Interview with Modern Day Escape

Foto: Modern Day Escape
Modern Day Escape

September 6, 2012 | Music ist a very personal matter, especially for Modern Day Escape's lead singer James Vegas. myFanbase had the opportunity to talk to James about the band and their music.

Note: © myFanbase 2012 - The interview is exclusive to myFanbase and may not be published on other websites or the like. You may share the first 2 questions or up to 160 characters if you link back to this site. Translations other than English and German may be posted with full credit including the writer's name and link to this site.

1. How would you describe your music in one sentence?

I'll do one word, "Underrated".

2. Was there something like a light bulb moment when you were young, maybe a concert, a certain song or a record that made you dream about a career as a musician?

I think, it was when I was younger, about 13, I remember hearing and watching my best friend's grandfather play guitar along with a Neil Young's "The Harvest" record and I wanted to do what he did, in front of people. Except I ended up being better at singing than a guitarist.

3. Are there any artists that might have influenced you or inspired you some time?

Definitely, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace) Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach) Chino Moreno (Deftones) Bert Mccracken (The Used) Matt Shadows (A7X) Micheal Hutchence (INXS), to name a few.

4. How do you develop your songs? What part comes first, music or lyrics?

Each song we create is a beast of its own, we usualy start with what we call "seeds" and go from there. A- "seed" can either be a guitar riff, or a vocal melody and we build off those.

5. What song is most important to you? Why and how did it develop?

That's really hard to determine honestly, it would be a tie between "The Voiceless" or "The Syndicate". Becuase "The Voiceless" is my cry-out to other victims of thoughts or attempts at suicide, I myself was a victim of depression and self-loathing and I want them to never feel like there alone in that battle. And "The Syndicate" for our fans or anyone else who has been pushed around or called a freak, a loser or ugly or fat or gay, it's their anthem, it's our anthem, we stand up for each other, we are family, UNITED WE ARE THE SYNDICATE.

6. In what aspects did your music change compared to when you started to make music?

More than I can express, our music has grown and folded and refined like a sword made for battle. I always say "if you wanna make a diamond, you gotta crush a few rocks". We have lost a lot of people in and out of this band, but it's opened up our eyes to so many new musical ideas and influences.

7. What has been the best experience so far as a musician?

The fact that we are still together as a band and as a family and able to make music and that is actually helping people, I think is the best experience we could have together.

8. What can you tell us about your current projects?

Foto: Modern Day Escape - Copyright: Daniel Dare
Modern Day Escape
© Daniel Dare

I don't know what you mean by current projects?? I personally have a side project I have in the works at the moment. As for Modern Day Escape, we are gearing up to write a new record and tour as much as we can.

9. And what are you aspiring to in the future, what do you want to achieve?

I would personally like to tour a few other countries in the next two years.

10. With whom would you like to go on tour?

Probably anyone, we're not a very picky band when it comes to bands we tour with, we have played with all genres.

11. What record would we find in your CD-player right now?

My friend's band Fake Figure's "Hail the Sycophants", it's a bad-ass record, my favorite song is probably "Something Deadly". Check it out. Or Micheal Jacksons "Thriller" or Three Days Grace' "Life Starts Now", I've been jamming these records for a little bit.

12. What do you think, as artists, about platforms like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace?

Do people still use MySpace? And as for the rest of it, I personally could care less about it. The only thing it's good for is keeping in touch with fans. If it wasn't for Modern Day Escape, I'd be off the grid.

13. myFanbase is a website that is devoted to American television shows. Do you have a favorite show?

I have to check that site out, as for a favorite, I don't watch television much, but when I do it's usually "Doctor Who", "True Blood", "Gossip Girl". TV rots your brain!

Thank you very much for your time and effort!

No , thank you and thanks to all our German fans.

Ignat Kress - myFanbase

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