by Emma von der Leith, staff writer

Modern Day Kids (MdK), a band well known at Cal High for their pop, radio-friendly sound, recently shocked their fans by replacing their front-man and switching to a whole new sound.

“All of us really wanted to create something else musical-wise,” said bassist Mat Salavitch, a Cal junior.

The band did just that.

MdK has changed the direction of their music and veered away from pop-inspired lyrics, resulting in a unique sound that is all their own.

Mat described their new sound as taking Linkin Park and Kings of Leon and merging them into one.

“What we’re going for in our new music is to gain a variety of fans, female and male,” Mat said. “With our old music, it was a lot of high school and middle school girls.”

“Most of it was status,” said Nick Hayes. “I think we were just four good-looking guys.”

Certainly a huge part of their new sound is new lead singer Kyle Paquin, who joined the band on Aug 6.

After a week of auditions, MdK knew immediately that Kyle would be a perfect fit for the band because of his unique vocal style.

While Mat and drummer Keller O’Rourke, who graduated from Cal last year, commented that Kyle is “a good looking man,” and “pretty,” the music industry believes that Kyle’s voice is extremely unique and pure.

“(His voice) gets lots of raised eyebrows in the industry,” said manager Danielle Lawrence.

When asked to comment about previous lead singer and Cal junior Tyler Stimpson’s recent departure, the band said there was no dirt to tell, and that the split was mutual.

One thing that hasn’t changed about the band is how they collaborate when writing the lyrics to their songs.

Many of their songs are based on their personal experiences, which may make them more relatable to their fan base.

“Our ultimate goal is to have as many people enjoy what we enjoy. We wouldn’t be doing it if it was only to get big,” said Mat. “We do it because we love music first, and we want to have as many people listen to our music as possible.”

Clearly, the band has to have a realistic view of the music industry.

“There’s really no guarantee that anyone’s going to become a household name,” said Kyle.

Over the summer, it was rumored that MdK was scheduled to play a concert with Maroon 5.

Unfortunately, this fell through because of Maroon 5’s full schedule. Luckily, fans can still catch MdK  on Oct. 14 at the Antioch Community Center.

MdK is currently unsigned, but the band is not too worried about this.

“A label is something you try to be on or try not to be on,” said Keller. “If you need it you go after it, if you don’t, you don’t.”

Even so, Lawrence says that among high-industry music professionals MdK has become highly respected.