Modern Diet

Add Modern Diet to your collection of well-named bands. There's a number of ways to listen to this group, and all of them result in well-balanced aural meals. On the one, they are what happens to rock n' roll when it cross-pollinates with R&B. Sort of like The Dismemberment Plan if they went to more Phish concerts. But it's also a confessional of the most intimate order, cutting deep to the bone of what singer Jake Cheriff is concerned with. From the state of his bedroom ('Modern Diet'), to getting unexpectedly lost ('Lazy Beat'), their record 'Commuter EP' shows you all sides of this diverse three piece, from pain to joy, to fret-tapping guitar solos. - Deli Magazine

The playlist is updated ongoing and not only covering chart hits but the best songs from various genres (Indie, Singer-Songwriter, Soul, Rock, Electronic, Americana, Urban, Folk, Alternative). The playlist is designed to work in 3 ways: 1) Listen to it in the defined order, 2) Shuffle it like a radio (which is my personal favorite) or 3) Sort by “last added” to hear what’s new. For Fans of The Lumineers, Bastille, Daft Punk, Phoenix, MS MR, Passenger, Imagine Dragons, Robin Thicke, Vampire Weekend, Capital Cities, Tom Odell, Everything Everything, Empire of the sun, Haim, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jack Johnson, Sportfreunde Stiller, Cold War Kids, The Strokes, Youngblood Hawke, Beatsteaks, Kakkmaddafakka, Half Moon Run, Andrew Stockdale, The Royal Concept, Leslie Clio, Youthkills, Rhye, Robert DeLong, James Blake, The 1975, Darwin Deez, Tribes, Laura Marling, The National, Editors, Lou Doillon, Jamie Cullum, Woodkid, Claire, Chvrches, Eels, Queens of the stone age, Foals, Frank Turner, Adam Green, Ben Harper, Caro Emerald, Abby, Noah and the whale, Eric Clapton, Jake Bugg, Aluna George, The Family Rain, Biffy Clyro, Lorde, Son Volt, White Lies, Neil Halstead, Jack White, Foxygen, Janne Schra, Various Cruelties, John Mayer, Kishi Bashi, Beady Eye, Ezra Furman, Alabama Shakes, White Stripes, Current Swell, Daughter, Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers, Delta Spirit, The Sheepdogs, Chris Robinson, Cat Power, Feist, Bronze Radio Return, Vintage Trouble, Alberta Cross, Dry the river, Jack Savoretti, Ben Kweller, Donavon Frankenreiter, ALO, Ryan Adams, Muse, The xx, Beach House, Bob Dylan, Portugal. The man, Family of the year, etc.
- Digster Playlist Germany

For music lovers tired of bands who always play the same musical genre, NYU’s own Modern Diet offers a refreshing alternative.

Modern Diet, a band composed of Steinhardt sophomores Dan Hemerlein on bass, Jake Cheriff on vocals, guitar and piano, Lee Meadvin on guitar and Steinhardt junior Noah Hyams on drums, embodies the synergy of experimentation. From their stage aesthetics to the story of how the band began, Modern Diet is a conglomeration of ideas and sounds meant to attract every type of listener.

Modern Diet’s songs originated from Cheriff’s solo projects, which were translated for performance by a band. Their music also captures quintessential elements of the singer-songwriter style. The band’s focused and clear vocals illustrate the strength in connecting their lyrics and emotional arrangements with listeners.

Although the band formed at NYU, the four members previously knew each other through many degrees of separation and a few brief encounters throughout their high school years.

“Dan and I had met once or twice before coming [to NYU],” Cheriff said. “We knew we both played music, but had never really known each other besides that. But, when we both ended up in the same school again, I messaged him asking to start a band together.”

The four released their first EP this past spring and are now making plans to record a second EP, set for release in early 2014. Both works will employ a number of different genres, as is integral to Modern Diet’s character, making it difficult to confine their songs to a single category.

“There’s definitely a lot of jazz influence, and Noah is actually a jazz major,” Cheriff said. “We’ve been calling our music Indie R&B, but it’s a fusion of a lot of different genres,” he said.

Their unique style has earned them praise from other students.
“The vocals have a really distinct quality,” Gallatin freshman Felix Chan said. “I love the contrast of the punk quality to the singer’s voice with the calmness of the instrumental parts.”

Besides recording new music for their EP, Modern Diet is rehearsing for their upcoming show on Friday, Dec. 6. The band has performed many concerts in the past year at venues around both Manhattan and Brooklyn. Their upcoming concert’s lineup also consists of other NYU-based bands, including The Roofer’s Union, The Indecent, Nardomusic and With Snack, the winners of Ultra Violet Live in 2013.

“We’ve made friends with a lot of other NYU bands, and the talent here is incredible. So, coming into this semester we knew we wanted to plan a show involving some of their groups as well,” Hemerlein said. “We’re really excited to perform on a night with all these other performers, it’ll be a completely different experience from our past shows.”

