There’s an explosive intensity to Model/Actriz’s music. The New York noise-rock band, composed of vocalist Cole Haden, guitarist Jack Wetmore, drummer Ruben Radlauer, and bassist Aaron Shapiro, make hedonistic clangers that ooze with sex appeal, accelerating at breakneck speed towards feverish transcendence. “Grind me into a pump,” declares Haden on “Crossing Guard”, while on track “Mosquito” he reflects, “With a body count/Higher than a mosquito,” against a psychic meltdown of guitars. Like something out of Gaspar Noé’s Climax, Haden’s accounts of sexual escapades and late-night Grindr run-ins are charged with both ecstasy and wide-eyed terror – and makes for a harrowing live experience, where it’s not uncommon to see Haden walk through the crowd, confronting audience members with all-consuming howls. 

The band’s exclusive Dazed mix, in contast, is surprisingly breezy, with Haden and Radlauer describing it as perfect for “sipping pina coladas in a park on a Sunday” – listen below.

What are some of your earliest memories of music? 

Ruben: My parents used to rock me to sleep to “Abriendo Puertas” by Gloria Estefan, which is in retrospect a really high-octane album to put a baby to sleep.

Cole: Watching my VHS of Cats the Musical on repeat, season 3 of American Idol…

Cole, how does theatre (like Cats) play a role in your music?

Cole: I can’t help that I carry with me the things I learned about performing through my early experiences performing theatre, and while I do have some faves I’m mostly inspired by the format as a whole. Ziegfeld Follies, Little Shop of Horrors, Cabaret, 42nd Street, Gypsy, Bob Fosse’s works…. Cats stands far above anything else in my mind though. I have my particular taste and I wouldn’t say I’m particularly in the know about anything new. The only recent thing I’ve seen is Mrs Doubtfire, but only because I was curious. It was bad.

What are some of your latest internet obsessions?

Ruben: The internet has kind of been stressing me out lately. I’ve been obsessed with the video of the British royal guard trombonist fainting during the rehearsal and the rest of the guard continuing on with their March song while the medical team rushes over from the background. It was kind of an insane live-score moment. I hope everyone is ok.

Cole: I’ve been force-fed the Sharpe Family Singers on Instagram recently... I haven’t followed their account, but I see it so often I don’t really have to. I don’t know if I’m obsessed but I’m always fascinated by “influencer families”. Similarly, I’ve been seeing a lot of @dear_and_darling which is run by two married Disney adults. On YouTube, I’ve been obsessed with Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom playthroughs and these two ASMR channels: Jeannie B. ASMR, ASMR Münür Önkan.

What are you listening to at the moment?

Ruben: “Los Kipus y Sus Voces” by Los Kipus and “Skinned” by ML Buch.

Cole: “Cha Cha Cha” by Käärïja

Do you have any fun projects or shows lined up?

Cole: Stay tuned for Christmukkah 3 :)

Tell us about your Dazed mix.

Cole: It was a dual effort between Aaron and I. Aaron selected a bunch of tracks and sent them to me, and then from there I made an edit and sequence that feels like a good backdrop for sipping pina coladas in a park on a Sunday. Cheers!

TRACKLIST

1. Spooky - “Central Heating”
2. Ronan - “Geodesis”
3. Kiko El Crazy - “No Face No Case”
4. Guy Contact - “AMYGDALA TON”
5. Eins - “MAGA”
6. Avernian - “Small Arms”
7. Flat Earth Mafia - “What is Dubs”
8. Toumba - “Hazzeh”
9. DJ Life, Reflex Blue - “Glacier Run”
10. Luca - “Proxima”
11. Pavilion - “Untitled”
12. (???) - “8Line”
13. Mossambi - “Cross Seam”
14. She's Drunk - “Amadoda (feat. Sho Madjozi)”
15. Austen - “Reuben”
16. Joe Koshin, Denham Audio - “Artois”
17. Text Chunk - “Needles”
18. Chestnut People - “I”
19. S - “T”