Modest Mouse once sang of an ice cream party with an open invitation—"There's an ice cream party at my house, an ice cream party at my house… please come over." We're part of the lucky few that actually got to take them up on it.
Thanks to our gracious host, main Mouse Isaac Brock, we got the first-ever inside look at the band's headquarters. Dubbed "Ice Cream Party," the Modest Mouse HQ is the type of multi-function rehearsal and recording space that musicians dream of.
Mountains of gear, oddball collectables, and plants stretch across the main floor. The basement is a full-fledged recording studio. And the freight elevator that connects them is not just a standard elevator—it's the "pedal-vator," doubling as the pedal closet, where all the band's cherished effects can remain within arm's reach.
In giving us a tour of the space, Isaac showed us the gear behind some of the band's most beloved sounds and songs, like the custom Wicks guitars he co-designed and has used throughout his career, which feature a unique vibrato system he created to match his idiosyncratic playing style.
We also saw the gas-can slide guitar that was, at the time, his most recent obsession. The selection of inexpensive, grab-bag pedals he loves just as much as boutique creations from EQD and Malekko. The outboard gear Isaac used to record Good News for People Who Love Bad News—which he actually bought many years later from that record's producer, Dennis Herring, on Reverb.
For every piece in Ice Cream Party, there's an equally great story, and we were treated to plenty while we were there. Watch the full video to take the tour for yourself.