IN THE SPOTLIGHT: modernlove.

Formed in 2016 and hailing from Drogheda, Ireland, modernlove. consists of Barry Lally (vocals, guitar), Cian McCluskey (drums), Graham Fagen (guitar), and Daniel Rooney (bass). They released their debut EP, Monochrome Blue, in 2021, followed by Oh My Mind in 2022 and Nightlife in 2023, via Akira Records. They have also released a handful of singles, including their most recent, “Yours”, on July 19, 2024.

Their first ten singles are available on vinyl (link here). Aside from performing headline shows across their home country of Ireland, they have also played at venues within Europe and the UK, such as Scala (London). They have hit the stage at festivals including Bumbershoot (Seattle) and Truck Festival (UK).

Late last year in November, they wrapped up their second North American tour, including a stop at Café du Nord in San Francisco. Moments before the show, the band shared some time to take photos in addition to chatting about their beginnings and naming some of their go-to spots back home in Ireland.

What’s the story behind the formation of modernlove.?

CIAN: Barry and I have known each other since we were 4 years old. We went to primary school together, and I have always been a drummer. We have always bonded over music as children and said that we would start a band, but Barry didn’t really know his place in the band. He just kind of knew he wanted to be involved in it. I then met Graham there, and we used to jam to Nirvana, Van Halen, and just weird stuff we enjoyed playin.. Graham just asked if I knew any singers, and I was like, “I don’t know any singers, but I know a Barry.” Barry came down to our friend’s little shed, a practice space we had been jammin’ in and kind of sat there quietly. Graham was like, “Is he a singer? He didn’t like sing once.” That was right when we were finishing school for summer. Barry basically went off for like two months and learned how to play the guitar. He then came back a singer and a guitar player. We needed a bassist and had a few friends that played bass with us. We met Danny who went to a different school, and saw him playing around Drogheda with other bands. We went down to the skate park one day that’s in our town, and he was there listening to a band we liked called JAWS. We were kind of like, “That guy’s cool, we hope he’ll join our band.” Danny was listening to them, and we were like, “We don’t know anyone else who listens to them, so he must be cool.”

DANNY: I didn’t really know the guys at all. I’d see them about, and we were in rival circles. They sent me a text over Facebook, and were like, “Do you want to play in the band?” It took me a while to settle in.

CIAN: We were in different circles. The three of us had known each other for so long, we were such like a settled group of very good friends. Danny is quite a shy, introverted person. I think we could have done more to make you feel comfortable. Once Danny felt like he was a part of the band and we felt like we were a unit of four, that’s when the band really like started. So there were 2 or 3 years of the three of us messing around, and then a couple of months with Danny when we were finding our feet. Once we realized how good Danny was at production, and I think once Danny realized how like us he was, we all kind of came together.

DANNY: I think it was more um, when we started writing music together, that’s when it really like clicked. We were just kind of like playing covers as a cover band locally in our town. Once we started recording together, that’s when you have something you all share and have in common.

GRAHAM: I think it was like the first song that we tried that is a song that we still play to this day, “Us.” It wasn’t long after Danny joined that we hit up on that song and had like the facilities to record it properly. That was the first time we happened upon our sound and who we are as a band.

CIAN: We were so clueless in production. Danny came along and was like, “You can just do it on a laptop.”

DANNY: That’s all you need. All you need is a mic, a laptop, and Cubase.

Which song are you most proud of?

MODERNLOVE.: “Take My Head” is something I’m really proud of.

It’s one that I don’t really think of that much. But when I do think about it, it something that I think of because it was during a really tough time for the band. Not for us personally but because it was COVID when we wrote it. It was a dark time.

It was also the song that got us signed to a label. So I’m really proud of that one.

“Take My Head” is a really cool fun thing.

You released a new single “Plans” on October 4, 2023. What was the process of writing, recording, and producing it?

CIAN: The four of us all write pretty equally in the band. The song had come from anywhere, and I found that I was really in a writer’s block phase. I was trying to do too much with every song I wrote and then, I was sitting one day. I was like, “Two chords, two and half minutes.” The simplest thing I can do. I just wrote that riff on the drums.

GRAHAM: You had the melody of the chorus in the riff.

