A Collector’s Edition

“Songs take on their own meaning as time goes on, and how the audience hears it or when the audience hears it really isn't up to me. All I can do is be true, vulnerable, honest, and real with people.”— Mod Sun

Jacket and shorts ISABEL MARANT, underwear VERSACE, jewelry CHROME HEARTS, jewelry DAVID YURMAN, shoes RICK OWENS.

Derek Smith of Bloomington, Minnesota. Rapper, vocalist, guitar player, pianist, drummer. Five studio albums, three EPs, six mixtapes. Artist, deep thinker, and extreme fan of fashion. And you know him as Mod Sun. Mod Sun is not your typical music artist. While many artists try to carve out a single space for their identity, Mod lives his life comfortably, but sometimes unbalanced, in the duality. Calm and chaos. Love and break up. Lessons learned and lessons taught.

To capture Mod’s penchant for the audio and visual, Vestal brought him to the Freehand Hotel New York for his magazine cover editorial. Located in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, Freehand New York is an artistic community of then and now. Housed in the former George Washington Hotel, it was once home to storied writers, musicians, and creatives. Today, it has been redesigned by Roman and Williams and features custom-commissioned artwork by Bard College students and alumni.

Featured in the images, you will see two of Freehand’s most prominent spaces, the Georgia Room and Bar Calico, both celebrating painter Georgia O’Keeffe with a southwestern flair. Georgia Room, with its cultural décor and disco ball, feels like the opportune location for a house party. Bar Calico has a more toned down vibe, ideal for a more quiet and personal rendezvous. The duality of the scenery lends itself to the complexity and evolution of the subject: Mod Sun.

Vest and pants ATELIER CILLIAN, jewelry DAVID YURMAN, shoes STEVE MADDEN.

Carl Ayers __ Mod Sun stands for Movement On Dreams Stand Under None. How did you come up with that name?

MS __ The name Movement On Dreams Stand Under None is kind of like what I knew I wanted to be the heartbeat of my message as an artist. My favorite artists always seem to have an underlying tone of something they stand for. And my whole basis of why I do this is being the kid who was told no a million times and had to understand that I could really only rely on myself. So, I always knew that what I wanted to stand for was the kids that knew that if they wanted to make something of themselves, they had to take it under their control and be 100% responsible 100% of the time. I played in bands growing up, and one of the big turning points in my life was getting kicked out of a band. When that happened, plus my life changed abruptly due to other people taking something from me, I realized that I wanted to start something that was based on what you can do for yourself and how you can make your dreams come true. I really believe in mentality to reality. And so Movement On Dreams is just whatever you're thinking of in your head, whatever you are focused on, it's an unbiased universe. So if you're sitting there thinking about the things that you don't want, you're actually asking for those things. You really have to train your mind to think about what you want in life. And then Stand Under None is about coming into this world, believing that you can be in control of your future, and not relying on other people.

CA __ When I hear the album title God Save the Teen, it makes me think that sometimes we speak to give lessons to the universe, the lessons that we wish we had when we were younger. But I want you to tell me what was the inspiration behind it.

MS __ It's like before giving advice, I like to try to live through things and be able to offer a perspective from a lived-in situation. And oftentimes, when I'm giving advice, it's like the things I wish someone had told me. A lot of people think that there are timelines in your dreams, and I like to try to shatter those [thoughts] as much as possible. You look at culture right now, and there are so many societal pressures that I'm being able to live through. I'm in my 30s, so I have experienced things on this earth. But for a kid who's, like, 16, 17, 18 right now, there's this reality that's created through their phones and social media and filters and comparison and the idea that you're never doing enough, there's always more that you should be doing. I just see a lot of fear that grows from that, from a young mind, and I want just to offer the other side of it. I'm about to hit four years sober, and I feel like I've gained a lot of life lessons through that because I was on the other side as a total addict. And what that is, is being addicted to chaos. And I romanticized the chaos a lot of my life growing up. And so there's a lot of this album that's talking about the opposite of that, which is romanticizing a healthy life, enjoying getting older, and romanticizing what a rock star in this day and age could be, rather than thinking that it's all drugs, sex, and rock and roll.

