THE GENESIS
The year was 2013 – the iPhone 5 was released, Breaking Bad was the best show on television, and the formation of THIS MODERN BRIDGE began. The original idea was to have various Providence-based Indie musicians with different musical backgrounds come together to collaborate on an album, and the original lineup consisted of Todd Bianchino, Keith Benjamin, Matthew Richkus, and Sarah Smith. Over the years, the lineup has changed a bit and is currently as follows:
- Todd Bianchino (vocals, guitar, and keys)
- Matthew Richkus (guitar)
- Ara Ghajanian (bass)
- Todd Jessop (drums)
- Kristen McCausland (vocals & keys)
THE SOUND
The famous psych theorist Erik Erikson postulated the concept of Identity Crisis versus Role Confusion as one of the stages of adolescent psychosocial development. This stage in one’s life is marked by a teenagers exploration to determine who they are and how they fit into the world – in essence they are trying on different personas as though they are an article of clothing to see which one they feel fits and looks the best. A lot of teenagers struggle with stage of development well into adulthood, and THIS MODERN BRIDGE is proud to feel as though they are in this stage musically. It allows them the freedom and ability to produce different sounding songs and albums. Their music is very mood and vibe driven. At a superficial level, one may hear elements of some of that distinct Providence Indie sound, or hear influences from other musical genres such as Jangle Pop, New Wave, Post-Punk, Psychedelic Pop, and Shoegaze. But whatever you hear, their music is certainly a manifestation of the feeling that was experienced at the time when it was created or recorded.
ALBUM BY ALBUM
The first full-length album by THIS MODERN BRIDGE was INSIDE SPUTNIK. It was a culmination of psychedelic pop songs, which sounded like an intertwining of early indie-rock bands such as The Church, Sparkle Horse and Yo La Tengo. The majority of the album was tracked and pieced together separately DIY style in the band’s home studio, which they nicknamed THE BOARD ROOM. INSIDE SPUTNIK was self-released in 2015 through the label RED SUIT MUSIC & ART.
Their second release was the SWELL-EP (June, 2018). Although only containing 6 tracks, SWELL-EP is chock-full of upbeat melodic songs with influences and sounds reminiscent of the best underground psychedelic pop music of the late 20th century. The band wanted a live feel for the EP, so they tracked most of it together with only certain pieces such as keys and vocals being tracked separately. It was recorded between THE BOARD ROOM and MACHINE’S WITH MAGNETS (Pawtucket, RI), engineered, mixed and mastered by Seth Manchester (Battles and Deer Tick), and was again released on RED SUIT MUSIC & ART.
Their third, and newest release, was tracked with the help of Randy Hunicke at NEWCASTLE SOUND (Barrington, RI), mixed and co-produced by Peter Katis (The National, Death Cab for Cutie, Interpol, Jonsi, Frightened Rabbits, and Kurt Vile), mastered by Heba Kadry (Bjork, Rosalia, Beach House, Slow Dive, and Future Islands), and released on RED SUIT MUSIC & ART. We would like to thank Peter Katis for collaborating with us. Peter is an indie-rock legend and his signature mixing abilities can be heard throughout this EP, and we look forward to working with him again soon. This 4-song EP showcases a more seasoned shoegaze sound for the band and is layered with abstract shimmering guitars and synths.
The band now has their eyes on a full-length release and will begin work on it in 2025. We hope you enjoy listening to our music as much as we enjoy making it,
THIS MODERN BRIDGE