by Kristin Chambers
Photo by Arielle Johnson
As soon as I picked up the phone, I felt the vibes of a happy, happy man - the voice of a man who just got off a two-month Warped Tour, exhausted and thoroughly stoked. Mod Sun – which stands for “Movement On Dreams, Stand Under None” – was back in his hometown of Minnesota, his Midwestern accent ringing merrily as he greeted my own with a giggle.
“I got off the bus literally like 20 minutes ago; I’m so excited!” he exclaimed. Like a child just home from his first day of school, he happily explained about his experience and how his self-proclaimed “hippy-hop” came to fit alongside hardcore and emo bands like Taking Back Sunday, Yellowcard and The Used.
“The tour was everything that I honestly dreamt of, because I’ve been going to Warped Tour since I was 13 years old,” he said. “I’ve done everything from sneaking in, making backstage passes, running on stage, so I had an image in my head and it was that plus everything that I can’t even put into words. It was the best experience ever.”
With a pop/hip-hop sound that rings with good vibes and a large dose of hippie free-love, 24-year-old Mod Sun (aka Dylan Smith) is on his third EP, the latest titled “Happy as Fu*k.”
And happy he is. This guy has nothing but good intentions, and aspires to be not only a musician, but a motivational speaker as well.
“Ultimately my goal in life is to get everybody in the world at the same time to smile for 10 seconds,” he said. “Obviously it’s going to take a couple of years to get the idea out and set up a date, but one day I will have a date set and will meet with all of the world leaders and I’ll say that on this time on this day everyone must smile for 10 seconds, and the radiation that would give off and the vibration that would come back is just crazy.”
Focusing on positivity in life expands into his music, incorporating 420 inspired lyrics with a side of vodka and lemonade. But no matter where his medicinal preferences lie, the tap into his guru side is free flowing.
“It’s all based on the fact that this is your life – you woke up this morning, that is a reason to celebrate, and you must empower yourself,” he said. “With the terms of it in this life I believe that you should want to have the greatest life possible and do amazing things.”
He added that the word “selfish” has been misconstrued through the years, and can actually be used as a tool to aid others.
“It is not to say you shouldn’t help, but once you help yourself, the help you give to others is so much more powerful…whatever you are thinking about, whatever you hold in your head, that is what you are going to get back. The universe is a totally unbiased place.”
Growing up playing drums and dabbling into whatever artistic and musical instrument presented itself, Smith felt himself drawn to words, reeling himself into the spoken art of hip-hop after touring for several years on drums with different bands.
“Speaking with my hands and my feet was cool for a certain amount of time, but I wanted to really branch out,” he said. “I always loved writing and words, and in school the classes I really excelled in were English and Art – in English because I loved words, and in Art because I loved painting words.”
“Right now, me and you are rapping. When I call my mom on the phone, we are rapping – we’re not rhyming, but we are not trying to rhyme. So I started to think, how much more people can I reach with something that anyone who can talk can do?”
When asked what really made him get into music, he told me I would probably never hear another MC/rapper with the same answer.
“Hanson,” he said laughing. “It was because I was a little kid, their age, and these kids were touring and I was inspired and motivated by them, so seeing little kids being able to do this made me stop what I was doing and play music.”
Another old school character featured in a couple of Mod Sun’s music videos may be recognized as Saved By the Bell’s favorite principal, Mr. Belding. “Mr. Belding (Dennis Haskins) is one of my best friends out there,” he said. “He is like a life coach, he’s a very motivational kind of guy.”
Smith explained that a mutual friend hooked them up for a music video called “Blazed By the Bell” in L.A. and they’ve hit it off ever since.
Smith has also been mentioned in several issues of Rolling Stone for a 2011 contest searching for the next big unsigned artist. Though the Canadian band The Sheepdogs placed first, getting down to #8 out of the thousands that entered was a great accomplishment in itself, he said.
Mod Sun has 115 songs out and available to the public, with all but 15 free to download at modsunmusic.com. Smith is getting ready to embark on another nationwide tour in October, but if you can’t wait for that, you can always catch him at the Cannabis Cup in September. And if you are looking to become part of his fan-base, expect to be called something a little bit closer to the heart.
“Welcome to the friend-base,” he said laughing. “There is nothing in life that is hard; everything is easy. Some things just take longer than the others. Make your mentality your reality, you can do anything I promise – and I believe in you.”
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