By Melissa Darcey

Some bands are born, some are made, and some are born to be made, as is the case of Mod Amish, a band with roots in the south but whose current home is San Diego. Mod Amish is on its self-proclaimed “second phase,” making music once again.

Mod Amish, categorized as a blend of indie, punk and rock music, has four members, all from different necks of the American woods: guitarist Mike Drake, age 38, from Mississippi; guitarist and vocalist Shannon Jones, 37, from Louisiana; bassist James I, 40, from Chicago; and drummer Jim Benuska, 28, from San Diego.

The backbone of Mod Amish—original founding members Jones and Drake—have had music in their soul since childhood.  While growing up, Drake always wanted to be a musician in a band, as did Jones, and was introduced to music at a young age by his parents.

“(They)  would put me in front of the stereo and put on the big vinyl records as a child,” Drake says. “The Beatles got me excited about music, and I started playing piano. Further down the line, Shannon and I were both really into Kiss, and that made me want to play guitar. Now, The Beatles are still the quintessential influence. We also listen to a lot of big- town college rock, ‘80s punk, ‘90s indie music and some older classical stuff.”

Jones and Drake met in college and with the shared predilection for ‘80s hair, metal and Kiss, the two began playing music together in the late 1990s. “It was very hobby-oriented at first. We were roommates. We had a lot of common interests, and we both played, so we came up with songs and recruited.”

This is what Drake calls the first phase of the band. “We started in the late ‘90s, and it died out for a long time, from 2003-2006. We had this album recorded, but we weren’t doing anything about it. So we’ve had two phases. Not until late 2007 did we start gigging again and being serious.”

The story of Mod Amish in its second phase takes place in San Diego. After playing as a band, going through a few members on and off in Louisiana, Jones came to San Diego to pursue music further in 2004, with Drake following nearly two years ago.

The move was a change for the two, with Drake describing California as “this land of weirdness when you’re from the south, so it was a little intimidating and exciting at the same time.”

Jones and Drake began resurrecting Mod Amish for a second life, putting out ads and looking for a drummer and bass player.  “We wanted people who felt our music too, and we found some really good people. Jim also had come out here to pursue music. He was really into our music and came into the band about a year ago, and then James came in the end of summer,” says Drake.

The reborn Mod Amish began performing again, with a first performance much different from the band’s first performance during the first phase.

“Our very earliest performance was for about15 minutes and got shut down quickly by the cops on New Years’ back home,” Drake recalls. “But the first performance in California was at the 710 Beach Club in Pacific Beach last March. It was mostly friends and girlfriends there, but there was also a guy, Ziggy, who had booked the show and worked at The Radio Room. He had come to see another band, but he stayed during our performance. He was a big fan right away and booked us a lot of gigs.”

From there Mod Amish continued getting bookings and scheduling performances. However, one thing the band didn’t schedule was success with the Converse Shoe’s Get Out of the Garage Music Contest.

Entering the contest was “a whim sort of thing,” Drake said. “I came across the contest on the Internet several months ago and decided to enter our song ‘September.’ We sort of went on with what we were doing andl one day we got an email telling us we’d gotten first place! Well over 4,000 people had entered, and the top songs were sent to Downtown Records, and they picked the eight winners.”

Band members won prize money and free Chuck Taylor shoes, but Mod Amish was even happier to receive the positive acknowledgement of its work. “We work on songs for awhile, and it feels good, but having someone else come along and say, ‘hey, it’s good,’ is great.”

Since winning the nationwide contest, Mod Amish has released an album called “No Use For Sunshine” through a distribution deal with Digital Revolution Records. The album includes the catchy song “September,” as well as other original songs inspirated by various bands and genres.

You can hear the influences of Jesus and Mary Chain, Pixies and R.E.M. in their music, creating a unique sound all their own. If The Beatles were punk and Sonic Youth caffeinated, Mod Amish would be the resultant love child.

The vocals are mellow, the guitars push the rhythm, the drums add flavor and the bass acts as garnish, mild yet essential. Their lyrics are mature yet relatable. While songs may deal with a breakup or ex-girlfriend,  they transcend the prosaic style of bubblegum pop and whiny boy bands with bad hair. However, even more impressive in a music world of factory-produced songs and lyrics, is that all of their songs are originally written.

While Drake confesses that Jones is the main songwriter, for their next album all four members will be sitting down and writing together. “We’re writing a little more collectively now for a next album. For songwriting, Shannon is the one steering the boat, and we’re all rowing.”

As for the band’s name, don’t expect an intricate explanation. “The name means absolutely nothing. We were originally called Brittle Star, but we learned some other band had already copyrighted that name. We were having the hardest time but a friend of Shannon’s] said she had always wanted a band called Mod Amish”—and the name was adopted.

Mod Amish’s album “No Use For Sunshine” is now available on iTunes. For more information about Mod Amish, visit www.myspace.com/modamish.