Meet Jon Modaff | Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jon Modaff and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jon, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking, while inherently against every fiber of my being, has consistently proven to be fruitful within my life and career. I feel like there is always a calculated amount of risk taking that is both inevitable and required in personal growth. I think this growth in turn helps perpetuate the natural evolution of self which yields new chapters in creativity, career and general life philosophy. In short – despite the sometimes horrifying element of risk taking, I feel like it’s completely necessary to pushing the envelope of self.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
If there were to be any certain aspect of what sets me apart from others musically, I’d say it could probably be found in my composition process. I’ve tried my hand at so many genres over the years and that used to be something I considered a fault, especially comparing myself to others who creatively found their identity in a singular genre or art form. What I’ve come to realize is that how I compose now has been molded from this weird conglomeration of how I produced music from these varying genres over the years. For instance, having made more hip-hop based “beats” or electronic drum-heavy music in the past, I still use a version of those methods of drum production on my current live-band solo project, which is seemingly off the beaten path compared to my peers. I’m proud of being able to accept and foster whatever this strange mixture of influence has become and how it inherently sets me apart from others – both sonically and in terms of work-flow.

I feel like I got to where I am today professionally through grinding my teeth with my aforementioned musical comrades in the swaying musical scene of eastern Kentucky. Particularly, having helped paved a way for a more prevalent “psych-rock” scene with my band Sweet Country Meat Boys in Lexington, KY. At the time that we were starting to shape a very distinctive sound, which was and is predominantly instrumental music, we started to implement track-based visual content that was audio-reactive. I really think having this element to our live shows set us apart from the majority of those playing in KY at that time. The live-show experience that we offered allowed us to become direct support for a lot of touring bands that would hit KY through their run and this inevitably allowed for some amazing networking opportunities. This was all happening between 2014 – 2018. Fast-forward to 2020 and I had taken the plunge of transplanting to L.A. and was playing with some of the folks that SCMB had the pleasure of opening for years back. It was all very serendipitous and I’m so grateful that things have panned out the way that they have.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend was visiting the area and I wanted to show them the best time ever I would start by hitting all the essential spots here in L.A. before heading out of the city. We’d have to hit some must-have cuisine so we’d probably go to the Happy Taco truck beside my place in East Hollywood just to start them off with some of that taco-truck charm you can only find in L.A. We’d have to hit The Prince in Korea Town for the amazing old-school environment and their kimchi pancakes – truly unmatched! Obviously we’d be cruising through Arroyo Records to do some crate-digging, hit up the legendary Future Music down the road and then maybe hop on over to Zebulon for a live-show (in my opinion, one of the best spots in L.A. for local musicians and music lovers alike!). Throwing a hike up to Griffith Observatory from my place somewhere in the mix would be a must as well. I’d be equally excited to show my best friend some of the amazing spots that can be found outside of L.A. A couple days spent traversing through the Sequoias in Sequoia National Park would be essential. Travel back down south to Joshua Tree and spend some time in the desert while ending out our trip at Pioneertown’s esteemed Pappy & Harriet’s. We’d roll back L.A. way and a little further west until we hit El Matador beach in Malibu and explore the otherworldly rock formations on the edge of the shore. I truly feel like there is never enough time to fit in all SoCal has to offer! So many magical places.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I feel like a foundational dedication to my career as a musician is due to both my parents. I was extremely fortunate to grow up in a household of musicians and this had such a profound influence on my musical interest and the ability to exercise creativity. There are countless friends and musicians whom I’ve learned to play with over the years – they all deserve a special shoutout for helping me understand and exercise the sculpting of sound. For the sake of naming names, here we go: Alex Parkansky, Caleb Cornett, Brandon Colvin, Mark Taylor, Aaron Todd and Thomas Albert. Growing up as a musician in eastern Kentucky definitely led to an interesting array of musical appreciation and I think each of those individuals held a special moment in that process of figuring out what we all wanted to do musically. Having since moved to Los Angeles, there has been a whole new chapter in my career. I feel like I owe a special dedication to the folks in Frankie & the Witch Fingers and Hooveriii for letting me gain a true taste of what it is to be a professional touring musician. I’ve been very fortunate to end up in the creative circle I’m in now and it has definitely led to opportunities I never thought possible. I’ve got nothing but infinite thanks to everyone that has helped shape my musical journey along the way.

Website: https://jmodaff.bandcamp.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jmodaff/

Other: https://linktr.ee/jmodaff

Image Credits
Jenny Baumert, Alex Bulli, Ken Pappanduros, Brady Harvey