A pitch to the PiPress

Kathy:

So here is the thing: I would assume you’ll be running a precede featuring R.E.M. before their June 5 show. They have a reputation for playing great gigs in St. Paul. However, other bands on the bill – notably Modest Mouse – have never rocked the River City. Readers might be interested in who they’ll see (considering the 73 price tag).

So, I’d like to do an interview with Issac Brock of Modest Mouse as an addendum. I'm in the process of setting this up with the band's publicist (she said it shouldn't be a problem).
If Isaac isn't available, I should have enough ammo to successfully distill a story out of another band member.

Background
As denizens of rock clubs from First Avenue to Station 4 can attest, the band is, in many ways, notorious.
Their 10 previous Minneapolis performances, in the last 10 years, have run the gamut: eye-popping pop-punk-funk blowouts; truncated and drunken, drugged spectacles that ended with fans demanding their money back.
But they have never played St. Paul.
Every Modest Mouse show has its guarantees, June 5 will - in all likelihood - be no different. A literate, sweaty, frenetic and electric front man will lead the best six-man, two-drummer rock group, to hit St. Paul since the Grateful Dead rocked the Civic Center in '81.
Brockandroll
Brock, 32, has gone from living (and recording) in a shotgun shack, to having a beefy major label contract and an album (their most recent We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank) debut No. 1 on Billboard.
He's been arrested - not charged - for attempted murder and rape. He perennially gets in fights he can't win, and is well known - perhaps unfairly - for hating journalists. That is because, he says, many ask the same, recycled questions.
I, however, have done my homework and am looking forward to getting him on the phone. But who knows? Perhaps he will be in a bad mood– might make for a better story.
Besides:
In 2004, Brock started his own label, Glacial Pace Recordings, and initially signed a strong singer-songwriter (Twin Cities’ Mason Jennings). Much like when the Beatles began Apple Records, their anchor (singer-songwriter James Taylor) soon jumped ship. Jennings has since signed with longtime friend Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records label.
Nonetheless, Brock, guitarist Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths) and the rest are, no doubt, gathering material for Modest Mouse's 11th release.
Should be a good one ... let me know what you think.

Steve Pease is a reporter for the Downtown and Southwest Journals in Minneapolis. He lives in St. Paul's Capitol Heights neighborhood, subscribes to the PiPress and loves listening to great American rock music through vintage headphones.