classic-rock

By Bethany Ivan

Photo courtesy of Modern Alibi and @drewfromcharlotte

Following many successes, such as releasing their 2023 debut single, Seventies, playing a variety of music festivals within Charlotte, North Carolina, and teasing new music, alt-rock band Modern Alibi is ecstatic to release their debut album, American Radio. The up-and-coming Charlotte band announced that the release of their new album will be on April 4th. The album speaks volumes of the band as they leap into a new era of music.

Lead singer and guitarist of Modern Alibi, Holden Scott met with Crowdsurfer Magazine, where he spoke passionately about the band, and expressed his excitement on the release of the band’s debut album and what’s to come later in the year. During our conversation, he expressed his unique take on the album, and the plans he and the band have for their upcoming album release concert at Amos Southend in Charlotte.

Crowdsurfer Magazine: I wanted to congratulate you on the release of your debut album, American Radio! First off, how excited are you and the boys?

Holden Scott: We’re beyond excited! We’re focused so much on this album release show because it’s the first time that people are going to hear these songs live. We’ve been teasing some of them at our live shows, but this is the first time that all the music’s going to be out.

CM: Can you tell me a little bit about American Radio? What was the inspiration behind the album? Was there something specific that you and the band wanted to express or pinpoint when writing the album?

HS: So, American Radio has a lot of songs that have been in existence for a very long time. I want to put my best foot forward, and what I feel represents the band the best. There’s a song called Boy You Better, which represented a time where I didn’t know what I was doing with songwriting, and I felt a little insecure about what a song is supposed to sound like. I never imagined when I wrote that song that we’d have this many people listening to it.

[The record] is full of old and brand new songs where I see it like a time capsule of this era of Modern Alibi of the past few years. I remember exactly where I was when I wrote the song, and playing them live in front of people for the first time. It represents us at this period of time. I’m sure in a few years I’ll look back at it and think about all the things I could have done differently, but I think that I’m going to feel very proud of where this is at, and I’m very proud of it.

CM: Kind of circling back or elaborating on what you said about American Radio being a time capsule of Modern Alibi, what would you say is the most unique thing about the debut record?

HS: The record is unique compared to what else we’ve released because of how old some of the songs are. If you would’ve told me three years ago that [Boy You Better] is going to be on a debut record, I would probably be like, ‘No bad idea. Don’t put it on there!’ Now, it’s something I’m proud of.

It’s unique in comparison to everything else that we’ve done. I touch on some different emotions and feelings that I haven’t before. We have a few songs on there that kind of branch out of that happy, style song with some more emotional tracks. I’ve been through a lot actually, but there’s probably like nine or ten tracks that I’m like, ‘okay, I really want to slip into this new feeling or mindset that’s isn’t the happiest, but yet still has a lot of emotion and passion.’ There’s a couple tracks on there that really play that role well that I’m finally happy with. It took a year, but especially with the ending track of American Radio, which is also the title track of the song, really plays that role.

CM: Before the release of your album, you have released two singles, Is Everybody In? and Scarlet, which for me, is my favorite song. I started listening to it at work and I thought to myself, ‘This is new!” I was just very surprised. Can you tell me a little bit about both of the songs?

HS: Definitely! So Is Everybody In?, and Scarlett have always been sibling songs, and were written around the same time. Is Everybody In? is more playful and not to be taken too seriously. It’s a fun song with a little fun storyline that you can interpret however you want. Scarlett is more of the opposite. It’s about jealousy, loss, and feelings of betrayal. It’s deeper. I love both songs. I’m so glad that you like Scarlett!

CM: And you said these songs will be on the album?

HS: Yes! They’re both gonna be on the album.

CM: You also mentioned that there will be an album release concert at Amos Southend. How excited is everyone?

