Concerts are a place where people can experience not only a good time seeing their favorite artists perform, but to also see the talent showcased on stage, whether they be the headliners or the openers. Indie-pop band, The Aces performed in Charlotte on their “I’ve Loved You For So Long” tour, where the openers for the band were Modern Moxie, an indie-rock band based out of Charlotte. They performed songs off of their album, Claw Your Way Out and their recent EP “Gutter Honey.” After their set, the band sweetly met and connected with their fans.
I had the opportunity to sit down and get to know Madison. We talked about the beginnings of Modern Moxie and finding the flare in what you love. It all started when she began to write songs in college, and since then, she never stopped writing and eventually began to perform.
“I didn’t really give it a try until then. Then, I had all of these songs that I was working on for years, and I didn’t really play them or anything,” she said. “I eventually did an open mic, but once I started playing, I just kept asking around town. I moved to Charlotte and was trying to find musicians. It’s been a long, long road.”
Writing songs has always been a big part of Lucas’s life; her ideas for songs usually come unexpectedly and whenever she got an idea for a song, she had to write it down. Her passion for writing her lyrics are a factor to keep creating music.
“Sometimes, if I go too long without writing a song, I’ll be like, ‘What’s wrong with me?’ But then I do it, and I feel better,” she said, “I don’t think I could quit writing songs. It just sort of bubbles up out of me and I have to work on it. I’ll dream about it. Sometimes I’ll wake up and I’ll hear melodies and strange things. When I’m doing that, I don’t think about all the things that I worry about: ‘Is my voice weird? ‘Is my songwriting terrible?’”
“It’s a place where I can kind of do my thing, and not worry about if people are going to be into it or not. If you start trying to write songs that you think people are going to like, it’s a weird area to get into. I just do it for me. I even love the process of recording, putting it out into the world, and starting over again.”
Along with the band’s beginnings and moving to Charlotte, Lucas then began her search in collaborating with other artists in the area, such as NoDa (short for North Davidson, a neighborhood in Charlotte). Eventually, she met Harry Kollm, who is the bassist of Modern Moxie, where they also became a performing duo, then later on in their careers, they became husband and wife in 2017.
“I met Harry in Charlotte, at Jack Beagles in NoDa. We started playing together, and then we did some duo shows for a while with our songs,” she said. While they are a part of Modern Moxie, they still continue to perform together as a duo.
They then began to add additional members and grow into the band they are today, which not only consists of Lucas as lead singer and Kollm as bassist, but also lead guitarist Phil Pucci, who also works with Lucas at a music company as music teachers, and drummers Charlie Weeks (Chris Slezak is taking over for Weeks momentarily). The band then began to take off in 2019, as they worked on their debut album.
“All four of us started actually playing together in 2019, when we started working on our album Claw Your Way Out, and we’ve just been having fun,” she said. “The main goal has always been to just keep going and not really giving up on it. We’ve just been trying to do our thing, not worry about the outcomes too much, and just focus on the music and art.”
Since the release of Claw Your Way Out, Modern Moxie has continued to surprise fans through their lyrics and their on-going passion for making music. Following Claw Your Way Out’s success, the band was awarded Queen City Nerve’s Best in the Nest Awards for Best Album of 2019 and Best Band of 2019. Since then, they continuously went above and beyond when releasing new music, experimenting with new sounds, all while sticking to their indie-pop roots, resulting in singles such as “Big Wave” and their recent EP, “Gutter Honey.”
As they continue to dive into their creativity and along with Lucas’s creative lyrics, each member brings their own individual style to Modern Moxie, bringing the band to life. Though their influences are Metric, Tegan and Sara, and Alvvays, the band’s style not only resides individually, but it brings the members together as a band, creating a unique sound and flare that is retro, yet new and refreshing to listen to.
“Harry brings the funk and jazz influences, Phil has very shoegaze/surf/60s guitar vibes, and [Chris] Slezak hangs in the pocket and can play literally any style we throw at him which is a blast,” she said.
Lucas even describes how working in a band is different from performing solo. She describes the connection she has with the band as well as the magic that happens when they come together to create music, as well as working on each other’s strengths and weaknesses when working together.
“That is really strange about bands. It is such a fun process because each one of us individually, we each have our own strengths and weaknesses. What I love about bands is when you all come together,” she said. She even mentions performing solo versus performing with Modern Moxie as a band, creating a flare that brings them full circle.
“When you play by yourself, it’s such a different feeling. I’ve even done some solo shows recently, but having all four of us together, there’s like a magic that happens and I feel it in the group. It’s like some kind of connection that happens with the music that you just really don’t get when you’re not playing with the group. You might mess up and make mistakes, but you’re gonna cover it up,” she said.
“Phil and I talk about this all the time, but it’s fun to see how we fix things. Sometimes I’ll miss a verse, or change something and they’re so professional, and they’ll just stay right with it, or they’ll mess up a part or something. We all come together, and it’s just a really fun activity and I hope to be able to do it for a very long time.”
The passion and flare does not always come easy, and when creating music and writing lyrics, Lucas dedicates her time to playing in increments, whether it’s playing an instrument or writing, or doing something outside of music, in order to be the best performer she can be, for her bandmates and for her fans. Her passion stems from exploring her own mind and being surprised at what is in it and what can be created in order to achieve what you are passionate about.
“I dive into my creative self. Over the past year or two, I’ve really been trying to go in and just be creative all the time. What I find is being still, and just having a moment and just figuring out what you really want when you sit quietly, close your eyes, and just focus on your breathing.”
With that, Lucas focuses on the things that pop into her mind and what is pulling her towards it. Once she identifies it she makes small goals to achieve her dreams and what she wants, whether it be about music or outside of performing.
“I break down whatever that is into tiny micro goals. I have a big dream. It’s always the dream to be some huge band that tours the world, and we all want that. But you have to break it down into tiny little goals. For example, I’m going to try to write a song or practice piano for 45 minutes. The biggest advice I would give is to try to quiet your mind and see what comes out of it because it can be surprising sometimes with what will come out of there, and what you want to do.”
“I have other things that I love to do outside of music, but I like to try to figure out how to connect them together. For each human, I think you have various things that you love and you’re drawn to. How can you put them together to create some kind of life that you want to live? Not just do what people tell you to do or expect you to do.”
Modern Moxie, as performers on and off stage, are an inspiration for others to find their passion in what they love doing, as well as getting to know oneself in order to be better and to find their flair. The band itself means so much to Lucas, as well as to Harry, Phil, Chris, and Charlie, and they continue to keep making music, achieve their goals, and push forward to their dreams, individually and as a band.
“Modern Moxie to me is pushing forth with what you have. I want people to know that if you have some kind of art inside of you, if you have a desire to do that, if you see people on stage and you just have this feeling that you want to get up there, you can do it. That’s what I’m trying to get across with the band, and maybe ignite a little creative spark in people, you know, that you can do it if you want to do it, and you don’t have to do what everybody else is doing.”
