Go Hardcore: Modern Life guitarist finds voice in the music

Northeast Ohio hardcore scene veteran Steve Andrew, who is the guitarist for local band Modern Life, has a new solo project titled Steven and The Damned. In this new project, Andrew has taken a spacey, dream pop approach to his music, which is partially inspired by early-1990s stars like Hum, Velocity Girl and The Smashing Pumpkins."The project is music; if I knew when I was 15 years old what I know now, I think I would have played music akin to this when I was younger," Andrew said.

Andrew has been playing in punk and hardcore bands since 1993, a time when he felt punk music was withering away and adhering to mainstream market standards. With this project, Andrew is reliving an era where Shoegaze bands like Catherine, Chavez and Starflyer 59 were lacing heavy guitars with dreamy vocals and keyboard elements.

To Andrew, huge nostalgic appeal exists with this new repertoire of songs. Andrew taps into his inner child, while still sticking true to mature subject matter.

"My music makes me feel like a kid again, but it is a compulsion of listening to music from the era of the early-1990s," Andrew said.

Andrew admitted when he first heard Nirvana at the age of 14, it was an epiphany. In Andrew's eyes, from that point, nothing else could build on the same intensity that Nirvana so passionately displayed.

"Everything that was considered punk at the time was so passionless," Andrew said.
Although he played in punk bands, Andrew did not realize the genre at the time. From punk, he moved into hardcore and played in Owaken from 1996 to 1997. From August 1997 to January 2003, Andrew played in the Christian hardcore outfit Vessel, which included Andrew Labedz of Realtime Digimob.

Andrew said he is proud of his former band Vessel because they took on the same approach that bands like Norma Jean, Underoath and Zao are filtering through the airwaves today. Andrew said Vessel was his most successful project, mainly because he and his bandmates played the music they loved. When Vessel disbanded in 2003, Andrew formed a project with Sam Buonavolonta, frontman of post-rock act Sam Goodwill. This group was called Blood is Fashion, which inspired a lot of The Damned's arrangements.

"Blood is Fashion was a heavy band we were trying to cre.ate into a melodic post-hardcore project. It never saw the light of day," Andrew said.

Blood is Fashion bore similarities to the odd, jazz-inspired time signatures of The Refused and International Noise Conspiracy.

"We transformed into solid rock music, instead of rocking the balls off of everyone," Andrew said.

As for his new project, Andrew's songwriting process is long and extensive.

"Not everything comes out at once. There are bits and pieces of songs that I have been writing for years, then something else develops. I track it out and then I rethink if I want to add to the music," Andrew said, adding that he has been working on some musical elements or ideas since early 2004.

Thus far, Andrew has recorded two new songs: "Dragged To Hell" and "In The Company of Skeletons."

"'Drag To Hell' is about a friend I had a hard time learning how to love, and we were in a stalemate on how to deal with each other," Andrew said. "The music, lyrically, is sang in a dreamy sort of way because that is the emotion I associate myself with and it encapsulates the end of knowing this person."

Steve and The Damned consists of Andrew and is open to whatever musicians would like to contribute. Andrew's vocals are quite similar to those of Smashing Pumpkins' vocalist Billy Corgan on the new recordings. To Andrew, this style feels natural and organic to him.

"I never was a fan of The Smashing Pumpkins, but people will tell me that I sound like Corgan. My voice is definitely in the higher range. I don't scream, but I would love to," Andrew said.

Andrew said the guitars on this material resemble the spaced-out qualities of Starflyer 59 and Hum.

"I listened to these bands a lot in 11th and 12th grade, but there are more songs that are unhinged that might be in the vein of Nirvana's 1988 single 'Negative Creep,'" Andrew said.

Andrew said some songs explore the post-hardcore territories of Drive Like Jehu, but he said he doesn't dip into their vibe.

"Drive Like Jehu is a band I listen to a lot these days. I wish that I would have gotten into them earlier," Andrew said.

Andrew said this project is an excellent outlet for him to voice his emotions. As far as the future is concerned, Andrew does not have any specific plans for Steve and The Damned.

"I will play anywhere to get my emotions out. It's a selfish music project, and a lot of people who listened to it responded with pleasure. They did not run away screaming, holding their ears. They gave me encouragement to work on it on a grander scale," Andrew said.