The show is scheduled to be at Muchmore’s in Brooklyn. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. - Washington Square News

If it were up to New York indie band Modern Diet, the perfect diet would involve bacon, whiskey and scrambled eggs. The group are known to toy around with different genres and combine them effortlessly. They first grabbed our attention as they shoved indie rock, jazz and R&B into a blender and mixed it into a perfect musical slimming smoothie. Modern Diet is definitely a band that will adhere to all your tastebuds as no tracks sound the same are the same, keeping you guessing and wanting more.

We chat to Jake Cheriff from Modern Diet about how the lads met, what we can expect from their upcoming EP ‘Chemicals’ and what it’s like being added to the Spotify list. Margaret Tra writes.

You EP Chemicals is due to drop out in May, tell us what we can expect.

The new EP, due May 13th is a mix of indie rock, jazz, and R&B. We tried to touch on a lot of different content and vibes between the four tracks. "Let Me In" is more rock and roll where as 1822 definitely involves more rhythm and blues. Expect a mix of a lot of different genres with the same groovy presentation we delivered on our first EP, "Commuter."

How did you guys all meet?

Noah and I have been playing together since 2010. We went to high school together so there's some really deep chemistry there. I met Dan at some point by chance before coming to NYU where we ran into each other again. I met Bernardo through a friend last year and now we're roommates. We're all currently enrolled in the music department at Steinhardt (NYU).

1822 single got added to the Spotify list, stoke?

Spotify, we've found, is an amazing tool for music discovery and proliferation. Lots of artists attack Spotify for the apparent dent that it makes in their record sales but as a band trying to get discovered, I can't think of a better tool.

Have you guys been on any diets?

Bacon, whiskey, and scrambled eggs.

You guys have been doing a few gigs, how's that going?

Shows are going great. We only have a couple left before we all go off in different directions for the summer so make sure to stop by!

What stimulates your soul?

Coffee and music.

Want to hear more? - Stimulate Your Soul

Modern Diet is an indie R&B band based in New York City that just dropped their second EP, “Chemicals” this past Tuesday. The project shows impressive maturation from their 2013 “Commuter” EP which was also strong, if less cohesive. Closer “Umbrella Gun” is a particular highlight, but the whole project is well worth your time. - Pretty Good Music

Modern Diet, five New York boys, enters this blog with their latest tri-track single called Echo Parade / Little White Pill, although previously issued mini albums could be start to put pen to paper but I had gone astray in my own lists and writings, yet nothing's lost forever. As it is known, these guys are up to release self-titled album, and I know for sure this kind of intoned loveliness, acoustic guitars and smooth drumming in tutto alle grande et cinematic tracks, Echo Parade Pt. 1, Echo Parade Pt. 2, and Little White Pills, will crucially tune up your day. - CLOUDBERRY MORNINGS fka Click And Listen It

Modern Diet is an NYC-based indie rock / R&B group who fuse many different styles to create a sound which appeals to several listener demographics. Their new music video Drive is out today, a mere week ahead of their self-titled album (release date June 23). Watch away, kiddies.

The video begins with a suit-sporting bald man (complete with a goatee dyed red at the tips) driving up to a suburban household in a smartcar. He tears his clothes off (the hi-res cameras pic give us a great view of his buttons flying to the left and right) to reveal a wrestling outfit as Jake Cheriff’s vocals come in with some delicate guitar chords, just in time to release Brad the parakeet from his cage and greet a wheelchair-bound emo kid who knocks at the door. There are lots of oohs and aahs layered into the moderate-paced, driving (get it?) track as the pair of friends do cutesy things like communicating via cup-and-string and decorating a birthday cake. The production quality on all fronts is really fantastic here – I hear every frequency of piano, vocals, and drums that I desire, and the video is just beautiful to look at. Lyrically, I think I’m not supposed to ‘get’ what the song is about (a personal moment, perhaps?), and that translates pretty well into the weirdness / arbitrary nature of the video. Perhaps the most uplifting moment of the increasingly weird imagery is when Wrestling Man and Wheelchair Boy go outside the house and release Brad the Technicolor Parakeet into the skies in a flash of rainbow lighting. As the camera pans out, I’m left thinking, “Wow, that house has a shitload of garages, right?” - No Smoking

Our talented friends Modern Diet, a New York-based indie R&B band, just released their full-length debut, and it’s tremendous. With a more well-rounded sound and a bigger arsenal of instruments surrounding them, Modern Diet, is the group’s most mature and focused release yet.

Their sound still has a jazzy influence that is particularly prevalent on standouts like “Little White Pill,” and “Firelight.”

