Ariel Beesley highlighted the night with her re-invented 80's pop centered hooks. And though I'm not a fan of smoking cigarettes, I just can't get enough of her song "Slower Than Usual." It should be noted that she has great comfort on stage. One moment that highlights this is when she was in the middle of one of her songs. There was a short vocal break and she looked into the audience and said, "I'm so happy seeing you all dance out there." Then she started back with her vocals without missing a beat.

Moment of the set was actually when she nearly tripped and she responded, "I'm so clumsy, I almost tripped on myself."

And the comment of her set was her heartfelt appreciation, "It's so fun seeing so many people singing along. It makes my heart hurt." 

Ariel Beesley

Xuan opened up the night, playing half her set with angel wings. And most of her set was spent dancing and jumping around the stage. Even with all that energy, there was a light touch to her music. This dynamic made for a very fun set. She must have noticed that we were loving her set, because she said in response to the audience, "I can't cry, because I have fake lashes on, but it's happening."

Comment of the set was when she mentioned that she had CDs for sale. "Do laptops still have CD players?" She turned to her drummer who said he had one. "Your's does? Throw it away."

Xuan

Moderns played right after Xuan. They're a techno band with a lead singer, Rosie, who is unable to restrain her cheerfulness. I had fun watching her trying to be serious during a couple songs. By the end of those songs she had given up and had a big smile on her face.

And by the way, I happened to notice that Rosie has a rather interesting Instagram site where she posts her trolling of scammers and creeps that come her way. Take a look. It is some interesting

Moderns

A big thanks to Softer Sex Productions for putting together a great line-up.