Today we’d like to introduce you to Modern Pasta.
Modern, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Our guitarist, Tim Luechtefeld, and bassist, Josh Zinck, were childhood friends and shared an interest in music. Both grew up in Mascoutah, IL, and met Chesney Cox, drummer, as teenagers. Tim and Josh played in a few other bands before reuniting with Chesney in 2022. We hit the ground running and started playing out where ever we could. We started trying our stuff in a jam space at the old Lemp Brewery, as well as the open mic night at The Conservatory in Alton. We’ve been playing around just under two years. Tim received an offer from an old work friend to play at Trinity River Festival 2023, our first show, thanks Ray and April! After that, we got an invite to Bushfest in Alton. then a series of other venues around the metro area including: The Heavy Anchor, The Red Flag, The DuckRoom at Blueberry Hill, The Moshmellow, and CBGB. We are currently looking at some opportunities in some of the neighboring states so we can start booking some weekend tours during 2025.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Plenty of struggles; After a few years without gigs, we worked out a few hours of covers for the first gig, in what seemed like forever. But, that was unexpectedly canceled. After that we decided to go out and play wherever would let us, and ultimately ended up putting on our own show. However, most of our cold calls with venues went unanswered. The chance to play TRF helped a lot, because once we played out, we finally had some footage of us, and were able to book another show promptly following each performance.
We still ran into issues with shows falling through, promoters blowing smoke, and venues closing. Even getting venues to reply can be tough; there’s a lot of stiff competition in St. Louis. We’ve been fortunate in how well we are received by the venues and crowds we play for, and how generously “word-of-mouth” buzz has seemed to help us along the way.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We like to call ourselves an Alt-Jam band. All of us grew up listening to 90s and 2000s rock and it shows in a lot of our writing, but Tim and Josh became infatuated with the jam band world after high school. Our influences include jam bands like Umphrey’s McGee and The Werks, but also the bands from our childhood like Breaking Benjamin, Coheed and RHCP. We love to work in improvisations from any genre we’re feeling into the songs we play live. As a power trio we have a lot to prove in the jam world, but we work hard to add wide soundscapes and a big energy to our shows. The band practices nailing transitions and changes that help us weave in jam elements into our more Alternative songs.
What’s next?
We are really looking forward to recording and publishing some of our material; as well as getting out of our comfort zone and playing in some surrounding states. We’re also working on adding some more electronic elements to our sound. Once we get our music out on some streaming platforms, who knows where our biggest draw could be. We’re open to anything, and having a ton of fun doing what we can right now; so we’re all looking forward to whatever the future brings.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Instagram.com/mopamusic314
- Facebook: Facebook.com/mopamusic314
- Youtube: YouTube.com/@mopamusic314