HS: We are very excited! We’re practicing at the moment and we’re making sure we’re prepared, comfortable and confident. We’ve been playing these songs for a while, but this is the first time that some people are gonna know them, or some people are gonna know all of these songs. It’s a little bit of pressure because we wanna make sure we do the songs justice. However, it’s also taking off pressure because the crowd knows what to expect. For a show like this, where our hometown crowd is, and people who’ve been listening to our music, know who we are, who have come however long they have traveled to come see the show, they’re there for us. It feels like they’ve got our backs no matter what. We want to make sure that we do the songs justice, and give people a good memorable, fun experience.

CM: For the release concert, would you say that there could be any surprises in store for fans? Any tricks up the band’s sleeve? Maybe a few covers?

HS: Yeah! We have a couple covers in the works. We have our stage antics that we always love to do. I love being in the crowd, and I love jumping off things. We want to have an arc. We want it to be a whole experience, rather than here’s this song now now this song.

CM: For the album overall, what do you want people to take away from the lyrics and the overall vibe?

HS: I definitely want it to be something for everybody. There’s elements of punk rock, a little bit more killer style, emotional rock. There’s also some funk, elements of hip hop, experimental tracks, and even indie pop songs. I want somebody to find something that they resonate with the most. Lyrically, I want people to be able to take the lyrics of a specific song and figure out how to make that connection with themselves. And, maybe that helps them.

CM: You and the band have accomplished so much in the past few years, such as releasing your first single Seventies in 2023, releasing your first EP in 2024, and playing the Lovin Life Festival and the Charlotte Pride Festival. While we are still in the earlier months of 2025, there’s definitely so much to look forward to within the year. So personally and musically, what are you looking forward to throughout the year?

HS: I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with this record., I’m also excited to play these songs live and in as many cities as possible. If that means a tour, it’s a tour! If there were enough hours in the day and enough days in the year, we would literally make it to every city in the U.S.

CM: My last question is, is there anything that you would like to add overall?

HS: I’m just excited for everybody to hear the record. It’s interesting to me because as a songwriter, I know how the songs make me feel, but I don’t know how it’s gonna make other people feel. For the show, I want this to be a sold out show. It’s looking like it’s gonna be a fun packed full show. I’m very excited about that!

Be sure to stream American Radio on Spotify and other streaming services. To attend their upcoming release album concert at Amos Southend in Charlotte, click here. For more updates on Modern Alibi, follow them on Instagram, TikTok, and subscribe to their YouTube Channel!

Fans of the pop rock space may know the name Hardcastle from a few of their well-known hits. In 2019, the Nashville-based band was gaining heavy traction, joining The Band Camino on a sold-out national tour. Unfortunately, COVID impacted the world shortly after the tour concluded, and subsequently, the band. With the group going their separate ways, singer and guitarist Graham Laderman decided to realign with his artistic vision and set his sights on beginning anew in Los Angeles.

Since then, Graham has assembled a surrounding team, including managers, producers, and new bandmates, to venture into new musical territory. With a few upcoming shows and new music locked and loaded, Hardcastle is gearing up for a righteous return to the stage (and headphones). I got a chance to interview Graham at his recent Los Angeles show at Paramount LA and asked him a few questions about his musical journey.

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So before we get into it, you have to tell me what happened with your hand here.

Without going into too much detail, a car hit another car at an intersection, and I was sort of caught in the mess. I looked up, and there was just a car flying at me, and then everything went black. I didn’t lose consciousness, but I closed my eyes and sort of tensed up–when I opened my eyes the world slowly came back into focus and there was a ringing in my ear. I started checking my head after and was just thinking “Oh my god, I’m alive,” and I looked down at my hand and just saw a lot of blood. I had to get 11 stitches in my thumb and it kind of looks like Frankenstein. It’s very visceral when I talk about it, to be honest.

Wow, that’s insane. I’m happy that you’re okay cause that sounds like it could have been a lot worse for you. Obviously, you were dealing with a lot of shock, and then went to the hospital I assume, but how long after the initial hit did you think “Oh shit, I have shows coming up?”

Immediately. It was the next thing I thought about after realizing I was alive and that my head wasn’t bleeding. Still, despite the stitches and the arm brace, I’m just happy to be here.

How is it affecting the string of shows you have coming up?

