Mod Sun

Early life

Derek Smith was born on March 10, 1987, in Bloomington, Minnesota. Later his father left for California and his parents got a divorce, after which Smith spent some time living in Long Beach, California, where his father lived. From age five to 10 he moved around a lot because his mother was jumping from job to job to make ends meet, and Smith would constantly skip school. He was diagnosed at a young age with bipolar disorder and decided that he would never take medication for it. When Smith turned 18, he changed his first name to Dylan.

Music career

Mod Sun was formerly a member of the post-hardcore band Four Letter Lie, in which he played drums from 2004 to 2009. He also was the drummer of the post-hardcore band Scary Kids Scaring Kids from 2009 until their disbandment in 2010. Mod Sun claimed that the only reason he joined Scary Kids Scaring Kids was that he was unemployed and was selling marijuana, and after watching the movie Yes Man decided to say yes to everything. Thus, when the lead singer of Scary kids Scaring Kids approached him at Warped Tour, he said yes to joining them on the rest of the tour. He originally was the drum tech for the band and was only later asked to fill in for the drummer when the latter quit. Smith agreed, but only if he got to perform as Mod Sun, to which request the band agreed—this stint would be Smith's first time to go up on stage as Mod Sun.

Mod Sun has released five mixtapes and three EPs throughout his solo career. His style of music is often described as "hippy hop." Mod Sun's debut album, Look Up, was released on March 10, 2015, through Rostrum Records. On March 10, 2017, his second studio album, Movie, was released, also through Rostrum Records.

Path to Enlightenment

Mod Sun’s self-described "road to enlightenment" started with an LSD trip that he claims to have changed his train of thought and his life. This created the title of his book, Did I Ever Wake Up? In his book, Mod Sun discusses his motivations, his family, and most importantly the LSD trip that caused his ideas to change completely. He decided that he’d be happy. Once this happened, he claimed to have brought joy to everyone. He says that with his positive attitude he discovered “everything you are can become everything you were.” He is claiming that in the mental decision to be happy you can reinvent yourself and make a change for the better. Mod Sun says that the universe is always listening and as long as you think positively, positivity will come to you. He also follows the law of attraction, which mentality becomes reality. He claims that the challenges that are thrown at you are the universe's way of testing you to see if you can move on. Once you’ve overcome all of the obstacles thrown at you, you come to a place where the universe gives nothing but good fortune. Mod Sun's definition of the enlightened is “an individual that is in control of his or her own thoughts”.

Studio albums

EPs

Mixtapes

Singles

Featured Singles

Non-fiction books

Poetry books

Journals

2015: "Happy to be here"

2016: "Happy to be here pt. 2"