March 25, 2025 • 42 mins
In this episode of Inside The Mix, host Marc Matthews engages in a profound conversation with Tyler Lyle, the singer-songwriter and one-half of the synthwave duo, The Midnight. Tyler delves into the enigmatic nature of songwriting, describing it as "a well-narrated hallucination," and likens the creative process to "trying to start a truck sitting on a block of ice."
Drawing from his folk storytelling roots, Tyler shares how he seamlessly integrates evocative lyrics into The Midnight's nostalgic synth-driven soundscapes. He contrasts the tangible aspects of music production with the abstract challenges of lyric writing, emphasizing the importance of consistent dedication—what he refers to as the "ass-in-chair method." This disciplined approach involves daily studio sessions from 10 am to 5 pm, complemented by morning routines of journaling, exercise, and meditation to foster creativity.
The synergy between Tyler and his production partner, Tim McEwan, is highlighted as a harmonious blend of prolific idea generation and meticulous refinement. Despite geographical distances, they prioritize periodic in-person collaborations to capture the irreplaceable energy of shared creative spaces.
Much of the discussion centers on Tyler's transition from confessional songwriting to crafting lyrics rich in archetypes and universal symbols. Inspired by Carl Jung's philosophies, he aims to create a shared mythological space within The Midnight's music, allowing listeners to project their meanings onto the imagery.
What You'll Learn:
- The abstract nature of lyric writing and strategies to overcome creative challenges.
- The importance of consistent routines in fostering creativity.
- Balancing prolific idea generation with meticulous refinement in collaborative settings.
- The role of archetypes and universal symbols in crafting resonant lyrics.
- Insights into blending folk storytelling with synthwave aesthetics.
For aspiring artists, Tyler emphasizes creating work that embodies truth and necessity, encouraging authentic expression over external validation. He reminds creatives that they are conduits, "ferrying ideas from one realm to this one," and underscores the significance of producing art that resonates fundamentally.
Join Marc and Tyler as they explore the depths of the songwriting process, offering invaluable insights for independent music producers and artists seeking to elevate their craft.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Follow Tyler Lyle
Book your FREE 20 Minute Discovery Call
Follow Marc Matthews' Socials:
Instagram | YouTube | Synth Music Mastering
Thanks for listening!!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tyler Lyle (00:00):
Nobody knows what a song is supposed to be lyrically
.
It's a well-narratedhallucination.
Just make sure that it comesfrom something that feels like
it has the essence of truth,something that feels like it
needs to exist.
We, as creatives, are ferryingideas from one realm to this one
(00:20):
.
You're listening to the Insidethe Mix podcast with your host,
mark Matthews.
Marc Matthews (00:27):
Welcome to Inside the Mix, your go-to podcast for
music creation and production.
Whether you're crafting yourfirst track or refining your
mixing skills, join me each weekfor expert interviews,
practical tutorials and insightsto help you level up your music
and smash it in the musicindustry.
Let's dive in.
Hey folks, welcome to Insidethe Mix Today.
(00:50):
I am thrilled I always say thisand I always back it up by
saying I mean it and I really domean it to be joined by one
half of the hit synthwave duothe Midnights, the talented
singer-songwriter Tyler LyleTylerler.
Thank you for joining me today.
It's been a long time coming.
How are you, my friend?
Tyler Lyle (01:08):
doing very well.
Just got back from guitarcenter I bought so many cables
and uh missed uh one veryimportant one, so I have to
drive back to guitar oh, no way,no way.
Marc Matthews (01:20):
I thought you were going to say that you
bought a load of cables and thena guitar as well, so it was one
of those runs where it's justcables.
Tyler Lyle (01:25):
No, I find the more time I spend in pro audio world,
the less sexy pieces of gearyou buy and the more cables you
buy 100%.
Marc Matthews (01:37):
My last trip to our local guitar shop was just
to buy XLRs, and I picked up aload that was secondhand for
about two quid.
So that was the exciting tripfor me, me, so I totally get it
man, I really do I'm good, I'mgood, otherwise fantastic.
So in this episode, we're divingdeep into tyler's songwriting
process, how he crafts themidnight's nostalgic and
(02:00):
cinematic lyrics and also,collaborating remotely with tim,
consistently delivers heartfeltsynth with synthwave anthems.
Here we go.
I've got all this.
Yeah, this is great stuff.
So if you're a producer orsongwriter looking to elevate
your lyric writing and maximizecollaboration, you don't want to
miss this one.
So if you're not familiar withtyler, I've just got a little
bit of background here if you'renot familiar with tyler in the
(02:20):
midnight.
So, as I mentioned then, agifted storyteller, songwriting
roots are in folk and Americana,shaping your sort of signature
poetic lyricism.
In 2012, you partnered withDanish producer Tim McEwan to
create the Midnight, using retrosynth wave with deeply
emotional storytelling.
And then you've got your solocareer and other ventures as
(02:41):
well.
So, as I mentioned, in thisepisode episode we're going to
be focusing on lyrics inparticular, and this I'm really
excited about because it'sprobably the the part of
songwriting and producing that Istruggle with myself the most
as well.
Uh, from a metal background, ifit's metal, I can write metal
lyrics quite well, but when itcomes to the more sort of
heartfelt synth element of it, Ifall short and uh, so I'm
(03:03):
excited about this one.
So from concept to song is thestart here.
So on your wiki you mentionedthat the Midnight songs often
begin with a cool musicalskeleton from Tim and a lyrical
skeleton from yourself.
Can you walk us through how atypical song comes together?
Maybe, for example, your recentrelease release or latest
release, love is an Ocean?
Tyler Lyle (03:35):
Yeah, I feel so grateful to have Tim as a
creative partner because I don'tnatively have that producer
gene and I think that there's areason why it's difficult for
people who have gotten good atproduction, who have been in it
for a decade and have reallyfigured out what they're doing,
to then try and switch gears andwrite lyrics.
It's hard because theproduction element is a system.
It's an engine that you canlearn and you learn your engine,
(03:59):
you learn your way of doingthings.
But it's a lot of gain stagingand equalization and compression
and those are things that existalready.
You know your, your pluginsexist, your presets exist.
You're going on a good day fromfrom a 1 to a 2 or a 1 to a 3.
(04:20):
You're dealing with things thatalready exist In lyric world.
You're starting at zero andthere's no system, there is no
start, there is no prompt thatallows you to easily begin a
song, and I think that that iskind of the.
(04:41):
I was once given a songwritingaward from the Songwriter Hall
of Fame and went to theirinduction ceremony in New York
and Stephen Still was on thepodium talking about writing
songs and he said you know,writing a good song is sort of
like trying to start a truckthat's sitting on a block of ice
.
It's a miracle if it happens.
(05:04):
There's nothing in the machinethat you can tweak.
There's no amount ofcraftsmanship or whatever to
give you that live ember.
It's always kind of a gift whenit happens.
So my process with it is ratherdifferent than Tim's.
Tim is a producer.
He has spent 20 plus yearsgetting good at production.
(05:37):
My way of dealing with the sortof inherent weirdness, the high
failure rate of lyric writing,is to do a lot of it.
I'm in my studio from you know,call it 10 am to 4 or 5 pm most
days, and I subscribewholeheartedly to something
called the ass-in-chair methodof songwriting and you put
yourself at your desk and haveyour instruments around you and
(06:01):
you work and if something clicks, if something connects, if
there's something there, thenyou can follow it, and if
nothing arrives, or if nothinggood arrives, then that is the
default and all that you canreally count at the end of the
day is whether you were in theenvironment that you're supposed
(06:21):
to be in and kind of and andkind of ready and ready for me
means that I've done my dailypages, that I've done some kind
of meditative practice and andthat I've exercised, and it
usually, if those things are,are, are done, then I'm, I'm in
the right spot and if, uh, thegods of song deem, deem me
worthy that day, then they'll,they'll arrive, and if not, then
(06:43):
I've done everything in mypower to be ready.
So it means that I have tons andtons of ideas to Tim's
relatively small amount ofcrafted work.
But his crafted work is lessprocess oriented and more
project oriented.
So he has one song to finishand he goes all in and it can
(07:05):
take him, you know, three monthsto to really dial in a song,
because he's he's incrediblymeticulous.
I don't have that attention todetail.
Uh, on on my side of the, the,the work bench.
Marc Matthews (07:17):
Interesting I what you said right at the
beginning there about having thegene of like the producer
element of it.
Because having the gene of likethe producer element of it,
because everything is sort ofpre-crafted in a way putting it.
But then you're saying, butwith the songwriting you sort of
like you're starting fromnothing and the block of the
truck on the block of ice, Itotally get.
I totally get that and I getthat with when it comes to just
producing in general, to behonest, but really, really
(07:38):
interesting stuff.
So you mentioned there that youare, you're spending a lot of
time during the day or everygiven day just songwriting and
you've got that routine beforeyou go into songwriting as well.
You mentioned meditation, forexample.
Are you in a?
Do you find that you have to bein your studio or do you get
inspiration outside of it aswell?
Are you one of the songwritersthat you'll be walking?
(08:00):
I don't know if you have a dogor not, but if you were to walk
a proverbial dog, would you haveyour phone out, have an idea
and just sing it into your phone?
Are you one of thosesongwriters as well, or does it
have to be in that moment of youin the studio?
Tyler Lyle (08:14):
I find that most song starts happen um I.
