Stefan Strychar, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist out of Detroit, MI, was influenced by the 90s Seattle music explosion at the age of 15, when he picked up his first guitar.

 

Stefan describes his music as early 90s based sound, led by guitars, but his biggest focus is on the melody and harmonies. His music has been described by others as “a cross between Social Distortion and Morrissey”.

 

In 2011, Stefan started his band A Modern Armada, named after a skit in the Canadian comedy TV series, Kids in the Hall.

 

A Modern Armada just released their album, Retaliation is Newtonian, which had been six years in the making. Stefan says, “I started recording it at Q Division studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but then COVID hit and we paused for a bit. Then the studio shut down for a year for renovations, so I had to find a different place to continue recording. Before I could finish it, I wound up moving back to Michigan, and finally had it mixed and mastered at Pearl Sound Studios in Canton by Super Producer, Chuck Alkazian (Chris Cornell, Filter, Tantric).”

 

It took 5 years to complete the first version of the album and when it had been out for a few months, he noticed the imperfections in the mix, especially the drums. After stewing over it for a while, he decided to pull it down from the streaming services and do a full remix.

 

Stefan wanted Retaliation is Newtonian to be something heavier and faster than his previous albums. He listened to a lot of Bad Religion and similar bands, resulting in several songs having group choruses. Lyrically, Retaliation is Newtonian is semi-autobiographic, but also a lot of streams of consciousness, as most of the lyrics were written while he was driving alone between Boston and Detroit and back.