Cheriff has improved as a lyricist and a singer, too, experimenting with more complex cadences and deliveries. The rest of the band, comprised of Noah Hyams, Bernardo Ochoa and Dan Hemerlein, still sounds as tight as ever, and there is an undeniable chemistry that pervades every track. - Pretty Good Music

Changing it up for a minute: a little indie guitar rock by NYC-based Modern Diet. I don’t post a lot in this lane but something about this track appeals. I think ‘cos there’s kind of a 60s soul element to their sound, maybe? These still in college kids are showing a lot of promise, their whole eponymous album is pretty solid too. Listen to it HERE. - Different Kitchen

Indie combined with R&B is decidedly the most interesting combination I’ve heard proposed in a very long time. Not since Aerosmith and Anthrax decided in the 80s that it was time to add hip hop to their metal sound has a combination of two such wildly different genres worked so well. Modern Diet’s self-titled debut album definitely has the bounce of modern indie, but there is so much more in their tapestry of sound.

The album’s roster of guest contributors reads like the credits of a big budget CGI film, with over 20 musicians joining the four core members of the band in the studio. The resulting album is a shoegaze affair to be sure, but not to the point that it ever feels pretentious. There are moments where you’d swear you are listening to the Arctic Monkeys, followed immediately by moments where it sounds like you’re being serenaded by Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. Band leader Jake Cherrif’s smooth, lazy, and sweet yet powerful singing voice is key to the success of these songs. The thing is, when you hear the talent present in the core band members coupled with the minimal nature of the instrumentation on many of these tracks, one has to wonder if having this many musicians present on the album was really necessary. Often, the extra instrumentation merely falls into the background or disappears altogether. This is a band that is clearly capable of pulling this music off on their own, and they may be better suited to doing so in the future.

Still, this is an extremely solid release, and hopefully a wonderful way to open the door to more artists being willing to attempt this interesting combination of genres. The standout stomp of “New Waves” or the heartfelt album closer “Firelight” should be enough to convince you, and once you’ve heard those, why not just listen to the rest of it? - Bucketlist Music Reviews

Modern Diet’s brand of indie rock is just about as cool as possible. Jake Cheriff’s lead vocals are crisp and cutting. The layered tracks on Modern Diet’s self titled album show a sophisticated familiarity with rock’s traditions. Hiding harder rock stylings in the midst of a classic rock feel makes for an engaging album.

The featured track on Bandcamp is “Firelight,” a strangely-absorbing neo-classic rock jam, complete with great guitars and vocal harmonies. It’s part Pink Floyd, part Black Sabbath, and mostly just a mashup of sounds and emotions. “Your name burning in my sky…” It’s a place many of us have been; it’s as if no matter what you do or where you go, you can’t stop thinking about the person. Their image is as striking as a fire in the darkness. This track captures that ridiculously soulful experience with an exquisite rock complexity.

But back to the beginning “Come With Us” has a mocking silliness to it. The beat is happy and offers listeners an invitation. “We’re on our way to better days to whiskey waterfalls… I don’t know you but I like you… come with us.” It’s truly the anthem of a group of young people desiring to party and get away. “And it feels so good.” This is like the quintessential college rock band and a perfect college track. No plan – let’s just go chill and see what happens. I’m in.

Now “Echo Parade” is some of the most unique songwriting I’ve heard all year. I mean that. The instrumentation feels traditional, but they’ve created this bizarre ethos that really makes the song work. The strumming, snappy guitar line creates tension that allows the lead vocal to really soar. Even the subtle horn (I think?) helps to build an emotional rollercoaster. It’s up and down, it’s happy and sad, and it’s an adventurous, complicated track.

“My pretty little twisted commitment…” No, seriously, read that line again. That’s the key lyric to “New Waves,” a song that hums along with power and swagger. It’s about a relationship, but it’s also about what we all feel; it’s about that deep, churning feeling that any serious commitment holds. I love how the song highlights the drums and some fantastic vocal harmonies. Not exactly the same style, but the “epic” feel of this one really reminds me of 30 Seconds to Mars. I mean that as high praise.

The song “Drive” talks about “two kinds of blue” and for some of us that’s just a little too real. The narrative style of this jam is absolutely perfect. Listeners feel like they’re walking down the street listening to this one. It’s a natural for a music video. “I’ll meet you on the other side…just tell me why you drive to nowhere, nowhere.” It could be about running. It could be about loss. It could be about distance and fear. I think it’s about all of that and it really works.

The bonus track “Late to Work” is stripped down with an acoustic guitar and some real attitude. The way the guitarist nails the flourishes and that sweet minor chord progression; gah, what a powerful acoustic song. The song is about another passionate, important connection we all have to being in a situation where you just want be late for work the next day. It’s so amazing.

When you take this album as a whole, it’s a really wonderful collection of songs. Modern Diet have a genuine rock sound that is all their own. While I can name a few other bands they reflect, really they have that ultimate compliment that they sound like themselves. I am excited to continue to follow this band. There’s a genuine artistry to what they’re doing here that shows a fantastic melding of songwriting chops with music that also conveys emotion. Listen – and share them with your friends. - Ear To The Ground