The Midnight - Syndicate, Creative Journeys, and Touring Life on the Virtual Sessions - The DJ Sessions

Episode Transcript
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(00:05):
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the DJ sessions presents the virtual sessions.
I'm your host Darran and right now I'm sitting in the virtual studios in Seattle, Washington and none other I have two guests on the show today I have Tim coming in from outside of Portland, Oregon I don't want to give away his new home address and Tyler coming in from Atlanta But both of them together make up The Midnight.

(00:29):
How's it going today guys?
Hey great to be with you.
So great Thanks for having us man.
Absolutely super excited to dive in the show today.
You have a lot of awesome stuff What do you know what I have to do?
I have to turn off my audio From my servers so that way it doesn't duplicate in the broadcast Yeah, that's what happens when you refresh the screen and forget to hit a button But that being said I want to start the show up by giving some ass Awesome.

(00:53):
Awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome shoutouts to your viewers that have tuned in via your twitch stream starting from the top we got mags the shark to three carry on without me took me a second to get that one the Valon to Ness Valentino's, please don't Murder me if I get these wrong.
I got megatron a 21 the garbage Greg got ghost saw tetra gammatron And Tronic on lots of trons in there Sandry silent sightless comeback nerdy kid Nick Okay, this is fun.

(01:29):
I like these one
Pala boy 97
lily of the city
Scout scope pan booth 31 0 3 1 gup tash
H99 I just want an hour of you
Real just wanted to give a shout out to everyone who jumped online and thank you for being here today

(01:53):
We'll hit some of those shoutouts as the show goes on but here we are at the DJ sessions talking with The Midnight
Today super excited and you know you we want to jump right into this stuff
You have a new album coming out called the syndicate and that's coming out in October on ultra records
Okay, ultra records the ultra records, right?

(02:16):
Yeah, we're gonna dive into the album But how long has it been since you actually?
Released something because I was going through your socials this morning and it seems like there's been a little bit of a gap Is that correct?
You had an EP a while ago, and this is now Table or have you been releasing?
Senses, it's just the album that took a while to make I was a little confused on that Yeah, we released heroes in 2022.

(02:39):
I believe and then we had a live record in 23 So yeah, it's been a minute.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah now you're excited album full-length full-length album We're talking 12 13 songs not a 17 17 songs and I noticed that there was a long list of Collaborations of names that were you collaborated with on this?

(03:02):
I won't give them whole list of shoutouts or anything like that But you know making an album is a huge undertaking nowadays I see a lot of people just producing tracks and tracks and tracks and tracks What was the inspiration of actually making the album this syndicate?
It's such a it's been such a long it's been like two and a half years in the making I feel like maybe even more but from the gestation of like The title was something I had been Mulling around for a while either a track or an album or and it kind of come to came together It started in one place.

(03:36):
We went through many different phases and kept chipping away at it And but yeah, how how did all this come about Tyler?
I I don't know
We were eating in
Vegas we like had sat down for a
Lunch or dinner or something and you you were telling me about the game syndicate and you I remember now
I think we're actually the next morning in Vegas after a show at this at the

(04:01):
the little craps machines
we're sitting around used you and I and I was having a coffee and
Yeah, I I think that's where the idea for syndicate was was I just had had this I
Was inspired by the game the 1993 video game called syndicate by bullfrog very 90s aesthetic and has like a Blade Runner ish kind of

(04:24):
Neo-noir vibe and kind of that that was the the starting point
but then it kept evolving obviously and
You know as we're want to do pulling inspiration from our own lives and what's going on in the world and and kind of our own
Journey, so yeah
You know when I looked at some of the graphics and the I wouldn't say neo-noir

(04:45):
But they definitely that neon vibe screamed out to me kind of a cyberpunk, you know, obviously with the name syndicate in there
I was like, okay.
I used to play a little cyberpunk back in the day and in my role-playing game days You know, so is that are you are you heavily influenced by like?
Where would you say that influence would have come from for this other?

(05:07):
You know, is that where you're drawing this from is are you fans of the 80s or cyberpunk realm?
Yeah, I think this is the first time That we've gone to the future in a way a lot of The Midnight Albums have hearkened back to a time in the past and we see The Midnight is the time machine that we get to ride To different eras and tell different stories.