I got my first smartphone, Ithink in 2009 or 10, and I
downloaded something calledevernote oh yeah yeah, yeah and
um, and I think I have, uh yeah,4113 notes.
That seems low actually, um, uh, but yeah, every day usually
(08:37):
there's some kind of I'm fillingup the bucket.
Let's see.
Let's see what's anon-embarrassing thing.
I don't know.
What can I share?
I play the game by not playingthe game.
They call me the strategist.
Yeah, so you know if that makesit onto a song then great
Otherwise it's just a littlekernel and it's much easier to
(09:01):
come to the studio and to buildsomething out around, something
that rhymes, that has kind of anidentity already.
Yeah, yeah but those are thethings that just fall from the
sky and you know, you just tryand do your best to catch them
so that you can come back tothem later.
Marc Matthews (09:19):
You mentioned then that Tim has, so he's
working on, let's say, a lotless than yourself.
So he's the producer.
He's got that, for example, onesingle song, and he's going to
go through from start to finishwith that.
Is he sending you these songsfor you to then write lyrics to,
or is it sort of the other wayaround?
You say I've these, thislyrical idea.
Have you got anything thatmatches this, or is it a bit?
Tyler Lyle (09:39):
of both.
I would say that, um gosh, Ithink tim is a true artist and I
am, uh, I I called myself aditch digger a long time ago.
Um, and, and it's just, youknow, you show up for work and
you move the dirt and what youuncover really is none of your
business.
The labor is the.
But Tim really gets inspiredand sometimes can get
(10:03):
demotivated, and then getsinspired again and gets
demotivated when he hassomething on his plate.
He generally does a good job ofstaying focused, but no, it's
pretty easy for me to put a songout into the world, to just
throw some things against thewall.
(10:23):
How it usually works for amidnight track is that I've
written a lot of really, reallyrough drafts and Tim will come
to the table with one or twokind of song ideas, a loop, you
know, an A and a B part maybe,and that's my in.
You know he can't reallytranslate my acoustic guitar
(10:46):
songs into synthwave world, soit's my job to kind of go into
my large amount of rough draftsand go okay, what fits here,
what wants to exist, and andonce we get a little bit of
traction, um, then he'll, hewill add something else and I
will add something else, andusually that is the meat of
(11:06):
where the midnight kind of takeson its identity um, as as a, as
a separate creative exercise.
Um, and, and Tim will, uh, youwill.
To his credit, the next albumis written.
So my work is done, and Timwill spend the next three months
up every night dialing in kickdrum sounds and EQing everything
(11:29):
.
And so to write a song for meis relatively quick.
It's relatively quick for himto finish a song.
It takes a long time and a lotof labor and a lot of skill in
his domain, which is production.
Marc Matthews (11:45):
Yeah, so talking about the production element of
it slight tangent here so Timdoes go forward and then he sort
of takes it and does thatproduction side of things
through mixing and then onwardswherever it goes of.
Takes it and does thatproduction side of things
through mixing and then ononwards wherever it goes.
Have you ever been at all sortof interested in or have you
learned or picked up anythingalong the way?
Have you ever dabbled in theproduction and mixing element of
it?
Tyler Lyle (12:05):
yeah, not of the midnight.
I know my.
I know my limits, but, um, butyes, uh, yeah, I have a.
I have a full recording studiothat I'm in right now.
Uh, over lockdown, I decided itwas time to get serious and
time to finally learn this craftthat I've been dabbling with.
Yeah, I like production a lot.
(12:28):
The problem is it's a bigsystem and to really know it
well, you kind of have to justbe a producer and then move on
to the next thing.
I spent 15 years as just asongwriter.
I sold my car when I moved fromLA to New York in 2014 for, I
(12:49):
think, $1,500, which was enoughat the time to buy an Apollo
Twin and some plugins and an SM7.
And so I tinkered a lot andlearned to produce myself when I
was living in New York.
But during COVID, I really setabout going okay, how do I make
my vocal chain sound like I wantit to?
(13:13):
How do I get my bass playing upto par?
And I spent like three yearsproducing a record called the
Transcendentalists by myself andit turned out okay.
I'm actually not all thatpleased with it.
I'm going back into the studiowith some friends to redo it,
but no, I love production and Ifeel like the end that I'm
(13:36):
responsible for is mostly vocalsand on the side I do the
acoustic stuff.
So if I can record acousticguitar as well and I can record
vocals well, then the rest ofthe of my studio I can show you
a little bit.
It's yeah yeah, let's do it,it's, it's being uh taken apart
and put back together a littlebit, but I've got my little
(13:57):
synth wall over there my Echo.
Fix.
Those are my cables from GuitarCenter and then I've got my
modular guy over there.
So you know, the funsynthesizer toys are for writing
and for inspiration, notbecause I've ever seriously made
a a track with them.
Marc Matthews (14:19):
yeah, yeah, I love the modular synth.
It's something I really want toget into.
I was in a shop in bristol overhere in the uk I think I think
you played in bristol last year,if I remember rightly.
Yeah, we've played a coupletimes yeah, yeah, uh, so next
time you're there.
Uh, if I, if I knew, if I canremember the name, I would say
it, but there is a shop and itis solely based on modular
synths and I went in there and Iwas just like this is amazing,
(14:40):
but I wouldn't know where tostart or to create a song, and
just making noise, basicallyit's such a trap, yeah it really
is for the longest time I hadit outside of my studio because
I needed to kind of separate thetwo worlds the, the studios
where productive things happen,and the modular synth is really
just where I follow the strangewaves of my brain.
Tyler Lyle (15:04):
It's not a productive instrument, but it's
a deeply enjoyable one.
Marc Matthews (15:07):
Yeah, I kind of like an itsu when I'm mixing and
then I'm just going through abank of snare samples trying to
find a perfect snare or aperfect kick and I'm just
wasting time knowing that Iprobably already found it.
I'm just going through it and Ikind of do the same with synths
as well, to be honest.
But one question I do have.
Off the back of your production, you said you sort of upskilled
(15:28):
during lockdown and then youwanted to, or rather you found a
vocal chain.
Is there anything from thatvocal chain or that experience
that you then took forward andmaybe used in the midnight's uh
production?
Maybe you said to tim actuallyI found this and it works really
well, could we use this?
Tyler Lyle (15:43):
going forward, yeah, it's, it's kind of always been
that way.
Um, my vocal chain is themidnight's vocal chain, just
because we we have a lot of um,we have a lot of distance
between us, so we'll, we willget in the same room.
Next month, after we'vefinished our shows in Mexico,
I'll fly to LA.
So my vocal mic is a Soyuz 017tube.
(16:09):
They say it's kind of a versionof a good 67 capsule, but the
67s have always sounded a littledifferent to me.
But it's a very warm mic on myvoice and that goes through the
Shelford channel by sorry, byRupert Neve Designs.
And then I've got an LA-2A inthere, just because, gosh, a
(16:33):
real LA-2A with the tubes.
It's really nice.
It gives it a warmth and thatattack is so slow and so buttery
.
So that's the Midnight Chain.
Usually we've recorded on areal 67, and we like the
Telefunken 251.
Nice, and every now and thenwe'll go through a 610 as a pre
(16:59):
and it gives it a kind of warmth.
That the Shelford channel, it'sjust it's different.
There's, I don't know, there'sthat harmonic distortion that
you can dial in on the Shelfordchannel.
Marc Matthews (17:10):
Very nice.
Tyler Lyle (17:11):
That I really like.
It just gives you kind of thatwoolly vintage Neve sound that I
like.
I feel like if Tim wasdesigning the vocal chain from
scratch it would probably besomething more like a manly into
an 1176 or something like that,something with a little faster
attack.
You know, make the plosivesquicker.
More of a rock vocal chain thanI don't know folk or country or
(17:34):
classic rock.
Marc Matthews (17:36):
Yeah, two great compressors though the 1176 and
the LA-2A.
I love an LA-2A, so have yougot a hardware version of the
LA-2A that you're going into?
Yes, oh, very nice, very nice,yes.
Tyler Lyle (17:49):
Actually you could maybe solve this for me.
I had an engineer over hereyesterday and I'm coming, so the
mic to the Shelford, to theLA-28, then into my Apollo, the
the.
The question is, if I'm cominginto the Apollo with an XLR, is
(18:10):
it adding gain because I'm notcoming in at line level, if I'm
going in at XLR because theApollo wants to automatically
add a preamp and a gain boost?
So this is my quandary that Iasked somebody at Guitar Center
earlier and I don't quite knowthe answer to.
Marc Matthews (18:32):
So you're going into the Apollo.
You've gone through the signalchain from the Neve into the
LA-2A and then into the Apollo.
You've gone through the signalchain from the Neve into the
LA-2A and then into the Apollo.
Tyler Lyle (18:40):
Yeah.
Marc Matthews (18:41):
And then is the Apollo adding additional gain on
top of that as well?
Is that the question?
Tyler Lyle (18:45):
Correct, because I'm coming in with an XLR and not a
line.
Marc Matthews (18:49):
Yeah, I've never rooted it that way.
To be fair, I'll probably getcorrected on the internet.
When this goes on YouTube,there'll be loads of people in
the comments going oh it doesthis, it does this, it does this
.
Tyler Lyle (19:04):
That's all I want.
I just want to start a war overa simple question about gain
staging.
