Artist Interview: Modern Day Music

By Resonate | December 21, 2022

Words by Elina Pekkarinen

You would be forgiven for thinking that glitchcore, hyperdrill and digicore sound more like Pokemon or something from a Screwfix catalogue than a new music genre. Characterised not only by their maximalist production style but also by their unique aesthetic and, much like hyperpop, these genres found their genesis online because much of this scene, unlike many other genres, isn’t tied to a specific location. 

Modern Day Music is trying to change that and bring this intensely contemporary electronic music to Bristol. Commonly known as MDM, the collective started as a group of friends who all share the same love for music. They are made up of Freddie Skinz, Lightwurkk, Heyyitsbenji, Pppppawel, Rit, Invalid DK, Farella, Cloudlobby, Nox, Kojo, Abejisama. Resonate caught up with them following their first sold-out event as a collective at The Crown to find out more.

Who are MDM?

Heyyitsbenji: Basically, just everyone we hang out and make music with.

Freddie Skinz: It’s much more real between us because we were friends first.

Heyyitsbenji: Also, we are all into the same music and part of the same weird internet culture. It definitely brings us together. We would not be friends the same way if weren’t into the same music. A lot of it started to pick up over lockdown.

Lightwurkk: That’s a big thing. When people were cooped up inside making beats and doing vocals etc. Hyperpop, alternative trap, or whatever you want to call it, was all picking up. The internet was a big part of it because so many people were just chilling online back then. Now, if you look on YouTube, there are so many tutorials on how to learn and how to make beats.

Freddie Skinz: Also, Discord is huge in this scene. So many people are just sharing resources.

Heyyitsbenji: So many people make stuff from scratch and share them for free – loops, sample packs etc. I don’t think internet culture has ever been this prolific. People just make this stuff for fun.

Amazing, and how would you describe the scene MDM are a part of?

Freddie Skinz: If you ask any artist in the scene, they will probably give you a different answer. It’s just such a fresh, new thing, so no one knows what to make of it (yet). I probably would say that we do electronic trap music.

Heyyitsbenji: People in other genres have this worry that if they do something incredibly different, then they will lose listeners. However, this type of music comes from so many different places, which means that the listeners are open-minded. This means you can keep creating and there will be an audience for it as long as what you have made has a level of care put into it.

Lightwurkk: Many listeners and people making the music already make it a very eclectic genre, so it doesn’t really matter what you do. You can set your bars whether you want to go extreme or go reserved. For example, in MDM, we got have polar opposites in styles like Farella. Farella does dark and metal-influenced stuff, and then there’s my music which is  essentially ambient.

Freddie Skinz: Eventually, people will give up on labelling the scene. It is such a dynamic scene already. The umbrella term “hyperpop” includes so many sounds under it.

And you managed to bring all these styles together at your event at the Crown. Can you tell me a bit about the night?

Lightwurkk: It was really spontaneous. It came from me seeking out opportunities via people on the internet because I like their music. I have been into this music for years, so I feel like I can reach out to people with the simple understanding that I actually enjoy their music. It all came from me hitting up people and asking nicely to do a set. I thought as long as I make them feel comfortable here, everything should be okay. 

Freddie Skinz: The event also brought us more recognition and people started taking us seriously. Drux asked me if we had a SoundCloud collective name, so I told him that ‘I think we gonna call ourselves Modern Day Music after the event,’ and he thought it was a sick idea.

Tell me about some of the highlights of the night?

Lightwurkk: Like after the event, when everything had gone very well, and I realised that all the people there were so nice. It wad the best feeling ever.

Although much of your music and relationships exist on the internet, you also are based in Bristol. Can you talk a bit about what Bristol means to you as a city and how it affects your art?

Freddie Skinz: Bristol is definitely a hub for new ideas and creativity. I feel like Bristol society is just somehow ahead of the rest of the UK and is a lot more accepting than most places.

Lightwurkk: Bristol is always fronting different movements and being a kind of rebellious place – whether it’s music, art etc.

Freddie Skinz: It works in our favour pushing hyperpop. It’s already been done in London, but we definitely could have a good opportunity to push it in Bristol. The music that we do resonates a lot with Bristol with the sort of lifestyle we live.

What would you change in the Bristol music scene?

Freddie Skinz: Our only issue probably is that venues won’t really take us in. We have a lot of plans, and we will find a way to execute them in Bristol.

Lightwurkk: Yeah, definitely. They don’t really have faith in the ticket sales which I understand because it’s a new thing, and the potential might be hard to see. 

And finally, what’s next for MDM?

Heyyitsbenji: Meet more people, grow, and make more connections. 

Freddie Skinz: We are not going to be a one-event wonder. We are planning to do a lot more events and be more consistent in the future with that. Make Bristol a more solidified place for hyperpop.

Lightwurkk: For the future, just keep doing what we do with our events and getting people involved etc. If you are from Bristol and make this sort of music, we probably would be the guys to come to.

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