(05:31):
So this is um
This was our attempt to kind of go into the far distant future and have a bit of a meditation about loss
So, you know, we're not teenagers in the mall anymore
the story has kind of arced and and
This is us kind of looking looking back and having kind of a moment of reflection about where we've been

(05:51):
So we both like mall rats growing up and hung out the video game arcades and all that fun stuff.
I was yeah Have as many video games video game arcades where I grew up in my local neighborhood But I I love to go I would go roller skating in the mall.
I grew up in Denmark
So slightly different but yeah
I would go roller skating with my friends and we would always get thrown out and we would try to get in and the same

(06:15):
Security guy would see us again and throw it out again
But you know because the floors were so smooth compared to the concrete outside
So you wanted to roller skate through the mall is way better, you know
Yeah, yeah
And you know
It's a both was a roller ski roller skate rink fanatic and mall rat back in the days video game arcade guys
Now there were some pictures of you recently in the studio and I noticed you're both in two different locations

(06:40):
So is this more online collaborations?
You guys work together and fly out to meet each other or how does that even met?
Yeah New stuff today with y'all.
Yeah.
No, that was those pictures were from the studio back in when was that?
Was that like?
It was like March or we were right on the kind of it was like April or something

(07:05):
We were right kind of in that last few weeks of finishing the album or last month or so
I think right finishing getting like the last final vocals doing final tweaks on the top line writing on some songs and
That was just that was in LA while I still lived in LA and Tyler
Who's based in Atlanta flew in and I've since then left LA for the Pacific Northwest

(07:28):
Nice and
Sorry, I kind of went on a whole diatribe
we've lived we met in LA, you know many many years ago to 13 years ago or so and
We're live both living in LA and then Tyler moved to your I'm telling your life story Tyler.
Oh, that's okay
and new to your your I stayed in LA and

(07:49):
he lives in Atlanta now and it's been a sort of a bi-coastal thing and and Tyler's been on on
You know the other side of the country for a lot of this where we would fly in and hang out and do a week
in the studio in Atlanta or LA or wherever it may be
But it's uh, it would obviously be easier if we lived in the same city

(08:10):
but kind of how we work tends to be little spots of focused energy and we go away and do our thing and then we
Come back and we so tends to be the rhythm and for our DJ sessions viewers who have not heard about you
and I'm very new to
To The Midnight them myself, so I haven't really dived into your library or anything of that nature
How would if you could describe your music in three words or less?

(08:31):
Well, how would you describe it?
I?
Don't know if I can do it three what I like to say it's like if a John Hughes movie had a baby with Miami Vice That's that's my elevator pitch, but you know, there's been evolving things in that but I don't know if I three-word description What do you think Tyler's the wordsmith?

(08:53):
Whenever an uber driver asks me where I'm going and I have to explain that I'm playing a show tonight and I'm late He's they're always like what kind of music is it and I and I just say rock and roll with synthesizers That's our that's our mo.
It's You know Tim's synth world.
He is the he's the producer of this he comes from You know very much the producer cockpit.

(09:17):
He knows all the tools and tricks and sparkly synthesizers I just know, you know American songwriting canon, so it's it's I feel like the mix between those two worlds Bruce Bruce Springsteen and I don't know what you would call it Tim, but uh, I don't know either We should really work on that.
We should figure that out at some point.

(09:37):
I know I know You know does does gear really matter Tim when it comes to being creative does gear really matter or should artists be able to go?
Anything to other fans and are you like fully analog or are you more digital now or What's the transition of like that been and same for you Tyler?
Yeah For for gear I'm not the biggest gear head I've become as I've learned to work as I've worked with different things.

(10:05):
I think I've learned I've educated myself and and No more and can make more educated decisions.
I think there can be a bit of a tendency to
To to maybe be a little like to fetishize some gear for you know
This is good for for this and therefore it's good for everything and there's truth in all of that
but I think depends on what um depends on your workflow how you work best for me at least I

(10:29):
Tend to be very much in the box
Someone's getting arrested
I tend to be very much in the box and then in the last few out heroes was very our last album studio album was
very
Lie, there's a lot of live guitars and there was a lot of outboard analog synths

(10:49):
and but this new one there is some analog synths and we've gotten really good at using we found the sort of
right mic for Tyler that just sounds like butter on that mic and
But a lot of that is in the box now
And I think it depends on you got to find your own workflow
Whatever makes you feel creative and feel and makes it flow freely.