CA __ I think a lot of your music is important right now because you talk about what you have been through and what you are going through, and it resonates with a lot of what your audience has or is experiencing, specifically, some things about some of the tougher conversations about mental health and addiction. So those struggles that you put in your music, I think that's kind of cathartic, therapeutic, maybe for yourself, but definitely for some of your fans.

MS __ I find that talking about addiction, releasing a song about it, or performing that song live- is everyone in the crowd resonating with that? No. But I will have instances where people come up and mention that those things really help them. I would love to save the world, but I'm perfectly fine with saving one person. I think that's what's going to make me feel so good the day that I die- knowing that I have affected people. Whether it's millions or ten people, I've affected them in some way to help them navigate through life. And it makes me really proud. On my new album, I have a song called Single Mothers. Can everyone relate to a song about being a single mother? Absolutely not.

Music & Culture

Jewelry CHROME HEARTS, jewelry DAVID YURMAN, pants A.POTTS.

“Make art like you're already gone. Don't make it feel like everyone's going to love you. Make it feel like this is important, that you leave things behind, that you prove that you were here.”

Can everyone relate to a song about having a single parent? Absolutely not. But the ones that can, whether it's the perspective of being raised by a single parent in a broken home or it's the other side, and it is [being] the single parent. I had so many single mothers come out to this last tour, I'd play this song, and I can pick out the 25 to 30 single moms in the crowd that are crying their eyes out to the song. And it's like I'm in a room with 1500 people, and there's 30 people that are so impacted by that. And that's one of those moments where it clicks for me, where I love being that specific. Rather than trying to be ultra relatable to everyone, I'm super happy with being ultra specific. When we talk about making “law of attraction” type of music, I find so much joy in that. These people have supported me and given me this life I have. I came from playing shows to zero people. I've been doing this for 20 years. I started in bands playing to nobody, then once that band started going, [got] kicked out of that band, started with nothing, again, playing shows to no one. So I really know what it's like to be performing to an empty room. I will continue on this path and speak to my audience very intimately.

CA __ So with this new era of your career, with God Save the Teen, how would you describe the sound and the overall vibe of this album?

MS__ Well, I stayed true and authentic to where I'm at in life. That album is a lot about being in love. My album prior to it, Internet Killed the Rockstar, was a breakup album as I was going through a breakup while I made that album. You can hear that overtone throughout all the music. On God Save the Teen, you can hear a lot of the opposite, which is me being in a relationship, that I was in love, and that I was building a new life and being honest with that, and sharing that side of me. Obviously, now I'm in a completely different part of life; I'm in a completely different chapter now. And listening back to it, it's beautiful that I documented that point of my life. And being the other side of my album Internet Killed the Rock Star, one being a breakup album, one being a love album, that's cool to me; that's a good sequel. If you ask me in three years what that album means to me, it'll be like that was a beautiful time in my life that I love. Right now, I look at that part of my life, and I'm like, damn, man, that's crazy how fast life can change. But again, I'm here for the journey of life. I've felt the peaks. I've felt the valleys. And I've learned throughout this that if you can make the valleys feel as if they are peaks, then everything in life can be a good thing.

CA __ It's amazing to hear the process of it and [of] the duality between your previous album and this one- one being a relationship album, one being a breakup album. That formula works for Adele, it works for Taylor Swift, and it seems to work for you. So speaking of this album, tell me, what are some of your favorite tracks?

MS__ Well, I really love When We're Dead. I really love Single Mothers because Single Mothers is one of the really proud moments of my career. I dedicated a song to my father on my last album, and it was after he passed away, so he didn't get to hear it. Going into this album, I wanted to make a song for my mom that she would hear before she’s gone. So Single Mothers is a really proud moment in my career, to show her how much she's meant to me and to give single mothers all around the world their own song. That makes me really proud. And I love the opening track, Eyelids. It hits me differently. One of the songs on my album is called Avril’s Song, and as tough as that is right now, that's still one of my favorite songs I've ever written.