Marc Matthews (19:08):
I think it will.
And then there'll be otherssaying, oh, you should do it
this way around, you should doit that way around, and
everything else in between.
So when this goes live, I'll beintrigued to read the comments,
but I'll hazard a guess.
If it's going with XLR, theonly gain that's going to be
applied is the gain that you addwith the Apollo.
Tyler Lyle (19:25):
Right.
Marc Matthews (19:26):
Is it going to in my head?
Yeah, that's the only gainthat's going to be added.
You've got to add some gain toget some signal going in, so
you're in control of it there.
That's a really weird one.
I'm not entirely sure.
Is the?
Is my direct answer?
Uh, without having to look atit myself, you know?
Tyler Lyle (19:44):
um well, I'm excited to see the comments because I
bought it I bought the cable andI'm on the fence.
These are the big questionsmark.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can see it,man.
Marc Matthews (19:52):
Yeah, I can't wait to read the comments on
this.
It's gonna be interesting so itprobably won't be any, but
there you go, yeah um, yeah.
Tyler Lyle (20:00):
So your question do I dabble in production?
Yes, I would.
I would very much like to up myskills in uh, I would like to
be able to put a, put a songfrom idea to to mastered track.
But I give myself a c plusafter the last 15 years of
attempting it yeah, I think thisis something I've said on the
(20:21):
podcast.
Marc Matthews (20:22):
Well, this is going to be a episode 187 of the
podcast, but I think it's oneof those ones where I've always
said, like because you've got toknow your strengths, and then
when you've got to know when tooutsource is the key, that's
right.
Know when to outsource.
And then think, okay, I haven'tquite mastered that yet, I'm
going to pass that on to someoneelse to do and then maybe learn
it in the meantime, or justremain, know your strengths and
(20:42):
stick with it.
Tyler Lyle (20:43):
You know and um, there's some deep wisdom there.
No, it's um.
I, after trying to make thisrecord, uh, in my space for
three years, I uh, you knowhired out a studio with some
friends who are in a band here,not far from here, and instead
of me, who is a you know fiveout of 10 bass player and a you
(21:04):
know four out of 10 keys playerand a you know seven out of 10
guitar player, trying to put atrack together to make it
excellent.
It's so much better to be in aroom that I get to be the
vocalist and the songwriter ofwhich I'm, you know, a pretty
pretty good at both of thosethings, though if I have a hat,
that's my hat and then to be inwith a guitarist who's a nine
(21:25):
out of ten ten out of ten, youknow, the same with the drummer,
the same with the bassist justjust really amazing guys, and
it's, uh, it's so fun to makemusic that way, when you don't
have to try and fill all of yourweakest holes, that somebody
else gets to fill them withtheir strengths, and that is the
best feeling.
It's so fun to track music thatway.
Marc Matthews (21:46):
Yeah, I'd certainly agree.
I mean, the stuff I releaseisn't as well known as the
Midnight by any stretch, but Iknow exactly that myself.
I'm a very average guitaristand I was always when I was
playing in the bands I was in.
In this metal band the otherguitarist was leagues better
than me, but because, uh, Icould sort of like hide behind
him when I made mistakes, whichhappened quite a lot.
(22:08):
Um, but yeah, I, I get otherbassists in, other guitarists in
, because I know my limits whenit comes to that and, like you
say, it just it takes thatpressure off me having to cobble
together and try and upskilland all this sort of stuff.
So, and it just it adds to thatcreative freedom.
I find if I can just play to mystrengths, like you say, that
it makes perfect sense I thinkthat's right.
Tyler Lyle (22:27):
And then you, then you, in the place of
contributing to somebody else'svision as well, you, you, you
get to fill in somebody else'sum, you know, beautiful,
beautiful table that they've setmost definitely but yeah yeah,
so yes, I would like to produce,uh, more and better, but we're
on a journey yeah, mostdefinitely.
Marc Matthews (22:47):
Um, moving on to my next question here, I did say
before we we started recordingthis.
I very rarely get through allof them and I think this is the
second one I've got written downand uh, yeah, yeah, we're over
halfway through here.
So you mentioned that this isquite an important one because
on the podcast before I'vementioned about sort of routines
and getting into the habit ofwhether it's mixing, songwriting
(23:10):
, arrangement, whatever it is,and just maintaining consistency
.
How do you maintain thatdiscipline of?
Okay, you mentioned meditationand the other bits that are the
precursor to your songwriting,but how do you maintain that
every day?
Because there are days we allhave it.
Even if you're doing the, the,the thing you want to do in the
world, the most.
You have bad days, you know.
(23:32):
How do you maintain thatconsistency every day?
What is sort of your top tipsfor that?
Tyler Lyle (23:37):
okay, I'll give you.
I'll give you ideal world andthen I'll give you real world.
Okay, uh, okay, I ideal world.
I am up at six, 15.
I go up, uh, before my wife andson are up to uh, a little
study, uh up in the top floor ofmy house and I write three uh,
they're called morning pages.
Julia Cameron wrote a bookcalled the called the Artist's
(23:58):
Way, that I read a long time agoand so I've been writing these
three pages for the last 11years and it helps me just kind
of get out of my head and talkabout the day ahead and what I
need to do and you know, any bigthoughts or dreams or plans or
anxieties.
And then I take my son toschool and after that I go work
(24:19):
out for an hour Either that'streadmill or lifting weights or
on the rowing machine, and thenwhat's my last bit, meditation.
Yeah, I go through phases withmeditation.
Ideally that's 10 minutessitting in a chair.
The reality is that I slept intoday, because daylight savings
(24:42):
time is an affliction on parentsof young children, and I have
about one page of my three pagesdone, which I did in a place to
come to the studio around 11 amand work for a few hours and
(25:02):
see what happens.
So, yes, I wish I didn't have tohave that consistency, mark.
It's not something that I feellike you need to meditate to be
a good songwriter goodsongwriter but it's one of those
(25:23):
things that, like, I used tohave it in my 20s, just on pure
inspiration and Jim Beam andSleepless Nights, and I could
function well as a creativeperson in that zone, in that
space, and now I have to run sixmiles to be in that mental
space and that's horrible.
I used to like look at peoplerunning in the morning and think
(25:43):
, what jerks, you know.
They think they're better thanthe rest of us, and now that I'm
old I'm like, no, nobody runs amarathon out of choice.
There's something that's gonedeeply wrong in their lives that
they've had to course correctby having to force themselves to
run.
So that's roughly how I viewthe consistency of my creative
(26:03):
practices.
It's something that keeps me onbalance.
It keeps me from swinging thisway or this way once I arrive at
the desk and hopefully I'mphysically tired enough and
emotionally, uh, present, andmentally, uh, you know, able to
give, you know, at least four orfive good hours to the craft
and then and then leave it onthe table and go yeah, go on
(26:26):
with the rest of my emails.
Marc Matthews (26:28):
Yeah, see, I like , I like that.
You got the ideal world and thethe actual reality of it.
And what you said about there,about running, echoes what I do,
uh, now I've been in my late30s and I'm one of those in the
morning out running and I haveto do it.
I don't do it every day becauseI think my my knees couldn't
take it, to be fair um, but I, Ifind that I have to do it and
it does, it does help me get inthe right mindset, but I, I have
(26:48):
joined that club, uh, ofrunning in the morning, just to.
Yeah, I, I find I listen to, Ilisten to a lot of podcasts that
way.
Tyler Lyle (26:56):
Yeah, which really helps.
Lelia Broussard, our bassist,talked to me about habit
stacking once, and I quite likelistening to music.
I create DJ playlists while I'mrunning or while I'm doing the
machines, so that's actually areally healthy part of my brain.
(27:20):
I can get my brain on acreative task while I'm working
out.
Marc Matthews (27:24):
Nice, nice, lovely stuff.
Yeah, I always find it fine.
It's one of those ones.
When it comes to routine andhabits, it's like I find, and I
used to be quite hard on myselfwhen I didn't follow follow a
routine or a habit.
But now as I've got older, I'verealized actually it's not the
be-all and end-all.
As long as I do something, aslong as I do something to
contribute towards it, I find Ifeel okay about it.
(27:44):
You know, yeah, but moving onto the lyrics themselves, so I'm
well aware of time here, soI've got a couple more questions
I'd like to get through.
Sure, so, on the wiki for theMidnight yourself as well.
With regards to the lyricsthemselves, I've got a quote
here the fantasy that I neverexperienced.
So how do you tap into thatnostalgia and storytelling to
(28:06):
create those sort of yeah, thatnostalgia and those fantasies
that you never experienced inyour lyrics?
Tyler Lyle (28:17):
I had such a good fortune to be an artist in my
own right before the Midnightcame around.
These were folk, americana,singer-songwriter, confessional
songs.
I felt like I had these massiveburdens in my soul that I had
to work through and give themout as a way to heal or
something.
And around the time that I metTim, I luckily had grown tired
(28:44):
of myself in that way and, youknow, needing to make my therapy
.
Other people's, you know here,listen to my songs.
So I was reading a bit of thegreat 19th, 20th century poets
Ezra Pound, ts Eliot, waltWhitman.
(29:05):
And when I met Tim for thefirst time in the studio in
April 2012, I kind of gavemyself the challenge can I just
write the images and withholdthe story, just describe what's
happening?
Only images, no story.
(29:27):
And that kind of became thewriting prompt that grew into
the Midnight.
