Annie Vainshtein
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Modest Mouse will hit Vina Robles Amphitheater in Paso Robles on Sept. 24 at 7:30 p.m., ending the band’s long hiatus and likely relieving worried fans.
Washington-based Mimicking Birds will open the show.
The two groups began working together when a friend of Mimicking Birds’ lead singer Nate Lacy submitted recordings of his music to Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock. Brock contacted Lacy through Glacial Pace, Brock’s record label. In 2007, the two met in Portland and started collaborating as part of the label.
“We were actually practicing in Isaac’s house in the attic,” Lacy said.
Lacy and the rest of the band have toured with Modest Mouse three times and traveled with the group all summer. The current tour will double as a “mini road-trip,” concluding with a San Francisco show.
Mimicking Birds’ second album, Eons, was released in May.
“The first album was more or less a solo album,” Lacy said. “The main difference is this is the first time we’ve recorded as a full band so sonically, it’s a bit thicker.”
The band members hold close ties with each other. Lacy and drummer Aaron Hanson started playing together in middle school. After “spending a lot of time in the woods” and getting help from influential figures such as Joni Mitchell, Pink Floyd and Radiohead, a full-fledged band slowly emerged, welcoming new members and eventually going on tour.
“We’re buddies,” Lacy said. “We dick around.”
Modest Mouse has come a long way since their first EP, which was released in 1994.
Computer science senior and KCPR disc jockey Bradley Johnson is an avid Modest Mouse fan and will attend the show.
“Isaac Brock — the frontman — is an amazing lyricist,” Johnson said. “The words that he writes just speak to my heart.”
In additional to lyricism, Johnson is particularly fond of the style and intricacies of Brock’s voice.
“It’s kind of like alternative rock but it’s different, funkier stuff.” Johnson said. “The way that he sings is not like a traditional singer too, and I kind of like that — he just pours his heart out.”
Johnson discovered Mimicking Birds through Modest Mouse.
“They’re a really cool band, too, and I can’t wait to see them,” said Johnson.
Tickets can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com.