The Drunken Unicorn: The Gun Party will be at the Drunken Unicorn on Wednesday, March the 2nd

Gun Party will be headlining the Drunken Unicorn on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011.

From the pits of Georgia comes an eclectic hornet's nest of melodic mayhem. A fusion of indie dance rock and daddy issues, Gun Party has been known to cause uncontrollable seizures of dance.

Gun Party on Facebook

Modern Paranoia are the third performer of the evening.

Atlanta quintet Modern Paranoia sets sail to the uncharted waters of the music industry with their smash hit single “I’m A Bird” in the year 2011. Five different individuals from different corners of the Atlanta music scene come together with the one common goal, making a new brand of music for Alternative Radio.

Six years ago, a then 13-year-old drummer, Tanner Hendon, met a then 14-year-old guitarist, Clay Houle, through mutual friends. Two bands and 3 lead singers later, they now have created the brand of music they call Modern Paranoia. From the dark stages of heavy metal clubs to the corners of coffee houses for singer song writers and even opening for Velvet Revolver, the two finally found solace in the soaring vocals of Quinton Tolbert a/k/a Q (lead vocals).

Let’s rewind a little. Hendon (drums) and Houle (guitar) actually met their 3rd member, Joel Williams (guitar), at a battle of the bands event at Atlanta’s legendary music establishment Smith’s Olde Bar. Williams, a former member of The Zac Brown Band, was a well-known guitar player and sometimes a gun for hire in the Atlanta music scene. The chemistry between the 3 young musicians was undeniable and soon Williams agreed to join Hendon and Houle.

Next came Marshall Coats. While Hendon was taking an after school job at the famous and historic Atlanta music store, Atlanta Discount Music, he became friendly with the owner’s son, Marshall Coats (bass, keys). “Marshall was definitely the next piece of the puzzle we needed “, says Hendon. “He could play so many different instruments and his knowledge of music, gear and technology was insane”. “

A few weeks later Hendon was invited to a dinner at a friend’s house and the friend mentioned that there might be a gig the band could do at The Sundance Film Festival. Hendon thought to himself, that can be really cool, but then his friend said “the gig is actually opening for the band Velvet Revolver”. It was early 2008. Tanner left his friend’s place, called the boys and gave them the news. They found a lead singer and 10 days later they were opening for Velvet Revolver in Utah.

The band, then called Soul Stash, found their voice in the vocals of Chris Bartlett (formerly of the band Thelonius). The new partnership wasted no time and jumped in the studio to record their first self titled LP, “Soul Stash” with veteran producer David Tickle (U2 , Prince , Berlin , Blondie) and mixed by the A list mixer Chris Lord-Alge (STP, Green Day, Paramore, My Chemical Romance ) .

Recording and touring for the rest of 2008 and 2009, they had modest success with their first single “ 99 “ on Alternative radio. The band decided to take their new learned experiences back to the studio once again for their second LP. Like many partnerships or musical groups, the boys had grown up fast in the past year and a half and somehow the four members did not share the same musical vision and direction as their lead vocalist Chris Bartlett.

Hendon says “Naturally we were hurt a bit; we had been a family for over a year and had worked really hard to get to this point. We were also fortunate to catch some good breaks, but then reality set in and we all decided it’s best for everyone to go their own ways to achieve future success.”

Hendon, Houle, Williams and Coats then held an open audition for lead vocalist by advertising everywhere, including on Craigslist. The response was over whelming. After days of auditioning and screening their next voice for the band, they met Quinton Tolbert a/k/a “Q” and offered him the gig right away. Tolbert accepted with out hesitation and the new chemistry was undeniable. “Naturally there were some rough patches”, Q (lead vocals) mentions, “learning the old songs, writing new songs and having to fit my musical style with the band’s musical style in a short time was a little stressful …, but we got through it.”

In Spring of 2010 Soul Stash members, Tolbert (lead vocals) Hendon (drums), Houle (guitar), Coats (bass and vocals), Williams (guitar), decided to give the band a fresh name before heading to studio and working on the second EP titled “I’m A Bird”.

The out come was “Modern Paranoia”.

Modern Paranoia recorded its second EP with the help of young Atlanta producer Wyatt Oates at Tree Sound Studio’s in their home town of Atlanta. They then enlisted the help of another Atlanta music veteran, producer Dan Hannon (Manchester Orchestra) to help them record 3 new tracks, but the band was still in search of that special song and sound. It seemed like the band was growing musically faster than they could lay the songs down or record them. Finally that magical moment arrived, a demo by the name of “I’m A Bird “.

Modern Paranoia wasted no time and took the song to the world famous producer Dallas Austin (No Doubt, Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, Duran Duran, Fishbone). They felt Dallas’s know how of modern rock, pop and rhythm is exactly what they needed. Modern Paranoia was not wrong. The final product, the single “I’m A Bird”, mixed by Platinum mixer Mark Needham (The Killers) and mastered by Stephen Marcussen (Audio Slave, Korn, 3 Doors Down) is an undeniable Alternative dance smash.

In 2011 Modern Paranoia will continue promoting their 2nd EP, I’m A Bird. The single “I’m A Bird” is already capturing the attention of Alternative Specialty Show Programmers all over the US and winning Specialty Show battles night after night. Next for the band is a college radio campaign, followed by a national tour and then the release of their second single “I know”. The band is on the Atlanta indi label Madison Records and is managed by Fontanell Management (Collective Soul, Rehab, Brooks Buford, The Weaving).

Hendon (drums) says, “I guess every band comes together with a different story, I think ours happened over dinner.” ………

Modern Paranoia on Facebook

Lindsey & Jack Topht with The Vegetables will be performing second.