And somewhere between the firstEP, days of Thunder, and the
first LP, endless Summer, Idiscovered Carl Jung's concept
of the archetypes.
And there's always a femmefatale in every mythology
(29:50):
throughout history.
And there's always the king orthe boss or the uh, you know,
the, the mob boss, or the, theexecutive.
There's always the desperado,the jason character, the uh, the
person who's always chasing, uh, something, who, uh, these are
all archetypes the mother, thechild, the, the shadow, the
(30:12):
wounded healer.
These are all kind of embeddedin mythology forever.
And I was listening to bandslike the Parliament Funkadelic
thing.
They do it with aliens.
Bruce Springsteen does it withthis kind of mid-century
American blue-collar work ethicthat is fabricated.
(30:33):
You know he's writing his dad'smythology that needed a
suffering Christ so that theycould find a hero that suffered.
And then this country band,alabama, who kind of wrote this
mythology of the post-war South,and it's all world building and
(30:55):
it's all using archetypes.
And these are completelydifferent kinds of worlds,
different genres.
They have nothing in commonother than the fact that they
are using myth to hold theirworld up and then they're
skinning it in whatever way theywant to, skinning it in
(31:17):
whatever way they want to.
And I realized that the midnightcan kind of be this receptacle
for these unrealized fantasiesand myths Like reskin the
archetypes, right, the lovers,upside down, that's monsters.
You know, jason doesn't knowwhat he's chasing, much like the
(31:40):
Jason of the Argonauts or theJason of Friday the 13th.
It's all mythology.
The question was, can I play inthe sandbox for a little while,
and then it became two or threeor four records and the sandbox
started to become real.
The Velveteen Rabbit becamereal, as it was loved and as the
(32:01):
Midnight was fortunate enoughto find an audience and to to
start playing live and to, um,to find people who were making
videos and montages.
It just became real.
This, this archetypal world of,like you know, cyberpunk or
retro futurism or whatever,whatever you want to call it.
Um, people wanted to live inthat world and so they they
(32:24):
joined us in, in making itsomething three-dimensional,
something, something living andbreathing.
So it was just a songwritingexperiment on my part, but yeah
it's so cool, so so cool.
Marc Matthews (32:35):
Uh, the myths and archetypes.
As soon as you mentioned mythsand like how, how things are
built on myths, it reminds me ofa book I read called sapiens by
.
Tyler Lyle (32:43):
I think it was sapiens by oh, yeah, yeah, no,
no, you, you've all know aharari I was it.
Marc Matthews (32:48):
Uh, known, is another one then yeah, but
sapiens, I've got the author onthere, slap on the wrist.
Um, but yeah, it just remindedme of that.
But I love what.
What you mentioned there aboutJason and the Argonauts chasing,
was it the Golden Fleece?
Was that Jason and theArgonauts?
Tyler Lyle (33:04):
I got that wrong as well, that is right.
Marc Matthews (33:06):
Yeah, I got something right.
And the other one with Jason,friday the 13th.
I love that idea.
That's given me inspiration,because I'm always, because I'm
a big horror films, but alsobring them over into sort of
(33:26):
like a synth, a progressivehouse, a house sort of realm,
without making them explicitlyabout the texas chainsaw
massacre, and I'm going to usethat idea of myths and
archetypes and now I love that.
I think that's, that's, that'sgreat.
And images as well.
I love it well make.
Tyler Lyle (33:41):
Make your images symbols so that you can give
something to your audience thatthey will have a direct
attachment to.
If you give your confessionalstory I was at this cross street
and talking to this person andif you're giving your own story,
there's less magnetism, there'sless for them to reach.
(34:03):
You give the image of a childor somebody talking about uh,
you know, youth.
That was our, um, our saturdaymorning cartoons.
People have a direct connectionwith these things and and there
is kind of a subtle umintelligence in, in backing away
as the artist and kind ofgiving as much to the audience
as as as possible.
(34:23):
And you do that via myth,archetype, symbol, amazing love
it.
Marc Matthews (34:28):
This is great.
This will give me loads ofinspiration now to go right, go
away and write some lyrics.
I say that I'll probablytomorrow.
I'll sit down and be like,right, I'll make a start and
then my mind is just blank.
But I love it.
This is great.
Um, in the interest of time,tyler, I'm well aware you've got
a busy schedule.
Tyler Lyle (34:44):
No, no, I've got a call in 20 minutes.
If you want to go another extra10, that, yeah, that's, that's
fine, yeah cool, cool, cool.
Marc Matthews (34:50):
Um, I think probably this question.
No, we'll do this one herebecause we mentioned about
collaboration earlier.
So obviously you arecollaborating, uh, remote,
remotely, although you do cometogether as well with tim.
Yeah, um, how do you make thelong distance collaboration work
?
What challenges have you facedand how have you overcome them?
Tyler Lyle (35:10):
Every song is so different, in the same way that
every show is so different.
In the album process I'mwriting a lot Hopefully Tim is
working on his end and weusually don't go more than two
or three months without being inthe same room together.
So when we're in the same room,I bring what I have and he
(35:32):
brings what he has, and that'sreally where the marriage
creatively happens.
So really being in the sameroom is the best, unless you
just are totally inspired bysomething and uh and and you can
send that back and forth.
Marc Matthews (35:51):
It can, it can work, but it's more ideal to be
in the physical space togetheryeah, so in in reality then you,
uh, you mentioned there thatyou, you, two or three months is
the max that you go withoutactually being in the same room
yeah, that's probably right thisthis year it's been about once
a month oh, wow.
And is that?
Is tim coming over to the us oryou're going over to denmark,
(36:12):
or is it like a bit of back andforth, like tim is in la right
now, so he's he's, he's been inthe us.
Tyler Lyle (36:18):
So, uh, my whole team the midnight's team is is
in la, so I'll I'll go there.
My wife's family is out there,so I live in atlanta, so it's
easy for me to go there.
It's easy for tim to come here,yeah yeah, okay, okay, well, I
think well.
Marc Matthews (36:33):
The final question, then and this is for
because I mentioned this off airthat this podcast started out,
and it was started out as a as apodcast to talk to synth music,
synth waves, pop, whatever itmay be, artists and it's, and
it's grown organically and it'sit's moved into other spheres
over the course of 180-oddepisodes, but at its core, there
(36:53):
is a lot of synth waveproducers, artists that listen
to this podcast, so yourselfhere.
So for those listeners who wantto craft synth wave music with
deeply felt lyrics, what's thenumber one piece of advice you'd
give them?
Tyler Lyle (37:07):
Wow, synthwave music with deeply felt lyrics.
What's the number one piece ofadvice you'd give them?
Wow, um, the first piece ofadvice is sort of be
compassionate with yourself.
Um, I, I think the synthwavegenre, um the midnight, was so
fortunate to be where we were atat that time, because it was um
around this time that the Applecomputer, you know garage band
(37:30):
logic presets for all theseclassic synths became installed,
and I think that Synthwave wasthis generation's like garage
band, in a way, like not thesoftware, but like people
getting in some parents' garageand making music like in the
early 2000s.
I think Synthwave has becomethat and we were just the people
(37:55):
that had been in the musicbusiness long enough to make it
from a professional level.
And I think in the last 10years that we've been doing it,
a lot of these bedroom producershave caught up and surpassed us
in many ways.
But part of the secret sauce ofthe midnight is that I am a
(38:20):
songwriter first and that Tim isa producer first, and to have
both of those tasks, to wearboth of those hats at the same
time, is a really hard thing, Iwould say in lyric writing.
I want synth lyricists to bebolder, to push the limits of
(38:42):
good taste to like really makeit challenging.
And there are people that pushit in the horror thing or make
it overly sexual.
I mean really just I thinkGasolfelstein's new record kind
of does it in an interesting way.
Nobody knows what a song issupposed to be lyrically, it's a
(39:03):
well-narrated hallucination.
Just make sure that it comesfrom something that feels like
it has the essence of truth,something that feels like it
needs to exist.
We as creatives are ferryingideas from one realm to this one
and make sure that it's notjust created from a sense of
(39:24):
like ego or needing the numbersto be up or somebody to hear,
you know, to validate me as anartist.
Like, make sure the idea needsto exist first, and I think if
you wait until that idea comesand then go all in on that idea,
that song, then then that'swhat the world needs more of.
Marc Matthews (39:44):
So yeah, I love it.
It needs to exist.
What was that soundbite?
I say soundbite, I'm going touse it as a soundbite, or at
least a quote about thehallucination.
Again, I was trying to rememberit.
Tyler Lyle (39:56):
A lyric is a… A well-narrated hallucination.
That was it A well-narratedhallucination.
Marc Matthews (40:02):
I love that.
That's such a good way ofdescribing it.
I'm going to make a mark hereon Riverside.
Shout out to Riverside for thatwell-narrated hallucination.
Love it, tyler.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
I'm so glad we've been able todo this today.
Tyler Lyle (40:16):
Likewise, Mark Thank you yeah.
Marc Matthews (40:17):
Yeah, it's been a long while since I've
interviewed I say just just isthe wrong word.
I interviewed artists an artistor a producer versus a mix
engineer or mastering engineer.
So I was really excited A tospeak to yourself and B just to
talk to an artist as well,because it's been a long time
since I've done it on thepodcast.
