Of mice and music

Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 1, 2007 at midnight

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Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock simply writes songs unlike anyone else. Distinctive, rocking, often oblique and insistently catchy, the tunes occasionally break through in the form of, say, 2004's massive hit Float On or the current radio favorite Missed the Boat, from the new album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. During the recording in Oxford, Mo., with a new band member, legendary former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, Brock breathed in the rural atmosphere and hit juke joints and drive-ins. Modest Mouse played Red Rocks on tours in the past ("It's a pretty place, man"), but this time it's headlining. From his home in Portland, Ore., Brock answered a few questions last week for pop music writer Mark Brown.

Rocky: I know you asked Johnny to join the band, but where did you get the notion he would? I first saw him when he briefly joined The Pretenders in the '80s.

Brock: It's kind of funny because I didn't know he'd played with The Pretenders at any point. More and more they keep popping up, people I had no idea he'd played with. At the time I knew The Healers, The Smiths and the Talking Heads. I didn't know he'd played with a lot of other bands. A lot of times he doesn't actually join the band, he just plays with them for a little while. So I feel a little special that way.

Rocky: How does that work, with him based in England?

Brock: He's full-on. He's part of the band now. We've got people on the East Coast; no more than two people live in the same town. It actually works out kinda good. When we were a band living in the same town, it was kinda easy to blow off practice. Now everyone has to fly to get together. You're here for a reason and you get motivated to practice, you know?

Rocky: I know you were surprised when Float On broke big. The new album premiered at No. 1. Did that surprise you, too?

Brock: I don't remember ever saying I was surprised that Float On did that well. It just wasn't what I thought much about. I'm trying to be as unaffected (by sales) as I can. When we finish up a record, I have to resolve to myself that maybe not a lot of people will like it. We have to be happy with the record ourselves. As long as I'm happy, whether it does well or not I still feel the same.

Rocky: You've worked hard jobs from a young age. Where did you get your work ethic?

Brock: It came from worrying about money a lot. Me and my brother - when we were 6, we were walking door to door, trying to wash people's cars and mow their lawns, collecting cans and things, stuff like that, to turn in for the recycling money. It's something that was always there. I work pretty hard musically now.

Rocky: Your lyrics are always very conversational, like you're talking to someone or explaining a story. Is that on purpose?

Brock: I've never thought about it. And I think it's probably better for me if I don't.

Rocky: You don't have a classically trained voice, yet you use it to great effect, much like Tom Waits can make much of his. How do you approach creating such a distinctive vocal line?

Brock: That's another one of those things I don't overthink. I'm not a good singer in a lot of people's regard. I'd have never won (expletive) American Idol or anything like that. It's just working with what I got.

Rocky: The album was supposed to be out in December but got pushed back to March. Did you do some reworking?

Brock: It didn't really get pushed back. They'd decided on a release date before there was a record. It just wasn't done and it wasn't going to be done. You can put any release date you want on something, but if that something isn't actually completed, it's not the record being pushed back, because the record doesn't actually exist yet. It's your expectations getting pushed back.

Rocky: You've always had complete control over your music. Is that easy or hard with the declining state of the music industry?

Brock: It hasn't been hard at all. On the label side of it, they don't know what to tell me to do. They don't quite understand the beast to try to direct it in another direction. They haven't really bothered us. It probably wouldn't go well for them if they did. We're very stubborn."

Modest Mouse

• When and where: 8 p.m. today, Red Rocks

• Cost: $33.50 and $37.50

• Information: 303-830-8497 or ticketmaster.com

Brownm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2674

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