(11:11):
It doesn't matter what it is It could be a tiny little cheap synth if it sounds right to you and it gives you that Sound doesn't have to be expensive equipment now sonically.
Yeah
An expensive good quality sound card is gonna produce better mixes for you
You're gonna be able to do more you're gonna get more bandwidth all that kind of stuff
But I don't think there's any right or wrong approach

(11:34):
Yeah, you know I want to jump in there are some funny stuff being said on your chat line right now Tim
Johnny clueless wants to know how long you've been running megacorp for
So it's an ongoing thing, you know, it's started as a nonprofit, but I turned out I couldn't
squeeze enough money out of it and

(11:54):
To be fair as this is an inside joke
And I was hoping Tyler was also a little thing and I realized now I just looked like a megalomaniac like a bond villain
That's that's that's my part of the joke.
Oh, yeah, exactly.
I know how he operates Thank you for recognizing game game recognizes game No worries.
So taking this question from a fan of ours Nikki show Walter She wants to know what is your songwriting process look like?

(12:20):
Like where do you start?
And do you have any tips for people that are starting out that it might be helpful in the early stages of if somebody wanted to
Get in the music creation or songwriting
Yeah, nobody knows what a song is supposed to be
You know in terms of production you can take something and make it sound better or worse

(12:40):
But in terms of songwriting, it's a blank slate
And I think that that can be intimidating when you're first starting out, especially to to conjure the confidence
To say this is what I want to say and this is why I want to say it and it should it should exist
I think I think it takes a good 10 years of songwriting to kind of hit a point where you think oh

(13:01):
It's important that this idea
exists
Before then there's just so much self-doubt and so much, you know
I should I say it this way or this way or my heroes do it this way
Maybe I should you know, do it like my heroes, but but I mean
The song that is your voice is is what should exist and there is no blueprint for it

(13:23):
So throw anything at the wall people have been doing it different ways throughout time and it's really just
Whatever feels best to you production is a whole different thing.
But in terms of lyric writing and melody, that's You know, it's just human behavior the baby.
The baby crying is the melodic line and people walking.
That's the that's rhythm You know, it's just a very human Thing that we've we've we've turned into to an industry somehow perhaps to music's disadvantage, but Just do it.

(13:55):
It's the most natural human thing.
Just go go go in the direction you feel
Yeah, so, you know again, you know, I guess I think I think my philosophy of music class when I was in college years ago
I I think I tried it
I didn't really try to argue the point but I tried to argue that I think my thesis was that an

(14:15):
Airport was basically in relationship to a symphony orchestra, you know
Everything that happened the orchestration of what went on in the airport all the all the happenings that went on
Yeah, you know, I actually got an A on that thesis, you know
And then I said well, wait a second
what if like the planets and stars are actually musical tones, you know and the work in the harmony and

(14:35):
I think I kind of in the
Where I was going to school at the kids in the classroom probably were looking at me some crazy kid
But the teacher he was my philosophy and logic teacher as well as like cool, where did you grow up?
You know, like are you from this planet or something like no Maybe I'm not I don't know But anyways, you know, you're right anyone can start creating music and I see this often in you know Early careers of podcasters or people getting online with video and stuff that where do you go?

(15:02):
Where do you start and you just come up with a topic and kind of roll with it and you grow into it You said even took time for you to get into this, you know What was your both of your strongest?
Motivations for pursuing a career in music
Ignorance
Ignorance, yeah, I think it's a blessing to not know if I think about

(15:25):
How long it took me to get here had I known that when I was, you know, 21 years old
I don't know
I mean, I probably wouldn't have just given up but I would have it would have it's a blessing to not know how much you're
Struggle or be rejected get I'd say if I don't know
this is maybe not the answer you're looking for but I'd say get used to the word know and and

(15:46):
realize that it just all that is is a is kind of a it's a
redirection on your path and and
instead of taking it as a
Sign that what you're doing is wrong.
It just means
You either haven't you found your voice yet or you're it's not just maybe it's just not resonating with this specific person

(16:08):
so
Figure out why you want to do it
That's because if you're doing it for others, then it's you're gonna fail and it's gonna suck and the experience is gonna suck
But if you make your goal the goal of making it is making yourself
Joyful and happy and feel good and loving that process and the final product which is all we can
Control, then you're kind of setting yourself up for a lot more

(16:30):
Good experiences and I think that's where success if you want to whatever that means to you flows out of that
Tyler any thoughts on that because I had something to follow up right with that.
I Just went camping with my family for Labor Day and we went to an Appalachian like culture museum.

(16:51):
It's called Foxfire It's up in the woods in North, Georgia but you see all the instruments that are handmade made from a cigar box and there's a dulcimer and a banjo and the guitar and You recognize that?
music much like you know making Wine or Growing your garden.
These were just the human behaviors the idea that like I'm gonna be the person that's gonna grow the best tomato that's roughly what like shooting for being a professional musician is And it's like it's like we've taken this thing.

