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 Athens, GA pop/rock group Modern Skirts plays at 1982 Bar tomorrow (Oct. 28.) Before hitting up Gainesville, the band's keyboard player, bassist and vocalist, JoJo Glidewell, talks to INsite about the perils of being on tour, androgyny and partying way too much. Want to win free tickets? Keep reading!
By Jon Silman 
Are you guys on the road right now?
Yeah, we’re heading up to New York by way of Virginia right now. Tell me about the name. Why are you guys called the Modern Skirts?
[laughing] Kind of by default. When we thought of the name we just kind of voted and it wasn’t everybody’s favorite name, but it was the one we all agreed on. What were some names the band rejected?
Umm, uh, oh God. Let me think for a second. I remember one. Somebody’s favorite was Super Stars With the Bible. That’s good.
Well, we’ve all got biblical names. Then there was the Girl Pool. I think we were on this kind of androgynous kick at the time. Not physically, but just… The Girl Pool? That’s not bad.
Yeah, I was fine with that. Yeah, and [Modern Skirts] was the one we settled on. So you guys are from Athens. I’m surprised. You guys are from the South, but you have this sound that’s reminiscent of a British pop band. Any British stuff influence you?
Yeah, definitely. I couldn’t stand southern music. Southern rock and things like that--it was all around us, and people we didn’t like listened to it [laughing]. We got really into other things. British music was something that we listened to a lot. Any bands in particular?
At the time, like in Nashville, there was Blur. Especially our earlier stuff; the way it was constructed, I see a lot of similarities with that. There is still some of that mentality there, but Blur tended to fill up all the spaces with something, and we definitely did that for a long time. How did you learn to play the keyboard and sing harmony? Did you have any formal training?
No. I was in band and stuff. It was like my grandparents lived on a farm, and I’d just go out there and play for animals. So you taught yourself how to play the keyboard?
Yeah. That’s pretty cool. And the harmony just comes naturally?
I don’t know. We just kind of started doing it. I wouldn’t say it was natural. I wasn’t good at it at first, but we just kind of did it until it got right. Tell me about the origin of the band.
We grew up in two separate pairs. The lead singer (Jay Gulley) and I went to high school together and the other two guys (John Swint, drums; Phillip Brantley, bass/vocals/guitar) went to high school together. So we had been playing music in two different pairs for a while when we all started playing together. How did you meet?
We were set up. It was kind of like a key party date. We were not really doing anything but wanting to play, and a mutual friend introduced us by throwing a party for us. We just started playing it kind of worked out. How long did it take before you starting noticing you were having an impact or getting some fans? Was it your first show?
No. I don’t really remember. We drank a lot back then. You don’t drink any more?
[laughing] Well, for a while we were just playing for our friends, and we’d get free beer. At some point we just got a little more serious about it and started touring. There was definitely a show where we looked up and it was like “shit, there are 300 people here.” That was in Athens?
Yeah. That was before we’d ever really toured or anything. But it let us feel good enough about what we were doing to keep doing it. How do you measure success as a band?
You know it’s keeping... Well, okay. I’ll have to explain this to you because you don’t know anything about this stuff. We’re in this huge transitional phase right now, and we’ve got a record that we’re about to mix and it’s really, really different from what we’ve done before. That’s one of the reasons I’m having trouble talking about some of this stuff. We’re right in the thick of it right now. To me that question is really weird. You think being in a band forever is success, and it doesn’t really exist that way anymore. So this new record, we’re really, really happy about. Do you mean in terms of the record industry itself and how people are getting music?
Yeah. When we first started, record labels were becoming more obsolete and it’s just completely changed now. So we don’t get the record deal and become rich all of a sudden. To go after something like that just doesn’t exist. No, it really doesn’t seem like that’s a feasible thing. You’ve really got to love it.
That’s the thing to me. It would maybe be a little different if you asked the other guys in the band, but if we’re making music that you think is really, really, really great, that’s success. That’s where my focus is. If I’m not happy with where we’re at and what’s going on with us, my reaction is "we’ve got to write better music, we’ve got to be a better band." I just think it’s wrong to approach it like we need to do this record so we can get famous or so we can get money, but you just make what you make and if you know it’s really good the people who are going to get it are going to respond to that. At some point, that’s what success is to me - really, really just nailing it. It’s like you could have a lot of money and be miserable. You could be embarrassed of your band, and I never want to be like that. What about this new stuff that you’ve recorded. When you say new direction, can you give me a little preview or idea of what you mean?
