in 2017 when Dave Meyer and Scott Davis started experimenting with hardware sequencers, synthesizers, and drum machines. What began as a fascination with electronic instruments quickly became an ongoing exploration of sound, rhythm, and nostalgia.
MODERN 88 Began
The name came from a number that seemed to appear everywhere: 88 keys on a piano, 88 constellations overhead, Exit 88 on the highway. Good fortune, never hate. And of course, the moment the DeLorean hits 88.
Scott was initially drawn to the unmistakable sound Dave coaxed from his Yamaha RS7000—a machine Scott insists can never sound like anything except the 1980s. Years later, that same spirit remains at the heart of Modern 88: blending vintage hardware, live instruments, and modern production into music that feels both familiar and unexpected.
Today, Modern 88 is driven by the creative partnership of Scott Charles Davis, Dave Meyer, and multi-instrumentalist Dave Rego. Together they build songs from sequencers, synthesizers, guitars, found sounds, happy accidents, and whatever instrument Rego happens to bring through the door that week.
While Modern 88 is centered around the ongoing creative partnership of Scott Charles Davis, Dave Meyer, and Dave Rego, the project has always been shaped by a wider circle of friends, musicians, producers, and collaborators whose contributions continue to echo throughout the music.
Core Members
Dave Meyer is the rhythmic architect behind much of Modern 88's electronic foundation. A longtime devotee of hardware sequencing, he has spent years composing with a pair of Yamaha RS7000s and building a vast catalog of unreleased material alongside his solo project, EVA Grooves. Inspired by the soundtracks, films, television themes, and electronic music of the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, Dave approaches music like a world-builder, creating sonic environments that feel cinematic, nostalgic, and strangely familiar. By day he works with circuit boards and production systems; by night he puts machines to more creative use.
Scott is a songwriter, producer, filmmaker, drone pilot, and perpetual student of both technology and creativity. Drawn to alchemy, poetry, storytelling, and sound design, he began making music on guitar, piano, and vocals before diving deep into electronic production. A former member of Disbanded and Sky Light Mine, and previously a solo artist under the name Scott D, he remains fascinated by artists who blur the line between live performance and electronic music. Whether learning a new piece of gear, filming from the sky, or chasing a melody that arrived unexpectedly, Scott is always searching for the next connection between art and technology.
Dave Rego is a multi-instrumentalist, painter, teacher, and lifelong explorer of sound. Over the years he has performed and released music with numerous bands and creative projects, including his solo work as Clouds Drift. His home famously houses an entire wall of ukuleles, though that's only a small part of a constantly growing collection of instruments.
Rego brings a rare combination of musicianship, curiosity, and artistic perspective to Modern 88. Whether introducing an unfamiliar instrument, a new musical idea, or a different way of hearing a song, he helps expand the band's sonic palette beyond its electronic foundations. His background in visual art and education informs an approach to music that is equal parts craftsmanship, experimentation, and discovery.
Foundational Contributors
Noah Wheeler played an important role in the formative years of Modern 88. A guitarist, land steward, and keeper of a rehearsal space where the band could create freely into the late hours of the night, Noah helped provide the environment that allowed many early ideas to take shape. While he now joins sessions only occasionally, his influence remains woven into the band's history. Whether tending land, working with cattle, or picking up a guitar, Noah approaches life with an authenticity that has always resonated with the spirit of Modern 88.
Eric Francisco Johnson is a producer, pianist, guitarist, arranger, and longtime creative collaborator of Modern 88. His contributions were especially significant on "I Love the Dark Hours," where he reimagined portions of the final arrangements, added instrumentation, and completed the project's mix and mastering. Eric possesses a rare ability to hear possibilities hidden within a song and bring them into focus through thoughtful production and musicianship. Though his appearances at rehearsals are infrequent, his creative fingerprints can be found throughout some of Modern 88's most fully realized recordings.