Modern Chemistry are still riding high after the release of their 2022 album My Battery is Low and It’s Getting Dark. But the pop-punk duo has found a new outlet to put out music, and it’s actually pretty fascinating. The two of them are going solo, but doing it together. How, exactly? The group split off into two separate solo projects called Brendan the Navigator (Brendan Hourican) and thepaintingcompany (Joe Zorzi). But the two band members say they didn’t do this to get away from each other, which is why the first release from the two new solo projects is a split single. New Noise sat down with the pair to talk about their unique new release.
So you have this new split out? That is really interesting. What made you decide to do this this way?
Brendan Hourican: I think it really was born out of both of us just having so much music and wanting more platforms to put more music out. I feel and this is a good way to just make that out there.
Joe Zorzi: Yeah, I think since the pandemic, I got a lot more into production and recording ourselves. And we did an EP that we did all ourselves, other than mixing and mastering. And we started realizing we have all these songs, a lot of different styles. With Modern Chemistry, we love putting out singles, we really care about that classic album feel, but then, at the same time, I’m working on music every day.
And I realized I have 50 to 100 clips of songs that, if we’re trying to make a great 10-song album, a lot of these songs won’t [fit]. And it’s not that they’re not good enough, it’s just more of maybe they’re not right for that exact project. So it’s a way to be able to put out a lot of songs that I’ve loved over the years that I’ve made that maybe just haven’t found their space yet.
And then I was getting demos from Brendan that were pretty much feeling complete, and with his voice on them. And it didn’t make sense for me to sing them. They weren’t like, here’s the guide vocal and then you redo it. They were really well done. And it felt like we should have a space where Brendan can really shine as a lead singer and frontman of a project as well without fully changing Modern Chemistry.
Brendan, on your track you’re dealing with a lot of hard truths about yourself. Can you tell us a little bit about what brought this song about?
Brendan: Like Joe was saying, when I was starting to write a lot of my own stuff and send him stuff, I was also getting really into all these artists that are hyper personal like Phoebe Bridgers and that’s what I was gravitating towards. And I think that lent itself to also having my own solo project, because it would have been weird to have these really personal songs that I wrote, and him sing them. But that’s just what I was getting into these past couple years. I just wanted to see if I can write something that helped me understand something about myself.
Joe, yours is a little bit more of a cerebral song. Can you tell us a little bit about your track?
Joe: I think that’s a good way to put it. I struggle a lot in my life with focus. I love focus. I’m always thinking about ways that I can focus more. And I think it’s something that we talk about all the time, but there’s just so many options out there. And there’s so many thoughts running through my mind all the time, that this song was, at least lyrically, almost like a collage of me just throwing intrusive thoughts at the wall, What if this, I feel this? What if I felt that instead. And then the chorus is just, I want so many different things, or I need so many different things. It’s nowhere near as dark and sad as some of my other stuff has been in the past with the band. It’s a little bit of a lighter approach to the subject.
So this is just the beginning of the whole solo project for both of you then?
Joe: Yeah, we’re looking at this as an introduction. Modern Chemistry is the umbrella and these are our branches of that. And we plan on going forward with that. We’ll have new Modern Chemistry projects this year; we’ll have new Brendan the Navigator projects this year; we’ll have new thepaintingcompany projects this year. And this is just a way for us to both be independent while still also being able to do it together. We didn’t do this to get away from each other; that wasn’t the goal. It was just to express ourselves differently.
Okay, so what’s next for her Modern Chemistry? Are you immediately going to go into more solo stuff; are you working on shows; are you working on more stuff in the band?
Joe: Yeah, pretty much all of the above. We’ll be both releasing more singles solo singles soon. And later this year, we do plan on putting out a Modern Chemistry mixtape, which will feature thepaintingcompany, Brendan the Navigator, then we’ll be doing some other Modern Chemistry songs with other friends of ours. We have a lot of really talented friends. And we realize it’s time to start working with them and start collaborating. Brendan has a new music video he just put out for “Animal” as well. I would just say keep an eye out. This is the beginning of a lot more to come.
Modern Chemistry has a Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter you can follow to keep up with future announcements. There’s also a separate Instagram account for each project: Brendan the Navigator and thepaintingcompany.