(17:24):
That's just really supposed to be communal local and behavioral and we've we Put it on a trajectory to to be, you know A lot of our musicians I think And I wonder I wonder what?
You know AI can do this better than we can if not today than tomorrow I wonder what happens when we kind of have to revalue music and what it actually means as one a product that we consume but also Something that we do as humans that we make, you know It's akin to our cave art paintings or whatever.

(18:02):
It's just something innate that we that we that we do so
The sooner you can kind of divorce those two things the need for it to have money or for people to pay attention to what
You're doing and just the sheer curiosity and wonder of being able to you know, put sound in in silence
I think the the better the world will be, you know

(18:23):
I talked to a lot of producers a lot of DJs over the years and one of the things they say is, you know
Don't look at what's hot right now and produce that
Produce what you love and and and find your circle within that and get encouragement within that and then you'll be much happier in
This industry probably because you're not chasing the carrot because by the time you produce something get it out there

(18:45):
That carrots already moved or the cheese has already moved, you know
So really find out what you love doing and that could be a multitude of things of people people get in and they think oh
I'm gonna produce house music or I'm gonna produce trance and they find themselves producing drum and bass
Later on or you know going off into doing other types of music, but you know question here
Where's the weirdest moment you've ever heard one of your own tracks play?

(19:09):
There's a question for both of you Tyler go first Tim jump in The weirdest place I ever heard our music played I heard vampires at a construction site in in Brooklyn on the Gowanus Canal as I was walking by after lunch going back to my Apartment that was a weird one.

(19:29):
There was an empty bar one time that was playing one of our songs in New Orleans
it's
before The Midnight I would have this experience of like hoping that I would hear one of my one of my songs that I'd written
out in the world and
Usually when I I had that moment
It was because I just plugged my phone into somebody else's car and it just played the first song which was mine

(19:49):
I'm like, oh, hey, that's me
But hearing The Midnight out into the world makes me happy because it's it's it's Tim's project
It's my project, but it's also this third thing
It's like our little musical love child called The Midnight and it's it's its own
Thing and it delights me to hear it out, which I get to every now and then

(20:10):
I've still haven't heard it out in the while.
I'm still waiting for that.
Generally.
I've heard songs
I used to be a producer for other artists and never actually had
Sort of aspirations of being an artist, but then I met Tyler and I realized I had something in me
I wanted to express and he was part of like unlocking that
But so I've heard songs that I've produced or co-written or blah blah, you know

(20:34):
Here and there but never heard
I will get messages every now and then from like my friends like they're playing midnight at the bar
I'm at I'm like, oh my god, so cool, and I've never experienced that I would
You know genuinely love
To walk into a clothing store and then have our music playing and just go that's cool, but it's never happened

(20:56):
So, you know, boohoo
So taking taking a question from one of your guests that's in the stream right now
I'm not sure how to pronounce the username
You might know him that may be a big fan
But I'm gonna bring this in here and do you have any predictions for stranger things 5 are you to both?
Obviously fans of stranger things I take it.
Yeah, I'm a huge fan myself Didn't didn't see that in any of the socials out there, but sounds like it fit right in.

(21:22):
I love the soundtrack
I feel like the seasons have been so there's like five years between every season now
So I kind of a I forgot where we dropped off
I'll for sure see it because I think it's so amazingly done and and just all across the board
So well done, but I have I don't even remember where we left off and what they're probably like 35 years old all of them

(21:43):
now
You know, it's them and walking cane and I don't know
I'm stoked.
I thought the last season was some of the best television I've ever seen It was a murder mystery and Vinkna is a very terrifying villain and oh, yeah, right Long or the the guy?
No, he's like a monster with but didn't he wasn't he it was number one all the end.

(22:09):
Oh, sorry spoilers But it when is it coming out do we know I'm sure there's a release date later this year, but Things let's see television series five seasons Come on where's that?

(22:32):
I should have this pulled up right away watching season 4 in an Airbnb in Lake Arrowhead like in 21 or something like the teasers out on The teasers out probably your fans will know they're there 26 November 26.
Okay You want and then December 25th is volume 2 so if I do the six episodes in the six episodes type thing Yeah, so now I have to wait till December to watch Yeah, I think I'm ready.