So a really big thank you forthis, and I know the audience
(40:39):
are going to get loads out ofthis, as have I already.
Lots to take away Before wewrap things up.
Is there anything you'd like toshare?
No worries if there isn't.
And where can the audience findyou online?
Where's the best place to go ifthey want to know more about
you in particular?
Tyler Lyle (40:56):
yeah, uh, so my name is tyler lyle I.
I make music as tyler lyle.
It's a folk, you know, acousticproject, but, uh, most of my
time is spent with the midnight.
We are a duo that uh is afive-piece band live and, uh, we
just released a single calledlove is an ocean and our next
(41:16):
record should be coming out, uh,this fall, which we're we're
wrapping up right now and we'revery excited about exciting
times, fantastic, uh, thatshould coincide.
Marc Matthews (41:25):
I think you were over in the UK in October, if I
remember rightly.
Tyler Lyle (41:29):
Yes, yeah, we'll be on tour as well in Europe and
the UK in September, October.
Marc Matthews (41:34):
Fantastic, Tyler.
As I say, it's been an absolutepleasure and I will let you go
now Again, thank you so much,and I'll catch up with you soon.
Thank you, Mark Cheers buddy.
Nobody knows what a song is supposed to be lyrically
.
It's a well-narratedhallucination.
Just make sure that it comesfrom something that feels like
it has the essence of truth,something that feels like it
needs to exist.
We, as creatives, are ferryingideas from one realm to this one
(00:20):
.
You're listening to the Insidethe Mix podcast with your host,
mark Matthews.
Marc Matthews (00:27):
Welcome to Inside the Mix, your go-to podcast for
music creation and production.
Whether you're crafting yourfirst track or refining your
mixing skills, join me each weekfor expert interviews,
practical tutorials and insightsto help you level up your music
and smash it in the musicindustry.
Let's dive in.
Hey folks, welcome to Insidethe Mix Today.
(00:50):
I am thrilled I always say thisand I always back it up by
saying I mean it and I really domean it to be joined by one
half of the hit synthwave duothe Midnights, the talented
singer-songwriter Tyler LyleTylerler.
Thank you for joining me today.
It's been a long time coming.
How are you, my friend?
Tyler Lyle (01:08):
doing very well.
Just got back from guitarcenter I bought so many cables
and uh missed uh one veryimportant one, so I have to
drive back to guitar oh, no way,no way.
Marc Matthews (01:20):
I thought you were going to say that you
bought a load of cables and thena guitar as well, so it was one
of those runs where it's justcables.
Tyler Lyle (01:25):
No, I find the more time I spend in pro audio world,
the less sexy pieces of gearyou buy and the more cables you
buy 100%.
Marc Matthews (01:37):
My last trip to our local guitar shop was just
to buy XLRs, and I picked up aload that was secondhand for
about two quid.
So that was the exciting tripfor me, me, so I totally get it
man, I really do I'm good, I'mgood, otherwise fantastic.
So in this episode, we're divingdeep into tyler's songwriting
process, how he crafts themidnight's nostalgic and
(02:00):
cinematic lyrics and also,collaborating remotely with tim,
consistently delivers heartfeltsynth with synthwave anthems.
Here we go.
I've got all this.
Yeah, this is great stuff.
So if you're a producer orsongwriter looking to elevate
your lyric writing and maximizecollaboration, you don't want to
miss this one.
So if you're not familiar withtyler, I've just got a little
bit of background here if you'renot familiar with tyler in the
(02:20):
midnight.
So, as I mentioned then, agifted storyteller, songwriting
roots are in folk and Americana,shaping your sort of signature
poetic lyricism.
In 2012, you partnered withDanish producer Tim McEwan to
create the Midnight, using retrosynth wave with deeply
emotional storytelling.
And then you've got your solocareer and other ventures as
(02:41):
well.
So, as I mentioned, in thisepisode episode we're going to
be focusing on lyrics inparticular, and this I'm really
excited about because it'sprobably the the part of
songwriting and producing that Istruggle with myself the most
as well.
Uh, from a metal background, ifit's metal, I can write metal
lyrics quite well, but when itcomes to the more sort of
heartfelt synth element of it, Ifall short and uh, so I'm
(03:03):
excited about this one.
So from concept to song is thestart here.
So on your wiki you mentionedthat the Midnight songs often
begin with a cool musicalskeleton from Tim and a lyrical
skeleton from yourself.
Can you walk us through how atypical song comes together?
Maybe, for example, your recentrelease release or latest
release, love is an Ocean?
Tyler Lyle (03:35):
Yeah, I feel so grateful to have Tim as a
creative partner because I don'tnatively have that producer
gene and I think that there's areason why it's difficult for
people who have gotten good atproduction, who have been in it
for a decade and have reallyfigured out what they're doing,
to then try and switch gears andwrite lyrics.
It's hard because theproduction element is a system.
It's an engine that you canlearn and you learn your engine,
(03:59):
you learn your way of doingthings.
But it's a lot of gain stagingand equalization and compression
and those are things that existalready.
You know your, your pluginsexist, your presets exist.
You're going on a good day fromfrom a 1 to a 2 or a 1 to a 3.
(04:20):
You're dealing with things thatalready exist In lyric world.
You're starting at zero andthere's no system, there is no
start, there is no prompt thatallows you to easily begin a
song, and I think that that iskind of the.
(04:41):
I was once given a songwritingaward from the Songwriter Hall
of Fame and went to theirinduction ceremony in New York
and Stephen Still was on thepodium talking about writing
songs and he said you know,writing a good song is sort of
like trying to start a truckthat's sitting on a block of ice
.
It's a miracle if it happens.
(05:04):
There's nothing in the machinethat you can tweak.
There's no amount ofcraftsmanship or whatever to
give you that live ember.
It's always kind of a gift whenit happens.
So my process with it is ratherdifferent than Tim's.
Tim is a producer.
He has spent 20 plus yearsgetting good at production.
(05:37):
My way of dealing with the sortof inherent weirdness, the high
failure rate of lyric writing,is to do a lot of it.
I'm in my studio from you know,call it 10 am to 4 or 5 pm most
days, and I subscribewholeheartedly to something
called the ass-in-chair methodof songwriting and you put
yourself at your desk and haveyour instruments around you and
(06:01):
you work and if something clicks, if something connects, if
there's something there, thenyou can follow it, and if
nothing arrives, or if nothinggood arrives, then that is the
default and all that you canreally count at the end of the
day is whether you were in theenvironment that you're supposed
(06:21):
to be in and kind of and andkind of ready and ready for me
means that I've done my dailypages, that I've done some kind
of meditative practice and andthat I've exercised, and it
usually, if those things are,are, are done, then I'm, I'm in
the right spot and if, uh, thegods of song deem, deem me
worthy that day, then they'll,they'll arrive, and if not, then
(06:43):
I've done everything in mypower to be ready.
So it means that I have tons andtons of ideas to Tim's
relatively small amount ofcrafted work.
But his crafted work is lessprocess oriented and more
project oriented.
So he has one song to finishand he goes all in and it can
(07:05):
take him, you know, three monthsto to really dial in a song,
because he's he's incrediblymeticulous.
I don't have that attention todetail.
Uh, on on my side of the, the,the work bench.
Marc Matthews (07:17):
Interesting I what you said right at the
beginning there about having thegene of like the producer
element of it.
Because having the gene of likethe producer element of it,
because everything is sort ofpre-crafted in a way putting it.
But then you're saying, butwith the songwriting you sort of
like you're starting fromnothing and the block of the
truck on the block of ice, Itotally get.
I totally get that and I getthat with when it comes to just
producing in general, to behonest, but really, really
(07:38):
interesting stuff.
So you mentioned there that youare, you're spending a lot of
time during the day or everygiven day just songwriting and
you've got that routine beforeyou go into songwriting as well.
You mentioned meditation, forexample.
Are you in a?
Do you find that you have to bein your studio or do you get
inspiration outside of it aswell?
Are you one of the songwritersthat you'll be walking?
(08:00):
I don't know if you have a dogor not, but if you were to walk
a proverbial dog, would you haveyour phone out, have an idea
and just sing it into your phone?
Are you one of thosesongwriters as well, or does it
have to be in that moment of youin the studio?
Tyler Lyle (08:14):
I find that most song starts happen um I.
I got my first smartphone, Ithink in 2009 or 10, and I
downloaded something calledevernote oh yeah yeah, yeah and
um, and I think I have, uh yeah,4113 notes.
That seems low actually, um, uh, but yeah, every day usually
(08:37):
there's some kind of I'm fillingup the bucket.
Let's see.
Let's see what's anon-embarrassing thing.
I don't know.
What can I share?
I play the game by not playingthe game.
They call me the strategist.
Yeah, so you know if that makesit onto a song then great
Otherwise it's just a littlekernel and it's much easier to
(09:01):
come to the studio and to buildsomething out around, something
that rhymes, that has kind of anidentity already.
Yeah, yeah but those are thethings that just fall from the
sky and you know, you just tryand do your best to catch them
so that you can come back tothem later.
Marc Matthews (09:19):
You mentioned then that Tim has, so he's
working on, let's say, a lotless than yourself.
So he's the producer.
He's got that, for example, onesingle song, and he's going to
go through from start to finishwith that.
Is he sending you these songsfor you to then write lyrics to,
or is it sort of the other wayaround?
You say I've these, thislyrical idea.
