If Northern Liberties band Modern Colour were a cocktail, their recipe of rock would be a simple, familiar mix but with a very strong, unique and heavy taste. First, you take the crunchy blues of Eric Clapton’s Cream. Next, mix in some psychedelic wah-wahs and sweet guitar leads of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Shake that up with some soul and serve on the rocks, adding a hint of swagger à la Mick Jagger’s Rolling Stones for garnish and good measure.

On paper, Modern Colour seems like your prototypical rock band. You have Northern Liberties native Stephan Sirochman, an off-the-wall rock star in the making who plays guitar and sings; Chris Boyle, the too-cool-for-school bassist who flashes some funk every now and again; and Tom Weir, a drummer who’s as solid as they come and carries the band’s business just like he carries their beats.

The band found its earliest origins at Penn State University, where Weir and Boyle met as undergrads and began writing music together. After graduating in 2008, the two went their separate ways, only to end up reconvening in Philadelphia a few years later and moving into Northern Liberties. One night in 2010 while Weir was jamming along with a Black Keys album, opportunity came knocking. Sirochman, who had recently returned from going on tour with Davy Knowles and the Back Door Slam as a guitar tech, overheard the music and walked into the house to hear for himself. The young guitarist soon blew Weir and Boyle away with his knack for shredding a fret board. And so, Modern Colour was born.

“We were originally called Permanent Press and the Dirty Lints because we practiced in our laundry room,” said Sirochman. “But then we started talking about what influences us. We all liked blues—modern blues—and we have a little English flair in us so we came up with the Modern Color, but with a ‘u.’”

The members of Modern Colour live in Northern Liberties, and Sirochman was born and raised in the neighborhood: in the late 80s, Sirochman’s parents bought the house he would grow up in. This was back when the area was nothing like it is today. In recent years, “NoLibs” has become the go-to neighborhood in Philadelphia for young artists, musicians and professionals to move to and meet other like-minded creative individuals.

“Growing up, I wasn’t allowed out after a certain time; there were lots of open lots. You had to always watch where you were at,” said Sirochman. “Since I wasn’t allowed out at night, I just sat in my room and played guitar. But now you have the Piazza and the change is great. Northern Liberties was the fastest-growing neighborhood in the country for two years straight. It’s very cool to see the change. We’re all artists trying to help each other.”

“This is the place where as an adult I chose to make my home for one reason or another. This neighborhood is special because there’s a lot of smart, college-educated, young adults trying to figure things out,” said Weir. “There was just a feeling about [the neighborhood] more than anything, and I knew I wanted to be here. And I wanted a house you could have a band in—if you take a house and put music equipment in it, you can have a band.”

Modern Colour creates a sort of deconstructed blues sound that Weir describes as “traditional with a new take,” following the lead of blues and garage rock revivalists like Jack White and the Black Keys.

“It usually starts with a chord series or a riff,” said Weir. “Chris is very good at arranging. Stephen and I will usually come up with the basis of a song and Chris will give it a different twist.”

It’s these little nuances that help set the Modern Colour sound apart from other bands of the same scene, something evident on the band’s debut EP Rally at the Summit, which was released on December 7 to a packed house at The Legendary Dobb’s on South Street.

Dave Clauss, an accomplished young engineer who has worked with artists like U2, Shakira and Paul Simon, produced the EP.

“Dave said he would work with us for free after he saw us at the World Café Live,” said Weir. “Long story short, he had seen us a few times and said ‘you guys are getting better, I’d like to help you.’”

So the band hit the studio, recording at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia and mastering the rough cuts at Fenix Studio in Staten Island, N.Y. In just a few days time, they successfully created a four-song EP. Rally at the Summit features tracks like “I Swear,” a slower, sexy tune that features some amazing trumpet work by Jared Ridgeway, a friend of the band. The EP’s opening track, “The Ridge”, is Modern Colour’s bread and butter, an attack of riff rock that has gotten airplay on FM radio stations like 93.3 and 93.7.

Now that the EP is out, the band is looking forward to the future, planning a few upcoming tours with another local band, Stolen Rhodes. Modern Colour is also setting their sights to the West: applying to play the annual SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, to expand their following to the other side of the Mississippi. But most of all, the band is just trying to have fun doing what they’re doing.

“John Lennon has a quote. Before he left for school, his mother always used to tell him the key to life is being happy,” explains Boyle. “One day his professor said to him, ‘what do you want to be in life?’ John Lennon replied, ‘I want to be happy.’ The professor told him, ‘You don’t understand the assignment,’ and John said, ‘You don’t understand life’. That’s what we believe. We just want to be happy. We’ve been hired, fired, let go, blown off. The only thing that keeps coming back around is to keep playing music. We want to rock with you so come rock with us.”

You can check out Modern Colour’s music and find out where you can rock with them by visiting their website at http://www.reverbnation.com/moderncolour.