CA __ I didn't want to go down that route, but I respect it because it's true. As you said, it's reflective of the state you were in when you created it. It doesn't have to be reflective of the state that you're in when we hear it.

MS__ That is exactly right. And that's my coping with this time that I'm going through right now- really being fully transparent and honest and real and showing my love to the person that I was with. I'm very proud of those things. And you're absolutely right when you say songs take on their own meaning as time goes on, and how the audience hears it or when the audience hears it really isn't up to me. All I can do is be true, vulnerable, honest, and real with people.

Jacket and shorts ISABEL MARANT, jewelry CHROME HEARTS, jewelry DAVID YURMAN.
( above this photo ) Pants AKNVAS, underwear VERSACE, jewelry CHROME HEARTS, jewelry DAVID YURMAN, shoes VIVIENNE WESTWOOD.

CA __ You had a song about [ex fiancé] Avril [Lavigne]. You have a song with Avril, but you've also collaborated with other artists throughout your career: Machine Gun Kelly, Blackbear, and on this album, Royal & the Serpent. How do you approach collaborations, and how do you go about finding the right fit for a song?

MS __ Honestly, it's always a personal thing. It's always through me knowing the person firsthand. At the beginning of my career, I did a song with Nipsey Hussle. I have a song with Schoolboy Q. I've had amazing collaborations throughout my career, and it's always through me being in touch with the person and them understanding my energy. A lot of people didn't understand my music but would understand me when they got to know me. Machine Gun Kelly has been my best friend for ten years. Blackbear has been my best friend for the same amount of time. Royal & the Serpent is an artist that came onto my radar three years ago. I actually went to one of her shows and watched her perform live, and she is just amazing, so I had her come into the studio. It's really always a personal thing.

CA __ I want to stay talking about the live energy. How has your experience touring and performing live influenced your music and your creative process?

MS __ Immensely. I've been on stage performing since 14 years old, playing in punk bands. So I've been on stage for a very long time. I'd get on stage, and people would always tell me if you could just capture what you do on stage onto a record, it would all connect. It would all connect if you could somehow capture that energy that you bring to the stage into the music that you're making in the studio. I think once I hit these last two albums, Internet Killed the Rockstar and God Saved the Teen, I really found a way to do that. Now, it's like when you come to see me live, it's not some polarizing night and day thing from the record. It's like, “This feels like I'm watching the album now,” rather than being like, “I love what I'm hearing live, but it doesn't sound like this when I hit play on the album.” Now I think I have found a way to do that and incorporate that. And beyond that, I really think about what it would be like to perform a song when I make music, how I would perform it, what it would actually be like when I perform it, rather than making a song and trying to learn how to perform it.

CA __ I want you to close your eyes, I want you to think, and then open your eyes and tell me about your favorite memory or your favorite experience of a live performance.

MS __ Okay. I love that I have to think about it. It's so cool because I probably wouldn't have said the same answer, but this is 100%. The answer is on this last tour that I did. I'm from Minnesota. I played in my hometown, Minneapolis. And there's a very famous venue there called First Avenue. It's where Prince shot Purple Rain. It is one of the most legendary things about Minnesota. I have wanted to sell out that venue, fully sell it out, in my hometown, since 14 years old when I started going to shows. It's like the rite of passage, being from Minnesota. I think it's often like this- your hometown, as an artist, is either the first to love you or the last to love you. My hometown was kind of the last to love me. There was a whole scene of music going on when I started that didn't really completely accept me. There was a real big backpack rap scene. I was the outcast, the outlier. I would go play shows in different states and have bigger turnouts than in my hometown. That lit this underdog fire in me a very long time ago that never went out. Still, to this day, going back to Minneapolis and selling out the venue front to back, that was one of those moments that I will really always think that, and this is a very dangerous term to define, I've made it. When no one believed in me, when no one was coming to the show, it was literally just my mom and my sister in the audience. And then to bring my mom out on stage and my sister, because my sister travels with me as I brought my family into the business, and be like, look what we did. My mom being proud of me, my sister being proud of me. Those are Grammys to me.

