Out Of The Gray with Modern Mimes

Out Of The Gray with Modern Mimes

Modern Mimes is an American music duo from the wilds of Fort Lauderdale, presenting their own exhilarating brand of “future goth.” Featuring the participation of Adi Elcida Hernandez on vocals / guitar / sampling and Ernesto Paez on double neck bass guitar, the explosive collaboration is about to unleash a full length manifesto entitled The Gray upon the world at large. Time to discover the sonic world of Modern Mimes.  Read on…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Modern Mimes, and how long the band has been together. 
Ernesto Paez, I play the doubleneck guitar bass.
Adi Hernandez, I’m the vocalist and I play guitar, run samples and electronic drums. Modern Mimes has been together for four years.

Where are you based out of and what is your local music scene like there?
We are based out of Fort Lauderdale, FL. The local music scene varies quite a bit around here. It really depends on the venues. Wynnwood is a town not too far from us that has a great Indie and Hip Hop following. Fort Lauderdale has a fairly good mix of Rock, Metal, Punk and Alternative.

How did both core members of Modern Mimes meet, and what do you think makes this union work so well together? 
We met through mutual friends during our high school days. We have both been in many bands in the past but it wasn’t until a little while after we got married that we started writing music together. We found out that we had a ton of chemistry when it came to songwriting. Although our musical tastes and backgrounds are quite different, we found that blending both of our styles works very well.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the album title The Gray?
In summary The Gray is symbolic of the place between conscious and unconscious; a state of limbo; the landing ground between this reality and other realities.

What inspired the lyrics for your recent single Stare?
Stare was definitely a venture into new territory for us. It is the first song that we had the pleasure to have a guest writer on. The incredibly talented writer and producer Chris Stanley shared this song Stare with us and we thought it was great. We took on Stare as a challenge and put our own spin on it.  The lyrics resonated with me in the sense of how I feel as an artist and a flawed human, all we can do in this world is give it our best.

Select any other song from The Gray album and what inspired the lyrics.
I think if I had to choose only one song that the world would ever hear off this album it would be Mind Lies. It is one of the more positive and uplifting songs I’ve ever written which explains why it seemed to be one of most challenging. I’ve battled with depression most of my life and when I got into a bad car accident 2 years ago, it put some things into perspective. At first I felt immense gratitude to be alive and really had no doubt in my mind I was being protected by a higher power. But after some time, my mind wandered into the abyss. For whatever reason I have these moments of unworthiness and infatuation with dark matters. Mind Lies is a note to self and others like myself to stay focused and not give into the dark lies your mind sometimes tries to feed you.

What made you decide to cover the Type O Negative song I Don’t Want To Be Me, and how surprised were you about the very positive reaction from Type O?
We were both on cloud nine when we heard that Kenny Hickey shared the video. Being huge Type O Negative fans, it really meant so much to us.   The whole thing started with the idea being thrown around for a few days. We brought it up to our friend and mixing engineer and a week later he had written a piano part for it. We figured, why stop there and kept recording ideas and finally laying down the final tracks.

What could one expect from a Modern Mimes show?
Intense high energy and raw emotion. We keep the intensity high during our entire set.

If Modern Mimes could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
Type O Negative. The fact that we both grew up listening to them are very influenced by their sound is all the reason for us wanting to open for them.

If the music of Modern Mimes was a donut, what kind would it be and why?
Hah, that’s gotta be the most original and odd question we’ve gotten! We’d probably be a vanilla donut with chocolate glaze on top, jelly inside and hidden mystery pieces throughout.

What’s up next for Modern Mimes?
Planning a tour for March/April as well as continuing to write and record new music. Possibly record another cover!

Any final words of wisdom?
Don’t give in to mind lies.

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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