Have you got anything thatmatches this, or is it a bit?
Tyler Lyle (09:39):
of both.
I would say that, um gosh, Ithink tim is a true artist and I
am, uh, I I called myself aditch digger a long time ago.
Um, and, and it's just, youknow, you show up for work and
you move the dirt and what youuncover really is none of your
business.
The labor is the.
But Tim really gets inspiredand sometimes can get
(10:03):
demotivated, and then getsinspired again and gets
demotivated when he hassomething on his plate.
He generally does a good job ofstaying focused, but no, it's
pretty easy for me to put a songout into the world, to just
throw some things against thewall.
(10:23):
How it usually works for amidnight track is that I've
written a lot of really, reallyrough drafts and Tim will come
to the table with one or twokind of song ideas, a loop, you
know, an A and a B part maybe,and that's my in.
You know he can't reallytranslate my acoustic guitar
(10:46):
songs into synthwave world, soit's my job to kind of go into
my large amount of rough draftsand go okay, what fits here,
what wants to exist, and andonce we get a little bit of
traction, um, then he'll, hewill add something else and I
will add something else, andusually that is the meat of
(11:06):
where the midnight kind of takeson its identity um, as as a, as
a separate creative exercise.
Um, and, and Tim will, uh, youwill.
To his credit, the next albumis written.
So my work is done, and Timwill spend the next three months
up every night dialing in kickdrum sounds and EQing everything
(11:29):
.
And so to write a song for meis relatively quick.
It's relatively quick for himto finish a song.
It takes a long time and a lotof labor and a lot of skill in
his domain, which is production.
Marc Matthews (11:45):
Yeah, so talking about the production element of
it slight tangent here so Timdoes go forward and then he sort
of takes it and does thatproduction side of things
through mixing and then onwardswherever it goes of.
Takes it and does thatproduction side of things
through mixing and then ononwards wherever it goes.
Have you ever been at all sortof interested in or have you
learned or picked up anythingalong the way?
Have you ever dabbled in theproduction and mixing element of
it?
Tyler Lyle (12:05):
yeah, not of the midnight.
I know my.
I know my limits, but, um, butyes, uh, yeah, I have a.
I have a full recording studiothat I'm in right now.
Uh, over lockdown, I decided itwas time to get serious and
time to finally learn this craftthat I've been dabbling with.
Yeah, I like production a lot.
(12:28):
The problem is it's a bigsystem and to really know it
well, you kind of have to justbe a producer and then move on
to the next thing.
I spent 15 years as just asongwriter.
I sold my car when I moved fromLA to New York in 2014 for, I
(12:49):
think, $1,500, which was enoughat the time to buy an Apollo
Twin and some plugins and an SM7.
And so I tinkered a lot andlearned to produce myself when I
was living in New York.
But during COVID, I really setabout going okay, how do I make
my vocal chain sound like I wantit to?
(13:13):
How do I get my bass playing upto par?
And I spent like three yearsproducing a record called the
Transcendentalists by myself andit turned out okay.
I'm actually not all thatpleased with it.
I'm going back into the studiowith some friends to redo it,
but no, I love production and Ifeel like the end that I'm
(13:36):
responsible for is mostly vocalsand on the side I do the
acoustic stuff.
So if I can record acousticguitar as well and I can record
vocals well, then the rest ofthe of my studio I can show you
a little bit.
It's yeah yeah, let's do it,it's, it's being uh taken apart
and put back together a littlebit, but I've got my little
(13:57):
synth wall over there my Echo.
Fix.
Those are my cables from GuitarCenter and then I've got my
modular guy over there.
So you know, the funsynthesizer toys are for writing
and for inspiration, notbecause I've ever seriously made
a a track with them.
Marc Matthews (14:19):
yeah, yeah, I love the modular synth.
It's something I really want toget into.
I was in a shop in bristol overhere in the uk I think I think
you played in bristol last year,if I remember rightly.
Yeah, we've played a coupletimes yeah, yeah, uh, so next
time you're there.
Uh, if I, if I knew, if I canremember the name, I would say
it, but there is a shop and itis solely based on modular
synths and I went in there and Iwas just like this is amazing,
(14:40):
but I wouldn't know where tostart or to create a song, and
just making noise, basicallyit's such a trap, yeah it really
is for the longest time I hadit outside of my studio because
I needed to kind of separate thetwo worlds the, the studios
where productive things happen,and the modular synth is really
just where I follow the strangewaves of my brain.
Tyler Lyle (15:04):
It's not a productive instrument, but it's
a deeply enjoyable one.
Marc Matthews (15:07):
Yeah, I kind of like an itsu when I'm mixing and
then I'm just going through abank of snare samples trying to
find a perfect snare or aperfect kick and I'm just
wasting time knowing that Iprobably already found it.
I'm just going through it and Ikind of do the same with synths
as well, to be honest.
But one question I do have.
Off the back of your production, you said you sort of upskilled
(15:28):
during lockdown and then youwanted to, or rather you found a
vocal chain.
Is there anything from thatvocal chain or that experience
that you then took forward andmaybe used in the midnight's uh
production?
Maybe you said to tim actuallyI found this and it works really
well, could we use this?
Tyler Lyle (15:43):
going forward, yeah, it's, it's kind of always been
that way.
Um, my vocal chain is themidnight's vocal chain, just
because we we have a lot of um,we have a lot of distance
between us, so we'll, we willget in the same room.
Next month, after we'vefinished our shows in Mexico,
I'll fly to LA.
So my vocal mic is a Soyuz 017tube.
(16:09):
They say it's kind of a versionof a good 67 capsule, but the
67s have always sounded a littledifferent to me.
But it's a very warm mic on myvoice and that goes through the
Shelford channel by sorry, byRupert Neve Designs.
And then I've got an LA-2A inthere, just because, gosh, a
(16:33):
real LA-2A with the tubes.
It's really nice.
It gives it a warmth and thatattack is so slow and so buttery
.
So that's the Midnight Chain.
Usually we've recorded on areal 67, and we like the
Telefunken 251.
Nice, and every now and thenwe'll go through a 610 as a pre
(16:59):
and it gives it a kind of warmth.
That the Shelford channel, it'sjust it's different.
There's, I don't know, there'sthat harmonic distortion that
you can dial in on the Shelfordchannel.
Marc Matthews (17:10):
Very nice.
Tyler Lyle (17:11):
That I really like.
It just gives you kind of thatwoolly vintage Neve sound that I
like.
I feel like if Tim wasdesigning the vocal chain from
scratch it would probably besomething more like a manly into
an 1176 or something like that,something with a little faster
attack.
You know, make the plosivesquicker.
More of a rock vocal chain thanI don't know folk or country or
(17:34):
classic rock.
Marc Matthews (17:36):
Yeah, two great compressors though the 1176 and
the LA-2A.
I love an LA-2A, so have yougot a hardware version of the
LA-2A that you're going into?
Yes, oh, very nice, very nice,yes.
Tyler Lyle (17:49):
Actually you could maybe solve this for me.
I had an engineer over hereyesterday and I'm coming, so the
mic to the Shelford, to theLA-28, then into my Apollo, the
the.
The question is, if I'm cominginto the Apollo with an XLR, is
(18:10):
it adding gain because I'm notcoming in at line level, if I'm
going in at XLR because theApollo wants to automatically
add a preamp and a gain boost?
So this is my quandary that Iasked somebody at Guitar Center
earlier and I don't quite knowthe answer to.
Marc Matthews (18:32):
So you're going into the Apollo.
You've gone through the signalchain from the Neve into the
LA-2A and then into the Apollo.
You've gone through the signalchain from the Neve into the
LA-2A and then into the Apollo.
Tyler Lyle (18:40):
Yeah.
Marc Matthews (18:41):
And then is the Apollo adding additional gain on
top of that as well?
Is that the question?
Tyler Lyle (18:45):
Correct, because I'm coming in with an XLR and not a
line.
Marc Matthews (18:49):
Yeah, I've never rooted it that way.
To be fair, I'll probably getcorrected on the internet.
When this goes on YouTube,there'll be loads of people in
the comments going oh it doesthis, it does this, it does this
.
Tyler Lyle (19:04):
That's all I want.
I just want to start a war overa simple question about gain
staging.
Marc Matthews (19:08):
I think it will.
And then there'll be otherssaying, oh, you should do it
this way around, you should doit that way around, and
everything else in between.
So when this goes live, I'll beintrigued to read the comments,
but I'll hazard a guess.
If it's going with XLR, theonly gain that's going to be
applied is the gain that you addwith the Apollo.
Tyler Lyle (19:25):
Right.
Marc Matthews (19:26):
Is it going to in my head?
Yeah, that's the only gainthat's going to be added.
You've got to add some gain toget some signal going in, so
you're in control of it there.
That's a really weird one.
I'm not entirely sure.
Is the?
Is my direct answer?
Uh, without having to look atit myself, you know?
Tyler Lyle (19:44):
um well, I'm excited to see the comments because I
bought it I bought the cable andI'm on the fence.
These are the big questionsmark.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can see it,man.
Marc Matthews (19:52):
Yeah, I can't wait to read the comments on
this.
It's gonna be interesting so itprobably won't be any, but
there you go, yeah um, yeah.
Tyler Lyle (20:00):
So your question do I dabble in production?
Yes, I would.
