Palpable emotional energy is at the core of Modern Baseball’s third record, Holy Ghost, and that shouldn’t be surprising. It could only happen after songwriters Brendan Lukens and Jake Ewald tackled tough life issues like mental illness and death in the family. After going through these struggles, Lukens and Ewald, respectively, wrote half of the 30-minute record that deals with the difficult times in life.

It’s this passionate openness that has pushed Modern Baseball into more ears and onto big stages. After its May release, Holy Ghost hit the charts in the US, Australia and the UK. The group is currently wrapping up a summer that included a headlining tour and dates at festivals like Lollapalooza. And this fall, the group will support one of its influences, Brand New, on a fall tour. This is the kind of success that most rock bands — especially one that developed in the basements of Philly’s DIY scene — can only dream of.

We spoke with Lukens and Ewald about recording and singing such deeply personal songs; why they think their style of emotive rock resonates with fans and their hotline for fans to let them know if they feel unsafe at shows.

So I know that both of you each wrote some of the songs on Holy Ghost individually. How do you think the two parts melded together?

Brendan Lukens: I think we did a pretty good job. We were both dealing with a lot of the same stuff and had a pretty general theme of loss and grieving and just like self-evaluation. So the two halves, we believe, morphed pretty well together. 

Jake Ewald: I would agree. The first time we listened to both halves of the record back to back, it felt really cool. I think it also helped that musically, we did all of the writing together. That also helped it flow.

Brendan, can you talk a little bit about how your struggles with mental illness help shaped the record? 

I was coming out of treatment on my half of the record. So a lot of what I was learning at the time and coping mechanisms and a lot that I was learning about myself came out on the record, as well as just my attitude from then to now.

What was it like recording and now playing those songs that are so deeply personal?

Like most of the songs that we write and like how this band has always been and the reason we started this band, it’s more of a therapeutic process than anything. Being able to play the songs every night. Sometimes I feel the same way that I did, and all of the time it’s pretty therapeutic.

Was one song particularly hard to write?

Ewald: I guess on my side, I was also writing a lot about loss. The song “Everyday” on my side — I usually write songs pretty fast. Usually just in one 20 minute sitting. From when I started writing that song, just because it ended up meaning a lot to me emotionally, it took me like two or three weeks to actually write the whole thing and deal with what I was trying to deal with. 

Lukens: I feel like even musically that was challenging for all us, too. There’s a lot of parts to that song. And “Just Another Face.” It’s one of the bigger songs that we’ve done sonically and it was pretty personal as far as subject matter.

I was also reading that you guys created a hotline that fans can text during a show if they feel unsafe. How did that come about? 

Lukens: We got the idea for the hotline from this band called Speedy Ortiz. Basically, there’s a phone number that we advertise online and if you feel uncomfortable at the show, you can text or call the hotline and it’ll go directly to our tour manager, who will then take care of the problem. We just had a lot of kids who were coming up to us after shows in the past and saying, "Hey, I had a great time but I got kicked in the face or somebody was grabbing my butt the whole time." Finding ways for people to be more comfortable at the show. 

Ewald: Luckily for us, all of our fans are responsible and respectful and using it properly so it’s been really, really helpful.

People have been using it?

Ewald: People use it every day. I would say probably a dozen to two dozen people, depending on the size of the show, per day.

How do you guys deal with that?

Ewald: It really depends. One time we had somebody that texted and said, "Hey I’m coming to the show by myself and I’ve never been here before. Could you escort me into the show?" In that situation, he just went outside and walked her into the show. Other times, there have been more dangerous issues and he’ll contact venue security and have them go, if they need to escort somebody out of the show because somebody got way too drunk or is being really annoying, they’ll have security go find that person.

Lukens: We had a really great request. For our New York shows, someone was coming to them and asked for us not to use strobes during our light show. Even the little requests are going a long way.

You guys have become lumped into this pop punk resurgence. Do you have any thoughts on that?  

Lukens: I mean we get thrown into a lot of different genres. I feel like we’ve heard this question through emo, through pop punk, through DIY. We’re just really happy to be part of any community: the DIY community in Philadelphia was so generous to us, bands like The Wonder Years were so generous to us. We’re just lucky to be where we are now. 

Ewald: Lucky to be making music that people like.

Lukens: Yeah. Kind of crazy.

What do you think it is about the emotive kind of music you make that has struck a chord with people?

Ewald: I think we try to make ourselves as vulnerable as we can when we write songs. Then, I think, when people hear it, it’s a lot easier to relate. The relating happens a lot more naturally than it could have.

Lukens: We have a great relationship with our fans. I feel like there’s a really good give and take with how open we are with them, how open they are with us, which is another reason why the hotline has gone so well. But it all started in the songwriting.