(23:03):
I see I see the cast here in Atlanta quite a bit Before the writers strike you would see them all riding bikes on the beltline, which is like great They seem like they're all friends Atlanta has become the new Hollywood right basically, Georgia.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's like Georgia's
I always see that Georgia peach at the end of a lot of productions, you know

(23:23):
I guess they must have given some really great tax incentives there to build that up
You know, so awesome stuff going on there could totally diverge into a stranger things conversation jump up get my friend Monty in here
He's a super fan of the series
But back to music back to music and this is one of the tougher
Questions that I asked my guests from time to time is if you had to pick one of your productions as your most favorite one

(23:46):
Which one would that be and and what's the reasoning for it to be your favorite track?
Tyler you go first.
I mean the the stuff that I like the most Is generally the stuff that I have the least amount of hand in I really like Tim's like ambient brain tickly like Helvetica or Tokyo Night Train Kind of these these ambient weird ethereal Tracks, those are those are my favorite because I didn't I didn't have a part in them.

(24:19):
So funny.
That's great.
Thank you very much Checks in the mail.
Thank you for I Yeah, for me it would be opposite it would be something that Tyler's involved with because It's I like doing my ambience.
I love that but for me, that's like Sure, it's fine.
But it's like once we add Tyler's spice in the mix it elevates it for somehow and I Don't know.

(24:45):
I don't have one specific song
But I would say I would say the two that always sticks out to me are on the track
Production-wise where I'm really happy with what those tracks did
Emotionally and how they hit his shadows and lost boy
those two I
Felt like I they both tracks kind of represent kind of a little bit of a creative breakthrough for me at the at the time

(25:09):
Moving on to the next pushing The Midnights further into something new that felt exciting to me
Lost boys is kind of an emotional space and shadows.
Is that neo-noir kind of?
Neon drenched, you know rainy nights city vibe On the new album.

(25:29):
I have a ton of favorites.
I've With no shame I'm proud to say I keep listening to a lot of the songs on the new Album that we've just finished that comes out in October 3rd And there's you know, the songwriting that Tyler provides is it's such a perfect It's fresh such a perfect kind of top on You know on top of like the bed of music that I that naturally flows out of me.

(25:59):
It makes my job easier
So, I don't know on well, I can't say about the new album
I don't want to get into too much but there's there's a lot of favorites on the new album
I I love I love reading the fan reactions
We just dropped a single called summer is ending soon
And the consensus was everybody wanted to hear some saxophone on it

(26:21):
And I just I just am so giddy to for the fans to know what's coming up like with it
Then we haven't forgotten about them that we love them very much
We're gonna tell you know a lot of stories but the you know, the people who are bummed about saxophone
It's it'll never stop.
It's we just ourselves in a foot by by using so much sax early on which is funny

(26:44):
I know I've never even thought about it as that much sax
But I guess our our EP nocturnal is album EP EP I guess is pretty chock-full of sax
but yeah, the it's funny to me that that the sax is this thing that like
Whatever we're putting out if there isn't sax
It's sort of automatically for many people detracts and it's like wait

(27:06):
I didn't know that there was supposed to be it's like saying wait, why there's why is there no jazz flute on this?
I love jazz We should get some jazz.
Yeah, we should There's a lot of saxophone coming by the way.
That's the that's the subtext of all.
Yes, there's let's just
All I can say is maybe there's the next single has a lot of a lot of sacks more than you would ever

(27:28):
think to dream of
and but yeah, someone's any soon is is never like we we let the song and the emotion of the song lead the kind of
Tone of it and for some of any soon
Didn't feel like a sultry sax type of thing
Saxony's sort of connotes a
Sexy sort of intimacy very romantic sexy intimacy in a way how I like to use it at least

(27:54):
and
It's not every song or album fits that but the next song
Does maybe it's not sexy.
Nice song, but that let's say the next single will will feed your you know It definitely seems like your fans love the sacks.
Oh
They're blowing up in the chat talking about the sacks the sacks

(28:18):
You know, it's producing beats the music dance music spend it has a lot of time
Sitting down sitting in front of a computer maximum
Countless hours behind the computer sculpting the beats making your tracks
Where do both of you find time and your free time to stay fit because I know I'm behind this computer all the time
I just dropped on put on 25 pounds

(28:39):
Waste down and down down in this area, you know, but because I'm sitting at my desk all the time
Did you have active lifestyles where you maintain like a physical regimen or mental regimen that helps you?
Keep in the game and not get burnt out.
How do you how do you deal with that?
Yeah, I Have an ebike.
I live 30 minutes away from my son's school

(29:01):
And so we bike to his school in the morning and then I usually go to the gym
Which is on something called the Beltline in Atlanta so you can you can kind of ride your bike all around the city
So I went to the gym today and I had a nice healthy lunch and instead of going to my studio
I came home so that I could talk to you guys
But yeah, it really the the mental needs of the physical and honestly if you just want to use

(29:26):
Exercise as a as a way of mental health.
I that I mean that's mostly how I use it I it's there's nothing better from for my brain than that than moving my body.
Yeah, but you're right it Is kind of a trade-off because there's only so much time in a day and But tour is coming up soon so I have to make sure that I am in as good a shape as I can be because as soon as I Get on the bus.