I would very much like to up myskills in uh, I would like to
be able to put a, put a songfrom idea to to mastered track.
But I give myself a c plusafter the last 15 years of
attempting it yeah, I think thisis something I've said on the
(20:21):
podcast.
Marc Matthews (20:22):
Well, this is going to be a episode 187 of the
podcast, but I think it's oneof those ones where I've always
said, like because you've got toknow your strengths, and then
when you've got to know when tooutsource is the key, that's
right.
Know when to outsource.
And then think, okay, I haven'tquite mastered that yet, I'm
going to pass that on to someoneelse to do and then maybe learn
it in the meantime, or justremain, know your strengths and
(20:42):
stick with it.
Tyler Lyle (20:43):
You know and um, there's some deep wisdom there.
No, it's um.
I, after trying to make thisrecord, uh, in my space for
three years, I uh, you knowhired out a studio with some
friends who are in a band here,not far from here, and instead
of me, who is a you know fiveout of 10 bass player and a you
(21:04):
know four out of 10 keys playerand a you know seven out of 10
guitar player, trying to put atrack together to make it
excellent.
It's so much better to be in aroom that I get to be the
vocalist and the songwriter ofwhich I'm, you know, a pretty
pretty good at both of thosethings, though if I have a hat,
that's my hat and then to be inwith a guitarist who's a nine
(21:25):
out of ten ten out of ten, youknow, the same with the drummer,
the same with the bassist justjust really amazing guys, and
it's, uh, it's so fun to makemusic that way, when you don't
have to try and fill all of yourweakest holes, that somebody
else gets to fill them withtheir strengths, and that is the
best feeling.
It's so fun to track music thatway.
Marc Matthews (21:46):
Yeah, I'd certainly agree.
I mean, the stuff I releaseisn't as well known as the
Midnight by any stretch, but Iknow exactly that myself.
I'm a very average guitaristand I was always when I was
playing in the bands I was in.
In this metal band the otherguitarist was leagues better
than me, but because, uh, Icould sort of like hide behind
him when I made mistakes, whichhappened quite a lot.
(22:08):
Um, but yeah, I, I get otherbassists in, other guitarists in
, because I know my limits whenit comes to that and, like you
say, it just it takes thatpressure off me having to cobble
together and try and upskilland all this sort of stuff.
So, and it just it adds to thatcreative freedom.
I find if I can just play to mystrengths, like you say, that
it makes perfect sense I thinkthat's right.
Tyler Lyle (22:27):
And then you, then you, in the place of
contributing to somebody else'svision as well, you, you, you
get to fill in somebody else'sum, you know, beautiful,
beautiful table that they've setmost definitely but yeah yeah,
so yes, I would like to produce,uh, more and better, but we're
on a journey yeah, mostdefinitely.
Marc Matthews (22:47):
Um, moving on to my next question here, I did say
before we we started recordingthis.
I very rarely get through allof them and I think this is the
second one I've got written downand uh, yeah, yeah, we're over
halfway through here.
So you mentioned that this isquite an important one because
on the podcast before I'vementioned about sort of routines
and getting into the habit ofwhether it's mixing, songwriting
(23:10):
, arrangement, whatever it is,and just maintaining consistency
.
How do you maintain thatdiscipline of?
Okay, you mentioned meditationand the other bits that are the
precursor to your songwriting,but how do you maintain that
every day?
Because there are days we allhave it.
Even if you're doing the, the,the thing you want to do in the
world, the most.
You have bad days, you know.
(23:32):
How do you maintain thatconsistency every day?
What is sort of your top tipsfor that?
Tyler Lyle (23:37):
okay, I'll give you.
I'll give you ideal world andthen I'll give you real world.
Okay, uh, okay, I ideal world.
I am up at six, 15.
I go up, uh, before my wife andson are up to uh, a little
study, uh up in the top floor ofmy house and I write three uh,
they're called morning pages.
Julia Cameron wrote a bookcalled the called the Artist's
(23:58):
Way, that I read a long time agoand so I've been writing these
three pages for the last 11years and it helps me just kind
of get out of my head and talkabout the day ahead and what I
need to do and you know, any bigthoughts or dreams or plans or
anxieties.
And then I take my son toschool and after that I go work
(24:19):
out for an hour Either that'streadmill or lifting weights or
on the rowing machine, and thenwhat's my last bit, meditation.
Yeah, I go through phases withmeditation.
Ideally that's 10 minutessitting in a chair.
The reality is that I slept intoday, because daylight savings
(24:42):
time is an affliction on parentsof young children, and I have
about one page of my three pagesdone, which I did in a place to
come to the studio around 11 amand work for a few hours and
(25:02):
see what happens.
So, yes, I wish I didn't have tohave that consistency, mark.
It's not something that I feellike you need to meditate to be
a good songwriter goodsongwriter but it's one of those
(25:23):
things that, like, I used tohave it in my 20s, just on pure
inspiration and Jim Beam andSleepless Nights, and I could
function well as a creativeperson in that zone, in that
space, and now I have to run sixmiles to be in that mental
space and that's horrible.
I used to like look at peoplerunning in the morning and think
(25:43):
, what jerks, you know.
They think they're better thanthe rest of us, and now that I'm
old I'm like, no, nobody runs amarathon out of choice.
There's something that's gonedeeply wrong in their lives that
they've had to course correctby having to force themselves to
run.
So that's roughly how I viewthe consistency of my creative
(26:03):
practices.
It's something that keeps me onbalance.
It keeps me from swinging thisway or this way once I arrive at
the desk and hopefully I'mphysically tired enough and
emotionally, uh, present, andmentally, uh, you know, able to
give, you know, at least four orfive good hours to the craft
and then and then leave it onthe table and go yeah, go on
(26:26):
with the rest of my emails.
Marc Matthews (26:28):
Yeah, see, I like , I like that.
You got the ideal world and thethe actual reality of it.
And what you said about there,about running, echoes what I do,
uh, now I've been in my late30s and I'm one of those in the
morning out running and I haveto do it.
I don't do it every day becauseI think my my knees couldn't
take it, to be fair um, but I, Ifind that I have to do it and
it does, it does help me get inthe right mindset, but I, I have
(26:48):
joined that club, uh, ofrunning in the morning, just to.
Yeah, I, I find I listen to, Ilisten to a lot of podcasts that
way.
Tyler Lyle (26:56):
Yeah, which really helps.
Lelia Broussard, our bassist,talked to me about habit
stacking once, and I quite likelistening to music.
I create DJ playlists while I'mrunning or while I'm doing the
machines, so that's actually areally healthy part of my brain.
(27:20):
I can get my brain on acreative task while I'm working
out.
Marc Matthews (27:24):
Nice, nice, lovely stuff.
Yeah, I always find it fine.
It's one of those ones.
When it comes to routine andhabits, it's like I find, and I
used to be quite hard on myselfwhen I didn't follow follow a
routine or a habit.
But now as I've got older, I'verealized actually it's not the
be-all and end-all.
As long as I do something, aslong as I do something to
contribute towards it, I find Ifeel okay about it.
(27:44):
You know, yeah, but moving onto the lyrics themselves, so I'm
well aware of time here, soI've got a couple more questions
I'd like to get through.
Sure, so, on the wiki for theMidnight yourself as well.
With regards to the lyricsthemselves, I've got a quote
here the fantasy that I neverexperienced.
So how do you tap into thatnostalgia and storytelling to
(28:06):
create those sort of yeah, thatnostalgia and those fantasies
that you never experienced inyour lyrics?
Tyler Lyle (28:17):
I had such a good fortune to be an artist in my
own right before the Midnightcame around.
These were folk, americana,singer-songwriter, confessional
songs.
I felt like I had these massiveburdens in my soul that I had
to work through and give themout as a way to heal or
something.
And around the time that I metTim, I luckily had grown tired
(28:44):
of myself in that way and, youknow, needing to make my therapy
.
Other people's, you know here,listen to my songs.
So I was reading a bit of thegreat 19th, 20th century poets
Ezra Pound, ts Eliot, waltWhitman.
(29:05):
And when I met Tim for thefirst time in the studio in
April 2012, I kind of gavemyself the challenge can I just
write the images and withholdthe story, just describe what's
happening?
Only images, no story.
(29:27):
And that kind of became thewriting prompt that grew into
the Midnight.
And somewhere between the firstEP, days of Thunder, and the
first LP, endless Summer, Idiscovered Carl Jung's concept
of the archetypes.
And there's always a femmefatale in every mythology
(29:50):
throughout history.
And there's always the king orthe boss or the uh, you know,
the, the mob boss, or the, theexecutive.
There's always the desperado,the jason character, the uh, the
person who's always chasing, uh, something, who, uh, these are
all archetypes the mother, thechild, the, the shadow, the
(30:12):
wounded healer.
These are all kind of embeddedin mythology forever.
And I was listening to bandslike the Parliament Funkadelic
thing.
They do it with aliens.
Bruce Springsteen does it withthis kind of mid-century
American blue-collar work ethicthat is fabricated.
(30:33):
You know he's writing his dad'smythology that needed a
suffering Christ so that theycould find a hero that suffered.
And then this country band,alabama, who kind of wrote this
mythology of the post-war South,and it's all world building and
(30:55):
it's all using archetypes.
And these are completelydifferent kinds of worlds,
different genres.
