Photo by Fred Morledge http://www.photofm.com
Best friends Kane Churko and Mike McHugh are no strangers to the music business. Having met 5 years ago, the duo known as Modern Science have been on quite the ride enduring most of the problems that plague the industry early on. Having built their foundations upon independence, creative control, and a longterm vision the band has managed to keep their heads up and their attitudes optimistic.
“Bad managers, shady investors, greedy band members, name changes, laughable record deal offers…we’ve been through it all,” says Kane. “I guarantee most bands would have given up by now, but it has only made us stronger and more committed to doing things our way. At the end of the day I think we’d both rather fail at doing something we love than succeed at doing something we don’t,” the 25 year old proclaims defiantly.
Albeit a little over confident it is no wonder that the pair are proud of their approach. In less than three years Modern Science have released a full length album on their own label MIMORTL Records which was nominated for a 2010 Juno Award (Canadian Grammy). They also have a brand new EP called “How The World Ends” featuring guest collaborators Del The Funky Homosapien (Gorillaz, Deltron3030), Las Vegas’s Reallionaire Jream and Lisa Scinta of YouTube fame. Their cover of The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” is currently playing in all Holister stores nearly ever hour and their debut single “Look Where You’re Walkin’” is still on heavy rotation on Sirius/XM and Canadian radio. The duo also plan to launch a clothing line as well as begin building a recording studio on the Strip in Las Vegas where Modern Science and MIMORTL artists will record exclusively. Even though singer Kane Churko has been busy writing and producing for other artists lately they’ve still managed to finish most of the writing and preproduction for their second EP this year and claim to have written more than 300 additional songs in the past few years that they are still sorting through…that’s already more songs than most artists write in a lifetime.
But what about the live show? Modern Science delivers an exciting live show that sometimes involves over 6 or 7 additional musicians. One can’t help but think of early funk bands such as The Talking Heads or Parliament mixed with the upbeat songwriting charm of Hall & Oates. In fact, Kane & Mike might just be the next George Clinton & Bootsy Collins. Working with a large tight knit group of musicians brings a fresh energy to the duo’s studio material and makes for a lively atmosphere that has become signature for Modern Science performances. Perhaps this is why they were asked to showcase at 2009‘s CMJ Music Marathon and are opening up for Good Charlotte & Third Eye Blind this May in New Jersey. Still the duo claims that “nobody has seen anything yet” and that in 2011 they will further be expanding upon their live show by featuring various special guests in their live sets. Bassist Mike McHugh says, “We want every show to feel different and equally as unpredictable. Sometimes we might have a rapper joining us, a local DJ or other artists that we are friends with. Music should be shared and we love to collaborate. We wouldn’t be representing Vegas right if we didn’t share the fun with our friends.”