(29:54):
It's you know, it all goes out the window
And what about do you have any daily regimens or yeah
protein shakes
Yeah, I mean I just drink all the protein shakes that's that's the secret just keep
All I do just drink protein shakes I just came out of you know finishing this album in the spring I think

(30:19):
March and April and May were insane for me just you know, the last especially last two months last month
I was just a complete zombie, but I was so honed in I tend to get into that space just to kind of finish everything
but
so I had that and then I had
Then I had to move to Oregon from LA and pack up my studio and do that like a month later

(30:41):
so I was uh, I
Kind of needed to take some time
but I
now that I'm kind of all settled in I've actually been going for I'm in a very walkable city and
Just enjoying literally going for long walks.
I got like 20,000 steps in yesterday and it was it's amazing
I think there's there's something really meditative about that meditative meditative meditative

(31:04):
Wait, am I saying that right meditative meditative
meditative
meditative
Meditative there we go
No, I go to I try to go to the gym at least I don't know
four to six times a week
When I'm now that I kind of have the bandwidth for that and I've been on I've also been on a bit of a weight

(31:27):
loss kind of
Journey in the last couple of months and just leaning out and kind of so it's an ongoing thing and I love cooking for myself and
I like I'm I'm that nerd that like weighs my food and counts my macros and this time, you know
My Virgo OCD nature
Yeah, there you go

(31:47):
Where's your birthday August 23rd?
I'm a Leo Virgo.
Oh He just he just had his birthday as well, yeah Wait, so you are you technically a Virgo?
With the day with the time of day that I was born.
I'm a Leo actually, but I'm a Virgo Right on the cusp.

(32:08):
I got Leo rising.
Everyone thinks I'm a Leo with my outgoing tendencies all that stuff, but Virgo I'm very No, I'm very yeah, very particular.
Yeah
Um, you know we go up on astrology all we want August 25th give a shout-out to writhe in in there
You know you mentioned steps in there and I just went for my birthday last weekend

(32:30):
I went to Magic Mountain and went to the water park the big good Magic Mountain
And if you have six flags and you know, we walked around that park the water park first day
I think we did like 15,000 steps the next day.
We did another like 15 16 thousand in two days, you know, I'm 51 I'm like dang I feel like I want to get one of those little stroller things now to roll around the parks if you want to get all The rides in in one day sure.

(32:53):
He's a fast pass, you know, but yeah
I know it is stay and fit is definitely one of those things that I hear a lot of I don't want to say
Veteran or seasoned producers, but you know the young
Producers young, you know artists don't take their health into consideration when they're doing all this
You know, you've got to be mentally prepared to be on board with this

(33:14):
I mean
I've partied and for years out of all this and and and could see looking back on
how many holdups there were because of
Going after that part of the industry and then when you get focused and you dialed in you're like, yeah
I don't need that anymore, you know, no, it's true
I mean there was a period when I started producing full-time in my kind of mid to late 20s

(33:37):
After a couple years
I gained a bunch of weight and was way bigger because you have to adjust to that lifestyle where you're sitting down and you have
to be intentional about
You know moving and literally just burning some calories and just eating healthy for and then that goes with aging, right?
I'm 45, you know, it's like not getting any younger, you know, so yeah that you you have to be intentional about it

(34:00):
Definitely, you know going back to technology studio production music production stuff here
Technology moves really fast in production land if you can think of something that's not on the market today
But in your vision would be really awesome to be out there on the market you could use
What would that be and I'm not looking for any patent ideas here

(34:27):
That's a good one you have any thoughts
No, I wish I did.
I was hoping you had and you're the you're the tech guy
You know, like there's got to be a way to resample things live
Like the the octatrack is you know, it's possible with that
the new
OPX Y has some features, but I would love to be able to have kind of live mixing and remixing going on

(34:54):
Live on stage with with the whole, you know
five person band that we've got to be able to you know, take a splice out of the the sax solo and
Manipulate that real time.
I think that's I think that's something that I would like I'm sure that there's a way to cobble it together in in modular synth world, but But like a cool solution.