They have nothing in commonother than the fact that they
are using myth to hold theirworld up and then they're
skinning it in whatever way theywant to, skinning it in
(31:17):
whatever way they want to.
And I realized that the midnightcan kind of be this receptacle
for these unrealized fantasiesand myths Like reskin the
archetypes, right, the lovers,upside down, that's monsters.
You know, jason doesn't knowwhat he's chasing, much like the
(31:40):
Jason of the Argonauts or theJason of Friday the 13th.
It's all mythology.
The question was, can I play inthe sandbox for a little while,
and then it became two or threeor four records and the sandbox
started to become real.
The Velveteen Rabbit becamereal, as it was loved and as the
(32:01):
Midnight was fortunate enoughto find an audience and to to
start playing live and to, um,to find people who were making
videos and montages.
It just became real.
This, this archetypal world of,like you know, cyberpunk or
retro futurism or whatever,whatever you want to call it.
Um, people wanted to live inthat world and so they they
(32:24):
joined us in, in making itsomething three-dimensional,
something, something living andbreathing.
So it was just a songwritingexperiment on my part, but yeah
it's so cool, so so cool.
Marc Matthews (32:35):
Uh, the myths and archetypes.
As soon as you mentioned mythsand like how, how things are
built on myths, it reminds me ofa book I read called sapiens by
.
Tyler Lyle (32:43):
I think it was sapiens by oh, yeah, yeah, no,
no, you, you've all know aharari I was it.
Marc Matthews (32:48):
Uh, known, is another one then yeah, but
sapiens, I've got the author onthere, slap on the wrist.
Um, but yeah, it just remindedme of that.
But I love what.
What you mentioned there aboutJason and the Argonauts chasing,
was it the Golden Fleece?
Was that Jason and theArgonauts?
Tyler Lyle (33:04):
I got that wrong as well, that is right.
Marc Matthews (33:06):
Yeah, I got something right.
And the other one with Jason,friday the 13th.
I love that idea.
That's given me inspiration,because I'm always, because I'm
a big horror films, but alsobring them over into sort of
(33:26):
like a synth, a progressivehouse, a house sort of realm,
without making them explicitlyabout the texas chainsaw
massacre, and I'm going to usethat idea of myths and
archetypes and now I love that.
I think that's, that's, that'sgreat.
And images as well.
I love it well make.
Tyler Lyle (33:41):
Make your images symbols so that you can give
something to your audience thatthey will have a direct
attachment to.
If you give your confessionalstory I was at this cross street
and talking to this person andif you're giving your own story,
there's less magnetism, there'sless for them to reach.
(34:03):
You give the image of a childor somebody talking about uh,
you know, youth.
That was our, um, our saturdaymorning cartoons.
People have a direct connectionwith these things and and there
is kind of a subtle umintelligence in, in backing away
as the artist and kind ofgiving as much to the audience
as as as possible.
(34:23):
And you do that via myth,archetype, symbol, amazing love
it.
Marc Matthews (34:28):
This is great.
This will give me loads ofinspiration now to go right, go
away and write some lyrics.
I say that I'll probablytomorrow.
I'll sit down and be like,right, I'll make a start and
then my mind is just blank.
But I love it.
This is great.
Um, in the interest of time,tyler, I'm well aware you've got
a busy schedule.
Tyler Lyle (34:44):
No, no, I've got a call in 20 minutes.
If you want to go another extra10, that, yeah, that's, that's
fine, yeah cool, cool, cool.
Marc Matthews (34:50):
Um, I think probably this question.
No, we'll do this one herebecause we mentioned about
collaboration earlier.
So obviously you arecollaborating, uh, remote,
remotely, although you do cometogether as well with tim.
Yeah, um, how do you make thelong distance collaboration work
?
What challenges have you facedand how have you overcome them?
Tyler Lyle (35:10):
Every song is so different, in the same way that
every show is so different.
In the album process I'mwriting a lot Hopefully Tim is
working on his end and weusually don't go more than two
or three months without being inthe same room together.
So when we're in the same room,I bring what I have and he
(35:32):
brings what he has, and that'sreally where the marriage
creatively happens.
So really being in the sameroom is the best, unless you
just are totally inspired bysomething and uh and and you can
send that back and forth.
Marc Matthews (35:51):
It can, it can work, but it's more ideal to be
in the physical space togetheryeah, so in in reality then you,
uh, you mentioned there thatyou, you, two or three months is
the max that you go withoutactually being in the same room
yeah, that's probably right thisthis year it's been about once
a month oh, wow.
And is that?
Is tim coming over to the us oryou're going over to denmark,
(36:12):
or is it like a bit of back andforth, like tim is in la right
now, so he's he's, he's been inthe us.
Tyler Lyle (36:18):
So, uh, my whole team the midnight's team is is
in la, so I'll I'll go there.
My wife's family is out there,so I live in atlanta, so it's
easy for me to go there.
It's easy for tim to come here,yeah yeah, okay, okay, well, I
think well.
Marc Matthews (36:33):
The final question, then and this is for
because I mentioned this off airthat this podcast started out,
and it was started out as a as apodcast to talk to synth music,
synth waves, pop, whatever itmay be, artists and it's, and
it's grown organically and it'sit's moved into other spheres
over the course of 180-oddepisodes, but at its core, there
(36:53):
is a lot of synth waveproducers, artists that listen
to this podcast, so yourselfhere.
So for those listeners who wantto craft synth wave music with
deeply felt lyrics, what's thenumber one piece of advice you'd
give them?
Tyler Lyle (37:07):
Wow, synthwave music with deeply felt lyrics.
What's the number one piece ofadvice you'd give them?
Wow, um, the first piece ofadvice is sort of be
compassionate with yourself.
Um, I, I think the synthwavegenre, um the midnight, was so
fortunate to be where we were atat that time, because it was um
around this time that the Applecomputer, you know garage band
(37:30):
logic presets for all theseclassic synths became installed,
and I think that Synthwave wasthis generation's like garage
band, in a way, like not thesoftware, but like people
getting in some parents' garageand making music like in the
early 2000s.
I think Synthwave has becomethat and we were just the people
(37:55):
that had been in the musicbusiness long enough to make it
from a professional level.
And I think in the last 10years that we've been doing it,
a lot of these bedroom producershave caught up and surpassed us
in many ways.
But part of the secret sauce ofthe midnight is that I am a
(38:20):
songwriter first and that Tim isa producer first, and to have
both of those tasks, to wearboth of those hats at the same
time, is a really hard thing, Iwould say in lyric writing.
I want synth lyricists to bebolder, to push the limits of
(38:42):
good taste to like really makeit challenging.
And there are people that pushit in the horror thing or make
it overly sexual.
I mean really just I thinkGasolfelstein's new record kind
of does it in an interesting way.
Nobody knows what a song issupposed to be lyrically, it's a
(39:03):
well-narrated hallucination.
Just make sure that it comesfrom something that feels like
it has the essence of truth,something that feels like it
needs to exist.
We as creatives are ferryingideas from one realm to this one
and make sure that it's notjust created from a sense of
(39:24):
like ego or needing the numbersto be up or somebody to hear,
you know, to validate me as anartist.
Like, make sure the idea needsto exist first, and I think if
you wait until that idea comesand then go all in on that idea,
that song, then then that'swhat the world needs more of.
Marc Matthews (39:44):
So yeah, I love it.
It needs to exist.
What was that soundbite?
I say soundbite, I'm going touse it as a soundbite, or at
least a quote about thehallucination.
Again, I was trying to rememberit.
Tyler Lyle (39:56):
A lyric is a… A well-narrated hallucination.
That was it A well-narratedhallucination.
Marc Matthews (40:02):
I love that.
That's such a good way ofdescribing it.
I'm going to make a mark hereon Riverside.
Shout out to Riverside for thatwell-narrated hallucination.
Love it, tyler.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
I'm so glad we've been able todo this today.
Tyler Lyle (40:16):
Likewise, Mark Thank you yeah.
Marc Matthews (40:17):
Yeah, it's been a long while since I've
interviewed I say just just isthe wrong word.
I interviewed artists an artistor a producer versus a mix
engineer or mastering engineer.
So I was really excited A tospeak to yourself and B just to
talk to an artist as well,because it's been a long time
since I've done it on thepodcast.
So a really big thank you forthis, and I know the audience
(40:39):
are going to get loads out ofthis, as have I already.
Lots to take away Before wewrap things up.
Is there anything you'd like toshare?
No worries if there isn't.
And where can the audience findyou online?
Where's the best place to go ifthey want to know more about
you in particular?
Tyler Lyle (40:56):
yeah, uh, so my name is tyler lyle I.
I make music as tyler lyle.
It's a folk, you know, acousticproject, but, uh, most of my
time is spent with the midnight.
We are a duo that uh is afive-piece band live and, uh, we
just released a single calledlove is an ocean and our next
(41:16):
record should be coming out, uh,this fall, which we're we're
wrapping up right now and we'revery excited about exciting
times, fantastic, uh, thatshould coincide.
Marc Matthews (41:25):
I think you were over in the UK in October, if I
remember rightly.
Tyler Lyle (41:29):
Yes, yeah, we'll be on tour as well in Europe and
the UK in September, October.
Marc Matthews (41:34):
Fantastic, Tyler.
As I say, it's been an absolutepleasure and I will let you go
now Again, thank you so much,and I'll catch up with you soon.
Thank you, Mark Cheers buddy.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.