I think at the heart of it it’s the same thing, but it’s definitely very percussive. More like that song DUI on your Web site?
Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. It’s not that we all play drums on every song now like that, but that’s that’s a really good example of what it’s like. Some of the really heavy reliance on harmonies has not been abandoned completely, but we don’t feel compelled to put harmonies in every song anymore. The songs come across in a more interesting way. A little less conventional. That, to me, is the best thing you can aspire to - doing completely your own thing and doing it as good as it can be done. That’s what you strive for. When are we going to hear some of this new material?
Um. We’re really moving into it pretty quickly, and that’s one of the things that’s been encouraging me to go along as well. It’s been incredibly well received for the first time playing new songs that people have never heard, and they just really, really react to it. Live is probably the best way [to hear it] for now. We probably won’t mix it until January, so it’s going to be a little while. Where do you guys sleep when you’re touring?
We typically don’t get hotel rooms because they cost money. I’ve slept in the van when it was below freezing. Sometimes it’s covering myself up with clothes. We’ve made friends through the years doing this, and sometimes it’s a floor, sometimes it’s a couch, sometimes it’s a bed. It varies. So when you come to Gainesville you’re looking for a place to crash.
It would never hurt to have more options. Nice. Well we’ll put that in there, we’ll find you a place to sleep. We’re very hospitable here.
Actually, and this is one of the things we’ve jaded ourselves into, if we’re as close as Gainesville, sometimes we’ll just drive home. Oh yeah. That’s about three or five hours.
No it’s more like seven. Maybe not quite that far but it’s definitely more than four. What does it feel like to be a touring band? Is it all you thought it would be?
No, I mean it’s it’s weird. Nobody really understands unless they’ve done it. I couldn’t imagine not doing it because there’s so much excitement involved with it, but it’s also one of the most psychologically and physically brutal things you can do. You’re constantly around people that you don’t know. You’re also stuck in a van with people you know way too well. Weird things happen - like seeing people get mugged and taking their clothes off. Driving all night, having to do things you really don’t want to do, like waking up at six in the morning after you've been out drinking or been out at the club all night. It’s a really weird combination - you’re occasionally having the most amazing night you’ve ever had, and then you're also really bored and really miserable. What’s been the highlight of your career as the Modern Skirts so far?
Honestly I think this record. [laughing]. It sounds so stupid being so excited about it. We’ve done and seen some amazing things, but I think that’s the thing that I’m the happiest about. It was really hard to make what we made, and it took a lot of us pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones. I couldn’t be prouder of anything that I’ve ever been a part of. Who in the band gets too drunk and needs to be babysat?
We’re probably all equal in that. It’s not something that happens a lot anymore. I don’t think I’ve ever needed to be babysat because I’m scared of throwing up. It’s kind of my phobia. I have this neurotic thing about it. If I get that bad off I’ll just go to sleep somewhere they can’t find me. The only time that every really happened was when we did the show with R.E.M. over in Amsterdam. Jason, our tour manager, got us to leave backstage before we made idiots of ourselves. So that was kind of a babysitter situation. Is there a favorite time-passing activity that you all do when you’re on the road?
We haven’t done this much recently, but we write our own Mad Libs and they’re really really filthy. Filthy Mad Libs.
Yeah. Like possibly illegal. Wanna say anything from a moving van in Virginia on your way to New York?
I suck at this question. Yeah, I don’t know [laughing]. I’ve been asked stuff like that before. I’m not witty. Anything I say like, “See you in Gainesville," sounds so lame. I don’t want to be that guy. If you could tell somebody to bring you a present what would it be?
I’m trying to think because there’s stuff that you find yourself without on the road a lot that it would be nice to have supplies of. What about socks?
That’s actually what I was going to say, but that’s not really practical. I mean, I have plenty of socks. Writing utensils. Maybe a book of Mad Libs?!
Yeah, maybe. Mad Libs and whiskey. Modern Skirts will be playing at 1982 Bar on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. The show is all ages. The Old Ceremony, Brother Captain & King and Neighborhood Watch are also playing. Want to win free tickets? The first person to e-mail
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with the answer to this question wins: "What is the band's favorite pastime on tour?"
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