CA __ I want to switch gears slightly because we're still talking about style and performance, but from the stage to the music videos. Your videos often have vibrant visuals and bold fashion choices. Talk to me about the creative process for bringing your music to life visually.

MS__ I'm one of those people that, when I'm making a song, I see the song as a movie in my head. I stick as close to my instinct as possible when it comes to creating a visual landscape for a song. I like to go two routes. I like to do something artistic or really stick to the lyrics and tell that story visually. When it comes to style, what I try to do is dress how I feel on that day. So rather than being like, “This is my brand, this is who I am, I need to dress like this,” I like to be completely open, knowing that my clothes will allow me to feel a certain way that day. I don't care about the sounding of materialistic or whatever. I believe clothes are very important. I believe style is very important. I believe that the way you walk out the door and what you're wearing will 100% affect your day. Good or bad. There's nothing like feeling good as fuck in some outfit that you put together or that you just got. I'm obsessed with clothes, so I'm always getting new stuff. And there's nothing like feeling that extra confidence when you're wearing something that's just super fire. I collect archive pieces of so many designers; it's like a part of history and a part of art to me.

CA __ So how would you describe your personal style?

MS__ Dress how you feel. There are no boundaries to it. Specifically, I love classic rock star. My favorite sound in the entire world is the sound of boots on tile or concrete. I love that sound. I'm hugely subscribed to leather pants and boots. I'm also really into grunge. Never dressing as a mannequin. Never looking at a window and being like, “That's the outfit I want.” I like to put shit together that wouldn't normally be together. So it's like it lives in both those worlds. Honestly, it goes both ways. I love an all black moment, and I love color. So it's like I kind of dance in between the lines. This is who I am today, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

CA __ So your personal style, does it influence your music, or does your music influence style, or do you have them compartmentalized and separated?

MS __ I think, more than anything, the clothes I'm wearing while I make the music do influence it. When I'm getting dressed to go to the studio, I'll go through four or five outfits and be like, “All right, this is how I'm feeling. This is how I'm going in.” And I think that 100% influenced the music that day. I've never really thought about that. But

when I'm wearing boots and leather pants, and I'm in the studio, I'm definitely feeling a different way than if I'm wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I just feel a different way. So I would definitely say the clothes that I'm wearing to the studio that day 100% impact which route I'm going.

CA __ I read Bob Dylan is your favorite musician. Who are some of your biggest fashion icons and influences?

MS__ Well, I would go the designer route. Raf Simmons. The archive collection of Raf Simmons, the imagery, the aesthetic, the way that he shot photos, and the way he incorporated the youth into it. Raf Simmons’ archived pieces are probably one of my biggest prized possessions and some of my favorites ever made. And then the second would be Vivienne Westwood. She was my hero. More than just the clothes, just like Raf, the clothes were a representation of a state of mind, a lifestyle. And Raf Simmons’ lifestyle was definitely different from Vivienne Westwood's, but they kind of lived hand in hand. Vivienne is the inventor of punk and has a message behind the clothing, breaking societal norms, making people really mad by what you're wearing, making them uncomfortable, and putting some kind of message into every piece. Whether it said it flat out on it or not, there was a message in everything. It was like, take trash and turn it into high fashion. I also like all the Antwerp designers—the Antwerp Six. As far as personal fashion, Jim Morrison is one of my fashion idols. Miles Davis a big fashion influence. Andy Warhol had really cool style. Those are aesthetics that I always look to.

CA __ What is your favorite item in your wardrobe right now and why? You’ve got to pick just one. Not even a whole outfit, just one item.

MS__ I would say. Hold on. Let's get this right. [Walks to his closet.] All right, [spring] 2003 Raf. I think this was the Consumed collection. But this suit coat jacket is probably up there as one of my favorite pieces that I have.

CA __ What do you think are some of the key elements of a great stage outfit?

MS__ For me on stage, because I move around a lot, it's really important that I'm able to move well. I like wearing Rick Owens on stage because it's very basic so that you can wear it with everything yet sheer and see through. I think the silhouette of being on stage with lights all around you, a sheer shirt on, and having tattoos all over my body is just a cool look.