Well, I definitely can’t play guitar, which is going to feel so different. I’ve played since middle school and I’ve always been so connected to it ever since I started. I’ve been building out my pedal board and started getting into a lot of capabilities for live shows, and it was feeling like a big culmination of a lot of years, especially now working with a five-piece band and really getting close to how things sound on the record. Now, it’s opened my perception to “Who am I without a guitar?” I have to really tap into a new area as a singer. A week ago I was thinking that I’d never put my guitar down, but I’m excited to get in touch with my power as a frontman and see where it goes. It’s a growing experience, for sure.

Right, I like your optimism there. Let’s hope that your next artistic change doesn’t come at the hands of an accident like this again though, yeah?

Haha, definitely. I like to think of it this way– you have this energy, and you can spend it in a lot of different ways. I’ve just been trying to spend that energy looking into what the opportunity is here.

I want to hear about being raised up in the Nashville music scene from a stylistic influence perspective, how does that experience carry on with you still?

So I moved to Nashville from Atlanta in 2016. In high school [in Atlanta] I was kind of playing this ‘Foo Fighters meets southern rock’, and I was just having fun and didn’t know anything about anything. I’d write half a song, and book shows and just make up the rest onstage, because I just wanted to play so badly.

When I made it to Nashville, I got into the songwriting program at Belmont for a year and a half before I dropped out, but I realized that writing lyrics was amazing, and that songwriting could be the center of gravity for the things that I wanted to do. I just started collaborating with a lot of people and co-writing with my bandmates at the time [Val Hoyt, Noah Christian, and Miles Laderman, Graham’s brother], and some early stuff with Old Sea Brigade [Ben Cramer]. I was such a hardcore The 1975 fan and got exposed to more pop music, whereas back in Atlanta I was kind of more anti-pop in a way haha. It just really helped to expand my sound and led to songs like “Back To You” and “Mundane.” We started to work with The Band Camino on those tours and show trades, and they’ve always been great at making those anthemic pop-rock songs, so getting to tour with them was a big influence. Somewhere in there though, I started to lose myself a bit, because I was trying to be so many things.

Yeah, being in a big music market like Nashville, there are so many different avenues a person can go. With Nashville especially, it goes a lot further than just country music, which is where people often stop at. I liked your term of anthemic pop rock to describe it, but there’s a lot going on over there. On to your LA move, how do you carry that experience over here?

The first thing that comes to mind is the power and process of collaboration and co-writing. When it came to writing the songs on the new record, I had some great help in my corner and narrowed the album down from a ton of songs. I also was just able to find myself again, which has been great. I was always the kid daydreaming in class about being out here in LA.

Is it what you thought it would be?

So far, it feels like I’m living that dream I’d think about when I should have been paying attention in class. A few months ago, I was in the studio recording a song that’s on the new record called “Down,” and I got to work with Rob Cavallo who’s produced for some of my favorite albums of all time, and I’m holding his guitar–if you listen to “Iris” or “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” it’s THAT guitar. We mic’d the guitar and muted the placeholder electric we had on the track, and I was literally living what I would be daydreaming about. I’m getting chills talking about it right now! It’s just all unreal.

Bring me up to speed with yourself, and with Hardcastle now– what are you excited about, and what has changed/felt new?

Over a year ago, I connected with Rob and Lisa Cavallo with Done Deal Management. Lisa has just been truly a life-changing mentor, and from the first moment I sat across from her at the table, I felt seen and encouraged to be myself wherever that takes me. I would start having A&R meetings with Rob which was crazy, and HE encouraged me to be myself too, even if it’s left of center. I was also in a place where I was ready and open to receive that kind of advice. Then I got back into the songwriting part and reconnected with the stuff that first turned me on to music, like back when I was a kid in the back of my dad’s car. I guess for a while, I had lost the connection to that ‘spark’–but fast forward to now after being in the studio, I have this record that’s everything I’ve ever wanted and that represents me and all of the people I’ve worked with for Hardcastle, whatever that entity is. I feel completely represented.

What would you like to tell Hardcastle fans about this new phase?