CIAN: It just kind of started in like forty minutes in terms of like the melodies. I was getting really annoyed that I couldn’t get out what I want to get out. I need to just forget about that and just go really simple, straight down the middle. Sometimes that’s what you need to do. You need to get out of your head and have fun a little bit.

DANNY: From a production standpoint, it’s like the same thing. You don’t want all these details that are unnecessary, and it’s just, keeping it simple.

BARRY: Yeah, what did I write it about? I think where we were like getting to with the band and like it’s how where we’ve gotten to with it. Things were changing for us. Yeah, it was like writing about everyday little things you do like plans to hang out or playing some music together, and how you do them with no thought. They then develop into these plans and life goals, and become what you want to do with your life and become bigger than that. Just in the same way every romance or relationship begins with a cup of coffee or something like that.

CIAN: We’re always like writing things individually with all different ideas anyway. If one of us is happy enough with what we’re excited about like an idea we’ve been working on, we bring it to each other. Everyone hops in and we’re bouncing ideas all off each other. It can come from anywhere. That can be beneficial in its own sort of thing with the recorded music. You have all the time of the world when you’re doing it in your own bedroom and the comfort of your own home with your friends and stuff.  You can just like play some video games for a while and then come back to it.

While on the road or flying, what are some of your essential tour items?

CIAN: Whenever you have a spare moment on tour, you just kind of fall asleep.

DANNY: You’re limited to what you can bring. Just bare essentials all the time.

GRAHAM: Well I’d like to bring an acoustic guitar. Something you can whip out in the van and play some music while traveling, singing a song together.

What’s your favorite food or place in San Francisco? Any places back home in Drogheda?

BARRY: Slices of pizza you get in New York. It’s always better here than at home.

DANNY: Tacos. We don’t have a lot of it back in Ireland. A lot of the Mexican food in Ireland isn’t great.

CIAN: The deli in Termonfeckin petrol station.

DANNY: Me and Barry live on the coast, so pretty much the beach in Ireland. Clogherhead is really nice. The Beach Hut is really nice. We don’t have a lot where we’re from.

GRAHAM: If you’re in Dublin, you gotta go for a Neapolitan style slice at Bambino.

DANNY: There’s this really nice wine bar on Camden in Dublin named Frank’s.

If you could play any venue with any artist, where and who would you choose to perform with?

GRAHAM: I would say Café du Nord with Yoste.

CIAN: Madison Square Garden with Taylor Swift. Maybe Harry Styles, but absolutely with MSG with Taylor Swift.

DANNY: I’d like to do the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Like Will Smith.

If there were a drink named modernlove., what would it be?

MODERNLOVE.: There would have to be whiskey in it.

I don’t know what the name of it is, but there’s this healthy aloe vera drink. We’re kind of a can of Coke with a cigarette butt in it. That’s our drink.

We’re like a fancy cocktail in a can that’s been left in a smoking area.

Which artists are currently on your music radar?

MODERNLOVE.: We’re kind of always listening to a lot of different things. I’ll look at my Apple music and see what’s going on there.

I’ve been listening to YULE a lot.

James Blake’s new album.

Caroline Polachek, Japanese Breakfast. Fontaines D.C.

There’s a lot of really cool Irish artists. Girlfriend put out a new album that’s amazing. Henry Earnest put out music in the last year that’s incredible.

What’s a question you have wanted to get asked in an interview? What’s the response to it?

CIAN: I’d like to get asked how I’m doing more, if I’m okay.

DANNY: A question I always wanted to know when I was watching interviews with artists is how you go about doing it, like what’s the most important thing you need to have to have a successful band. I think you need to just be able to do it with people that you love.

CIAN: It’s a tough thing to do, especially when you’re not making loads of money doing it. If there’s any musicians reading interviews with artists, they need to know that it’s hard and that it’s a tough thing to do. It’s really important you do it with people you like and that you do it for the right reasons. You’re not doing it for the money ‘cause you won’t for a long time, and it gets tricky.

DANNY: And do it for the art of it and because you love. It’s the thing you want to do, and you don’t want to do anything else.

A tremendous thank you to modernlove. for their time and thought, and to Maya for coordinating the interview! Stay posted for updates by following them on Instagram (@modernlove_band) and X (@modernlove_band), as well as Facebook (/modernloveband).

Check out more photos from the show below.