CA __ Rick Owens is always a good choice. Now tell me a story about your most memorable fashion moment.

MS__ I would say the one that went the craziest, for good or bad, was when I wore that suit to the VMAs two years ago that was made by my brand, No Safety [a joint venture with Machine Gun Kelly]. I had this suit made with patches that said No Safety all over it. That was a whole different look. It's the crust punk look put into a high fashion moment. It was pretty different. And definitely, for good or bad, it got me a lot of attention.

Tank CALVIN KLEIN, pants JOE’S JEANS, jewelry CHROME HEARTS, jewelry DAVID YURMAN, boots RICK OWENS.

CA __So tell me about your fashion brand No Safety.

MS__ A lot of it is based on drawings I do- original art. And the name itself is basically a play on the world that we live in, having no safety. Like a gun with no safety on it, like just shooting from the hip. It was started by me and Machine Gun Kelly. And we're going to really be launching it this summer. The aesthetic of it is classic punk meets very distressed T-shirts.

CA __ Just like with your music, you opened the lane for self-expression. You teach people to be themselves unabashedly. Unashamedly. Just go out, and do what feels good for yourself. What advice would you give someone trying to find their own unique style?

MS__ Don't be afraid to stand out. Definitely, be inspired by the past. I think that you can always look for great inspiration in all the things that have come before you. Overdressing is a real thing where you put on way too much stuff. A lot of times, it's like music. If you can take a song and play it with just one instrument, and it still is a great song, then it can only get better. So if you have an outfit and it's great as minimal as possible, then you're on the right track. I think you got just to let go of thinking about what other people are going to think of you. I think that everything great that’s done starts with trying to make yourself happy. When you do things for other people, it often feels like a quick high that doesn't last. Don't be afraid to reinvent. Like I said earlier, the most real thing is to dress how you feel. Here's a good thing. Don't be afraid to change outfits. I mean, physically change outfits. If you put something on and you think it's going to be it, and you look in the mirror, and it doesn't immediately feel like it, do not be afraid to change it. And if that one doesn't feel it, do not be afraid [to change again] til the one that feels like you.

CA __ Now, the same question but for aspiring musicians and artists. What advice would you give those who are just starting out?

MS__ It's so simple, but it's so hard to live by. Believe in yourself before anyone else does. That's the number one thing it comes down to- you can't go out looking for compliments. You can always learn more from a critique than you can from a compliment. So take that into your musical journey, that critique can be super valuable advice. Value critiques over compliments. Just like you can't look to validate yourself by other people telling you that you're good, you have to really believe that you are going to do something special. And just to touch on the other things I said- make art like you're already gone. Don't make it feel like everyone's going to love you. Make it feel like this is important, that you leave things behind, that you prove that you were here.

Photography William Ferchichi, Styling Lizzy Rosenberg (Art Department), Grooming Pascale Poma (Celestine) using L’Oreal Professional, Interview Carl Ayers, Photo Assistant Anna Istomina, Managing Director David Gargiulo, Talent Mod Sun (2b Entertainment), Location The Freehand Hotel NYC

UPCOMING RELEASE - JUNE 1, 2023

PROMOTIONAL - OFFICIAL POSTERS

THE HOUSE OF IMPOSSIBLE BEAUTIES

The House of Impossible Beauties - Mirrored Souls is an upcoming story that takes you on a captivating journey through a house with many rooms. It's a place of solace, love, and acceptance where you'll witness the incredible beauty of each room. Starring Margo and Madelyn Whitley directed and edited by Kevin Sinclair.

CAST & CREW

Director @kevinsinclairphoto
Starring @margo.whitley
Starring @maddie.whitley
Styling @lizzyrosenberg
Hair @erinpiperherschleb
Makeup @deannamelluso
Mgmt. Director @david_gargiulo
Photo Assistant @anistmn

SPECIAL THANKS

Stephen Lee - New York Models, Chloe, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney, Issey Miyake, Michael Kors Collection.