(35:15):
So I just pulled up the chat if anybody knows what that is Yeah Shout that out because I think that would be what we're missing live Mm-hmm, you know I got into a few years back mark.
I hope I say this right mark rebel a rebel a yeah
Yeah, you know, I really love that style whether you know, I saw something like that years before him though

(35:39):
It was a at an Apple presentation and somebody was up on stage and they were doing that, you know, they're sampling just
Tapping their foot or tapping on the mic
I think for something then they were tapping their foot they were they were tapping on their guitar and then they started playing a guitar
And it was all that live
Mixing that right there.
They were Called sample product.
I don't know what I've been using samplers and stuff since the 80s Yeah, I grew up with two brothers They were musicians and playing with the MIDI gear and all that stuff back in the 80s But really thought that was cool Is that something that would allude to that Tyler something that would be?

(36:12):
Similar to that then you can manipulate that live or would it be the live performance of it right there at the same time?
Yeah, I think I think a lot of it is is covered by the MPC world
but there's
It's really hard to route to front of house and then also into this machine
There's it's a there's a lot at stake as well

(36:35):
I know with Ableton live you can clock things and have you know gates and ratchets and things like that, but
Yeah, that's that's if I were to add kind of one layer to The Midnight live
That's what I I would enjoy adding that was something that I thought that that years ago logic had also
done is that they allowed you to take your studio sets and then bring it to the stage and also perform it live from the

(36:59):
What was producing the studio?
I've never done it myself I used to work for Apple and could train you how to use logic but not training you how to use music make music Yeah, we tried main stage a couple shows main stage Yeah, that's what got main stage.
I haven't I haven't played around with that for a while Speaking of scoring software production if you two could score a Hollywood movie or score for a Hollywood Production what director what or what series would be your choice?

(37:27):
What director would you want to work with?
Specific anyone who would have us It's come up a few times and we were approached we've talked about this a little bit but we were approached by Joseph Kaczynski who did for Top Gun maverick?
We ended up having meetings
we saw some early edits with our music used in scenes and that was incredible and

(37:52):
It didn't pan out that way they went in a different direction, which ultimately I think was the right direction for the movie
because it came out amazingly but
That was someone that we felt was they you know
He reached out to us and that was that was like a marriage made in heaven
I think he's officially signed on to signed up to do a remake of Miami Vice, which would be fun

(38:16):
That would be I feel like that would also I saw a fan going this you guys need to do I was like
Great.
Don't tell me you'd tell Joseph Kaczynski But I mean, I think it's funny.
I I kind of alluded this to To this on my twitch stream last Wednesday.
I twitch I stream on twitch Production things I've done that for the past month or so.

(38:39):
It's new but it's fun I'm having a lot of fun on on twitch streaming 7 p.m Pacific time Wednesday evenings and I've been doing track breakdowns and and I alluded to it last time.
It's not something that's like official and announcement
But we've talked about
Tyler I feel like I can say this time

(39:01):
It's gonna be something I'm putting pressure on myself by making it public
But Tyler what you watched heat for the first time
Which I'm allowed you were even allowed to be in The Midnight having not seen heat
You'll have to have some talks, but I know it made a lot of sense after I thought yeah
But you watch see and he was like, oh my god, I get the sort of cinematic kind of

(39:25):
Space now and then you just threw out you're like we should do our own
He's like the music kind of threw me because he's got that 90s like we should just do our own score
And I was like, that's a really cool idea
Because I think scoring has been something I'd I'd wanted to get into
for a few years
but in the right way and maybe
With people that know what they're doing because it's a new world to me and I I'd be able to bring whatever I can bring

(39:50):
but that's been a kind of little fun thing that we thought thought about and I
think I'd like to try and probably pull on Tyler's help and some of the
Songwriting or something to kind of rescore heat that would be and that's Michael Mann
Is that that guy, you know in terms of the the aesthetic of The Midnight that new noir?