Overall I think it will be different, but it’s a return to center for me. You’ll hear it when you hear it!

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Through this band transition, Graham has kept busy under the Hardcastle moniker. He released the track ‘Malibu’ in 2023. Before that, Hardcastle collaborated with LA-based singer/songwriter Lorelei Marcell on a single called “Flashbacks,” releasing both a studio-recorded version, as well as a stripped-down acoustic version. 2022 brought fans 2 EPs– Hundred Million Seconds released in October, as well as One More in June. In between the EP releases, September 2022 brought listeners two additional singles “Holding on to You” and “Murphy’s Law”. While Graham’s strong songwriting and instrumental arrangement is present in all of his work, he leans heavier into the bedroom pop/pop rock genres.

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Currently, ‘Mundane’ and ‘Back To You’ are both around 5M plays on Spotify. Did either of those songs feel different during creation, and what are your thoughts on them now being a few years out?

When I wrote those songs, they both came as ideas while I was writing in my room on this $50 piano that I was borrowing from Val. Mikey Reaves, Val Hoyt, and Ben Cramer were collaborators that helped me fully realize ‘Mundane’. Owen Lewis, too, was a big part of the production. And then Madelyne Morris was my co-writer on ‘Back To You’. Although, it initially felt like those melodies just started coming out of me, kind of spiritually.

So you felt it right off the bat that they were special?

Yeah, and when all of those were popping off, it was everything. I just kept thinking about how lucky I was. After a while during that ‘lost’ period for me, the meaning and impact of those songs were sort of lost on me, too, but now that I got this going I look back on those songs with the same fondness and admiration.

I mean, that’s how I’m here right now! I remember I was put onto “Mundane” around 2020, and then have been sort of following you guys from then on. When I saw the show billing for Hardcastle @ Paramount LA I knew I could have an opportunity to do this chat here. It’s cool that those songs are part of the reason we’re talking now.

Exactly! That’s why those songs are amazing. I’m glad that they had an impact on people.

If you could tell past Graham anything, what would it be?

It’s clichè for a reason, but just keep going. Open your mind to new possibilities and give yourself some grace, and that’s really it. It’s a long journey, and you really don’t know how it’s all going to go. Earlier on, I thought I knew how it would all go, and that kind of poisoned the well a bit for me.

What about future Graham? What would you say to him?

Probably just to stay connected to joy. Trust that that’s a worthy investment, even if it’s something you can’t quantify or qualify.

Just to wrap it up here, and kind of a fun one to end on–who was your first concert, and best concert?

Oh, man! My first concert was Wilco with my family in Atlanta. I was raised on that band, and we saw them a couple of times in Atlanta. Every second of every day was Wilco, haha.

The one that jumped out at me when you said “best concert”–I remember Val and I camped out early in the morning to see Foo Fighters at Centennial Olympic Park. I remember the doors opened and we sprinted up to the barricade and got way up close. Actually, we tried to throw our demo CD at [Dave Grohl.]

That’s hilarious! How old were you?

I think I was a sophomore in high school. I remember thinking this could be our moment, like “Put us on stage right now!”

Amazing. Any other thoughts you had before we call it a wrap?

If anyone wants to bring us on tour, we’re looking to do that!

You heard it here first, everyone! Hardcastle is ready! Thank you for your time, Graham.

This was so fun, thank you!

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Hardcastle gave fans incredible onstage energy, thanks to Noah Christian (bass), Raul “Perro” Murillo (guitar), Aram Behshid (drums), Zeph Park (keys, guitar), and frontman/singer and interview guest Graham Laderman. Hardcastle has always had their roots in rock, but opts for an edgier sound that feels like it fits in your favorite 2000s alternative rock playlist on your iPod. The band performed fan-favorite “Mundane,” but left the rest of the setlist for their new and unreleased tracks, in addition to Perro surprising fans with a cover of the popular Spanish pop rock song “Lamento Boliviano.” Fans can expect Hardcastle’s new sound slated for release in May of this year, with the full record expected in early Fall 2024.