Last week, Mod Sun released an acoustic version of "Flames," his collaborative single with Avril Lavigne. With the unplugged recording's greater focus on the duo's vocals and lyrics, you may have noticed something about "Flames" of which Mod is particularly proud.
As Mod tells ABC Audio, the hook of "Flames" changes for each chorus, which usually isn't a great strategy for radio airplay.
"If you make a song where you're changing up on each hook, they're gonna kinda tell you you can't do that," Mod explains. "Like, you're ruining the chances of the song."
"It doesn't always work," he adds. "In this case, it's pretty crazy."
Mod feels that the success of "Flames," which hit the top 25 on Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart, proves that you don't have to follow a particular song structure to hit it big on radio.
"It's a special song, because you really don't hear that happen at all," Mod says. "You really can listen to the radio all day long, you're not gonna hear a song that changes each hook."
"I think that's pretty far out, dude, I really do," he continues. "I think that's...of pushing music in a good direction."
Mod also feels "Flames" is a unique song for alternative stations in particular, given his yelling vocal style on the track.
"There's, like, hard rock stations where you're gonna hear that, but in the alt world, it's mostly just kind of a singing register," Mod says. "You might hit some high notes, but you're really not hearing the yelling a lot."
"I've always wanted to be like that," he shares. "My true voice is that yell/scream/sing thing."
"Flames" appears on Mod Sun's new album, Internet Killed the Rockstar, which was released in February.