(40:12):
You know very many in many ways very LA Focused, you know, you have collateral you have heat you have Manhunter all these kind of LA at night type movies blue lighting and all that stuff and so Michael Mann or you know, any of any one of those would be would be cool.
But
You know, it's it's a new unexplored

(40:36):
venture for us
You know, you mentioned Miami Vice there and one of my top favorite songs
I'm probably gonna get chewed up by your viewers over there because they they they already love me over there
But that's all good, you know, Jan hammer Miami Vice
Yeah, the Crockett theme song probably one of my top favorite tracks of all time

(40:57):
Yeah, you know, I just love that.
I'm a huge fan of the synth wave 80s
I you listen to a station how maybe you've heard of it groove salad by some FM out of San Francisco
It's like anyone that knows me knows that it's on
If it's if I'm not listening doing a show or if I'm listening to a DJ set or at a show
I'm listening to groove salad by some of them always got to give them a shout out and they're always playing that kind of

(41:19):
80 synth wave
Background music like this out amazing stuff.
Yeah contact rusty over there.
They love to get your stuff on there I'm sure I can't speak for him.
But you know awesome station been listening to him since 2003 But yeah that when you said Miami Vice and it's I just love those those waves the the pads and the sense Yeah use there.

(41:42):
It's just amazing.
That's what I love playing on a kid when I had a keyboard in my brother's studio You know, you know I get in and you got all the synthesizer way you just play out the pans and those those uh, Not not earth.
Oh, what's the term?
I'm looking for?
What a theory think?
Yeah, I theory.
Oh, yeah.
Thank you.
Yeah, there's a word I'm looking for
I know there's another word I'm looking for there, but that'll work how to work, but you always love play with that that just kind of

(42:09):
Harmonious vibe that you got from playing with that anyways shivers
Enough about music production all that fun stuff though
We got to talk about this tour that's coming up because your fans are just begging to hear where you're playing where you're coming out
I mean obviously the dates have been announced, correct?
Yeah, I know.
It's September 17th and Helsinki is coming up pretty excited for that How long has it been since you've been on a tour been out and about Actually, this is the longest break we've had since kovat We did some shows in Mexico City and Monterey earlier in the year, but The last proper tour we did was with our friends chromeo on a co-headline tour across the US and Canada So this this is a good one.

(42:55):
I don't remember how many dates it is, but it's close to a month Has this going all the way from?
Helsinki to Ross law Poland all through Scandinavia and Germany and Belgium France Spain The UK so We are, you know Ending in Dublin, which is a place we haven't been in a minute.

(43:17):
So we're very excited to be back
So yeah, we love it and we'll probably announce
You know next year's tour dates soon
So this this is kind of breaking the seal on what'll be a pretty busy year and a half or so for us
So we're we hope we've rested enough to be to be ready for it
Yeah, you know I just came off of a few months back of an eight and a half month hiatus

(43:42):
You know, so just taking a break after doing the show for 16 years and being go go go go go go go
You know
It's just I don't know
Well, it's supposed to be a couple weeks which turned into a couple months and then it turned into the end of the year
And I'll start up after the first of the year
So I kind of know what it's like coming back to the fold
Heading back in and you know, you're mentioning going and doing your UK and EU tour, which is awesome

(44:02):
I'm also planning for
2026 starting a little bit later this year to start going a little bit more international getting more broad and super excited to be
Making our home base over in Berlin with a very renowned studio over there and then getting into the major
Festival 80 e IMS and then I think it's IMS and sonar over there

(44:24):
Collaborations with people in Mexico as well.
So yeah, we're gonna be on the ground touring So, I mean what do you ever get fed up with playing and making and playing music and Also, and now it's also been a while since you've been on tour But what do you deal how do you deal with that if you're on tour?
Again going back kind of that health regimen Mindset do you have a tour mindset that you say?

(44:48):
Okay, we're on tour does somebody walk along inside and say drink your juice drink your water Make sure you're going to bed at night, you know, or how do you deal with all that?
I Remember I Was a touring artist before The Midnight started touring and I remember one of our first like little three show runs with Tim we played in Chicago and Everybody was staying in this big house and in Chicago and Tim stayed up like drinking beer and playing pool And like felt like shit the next day and I was like, ah, yes.

(45:19):
I forgot to tell Tim that this is work
I'd go I'd had too much whiskey with our booking agent the night before
it's
It's it's a it's a difficult thing, right because you you are there to kind of provide everyone else's party
but you kind of can't participate it in the way in the way that they

(45:40):
can because you got to do it the next night and the next night and the next night and you have to make sure
that what you have to bring is
Your best is is that is so, you know, it's the boring stuff like try and get sleep don't drink
Don't stay up and tell stories with your with your teammates go to bed get that Kim Burns documentary on your iPad and go to sleep

(46:03):
And that is that and that way when you wake up the next morning, you can write in your journal
You can go for a walk
You can do all the important things that you need to do so that you're ready for ready for action when that the curtain opens
Yeah, so and it's a kind of jump on that I did that, you know, I I no longer
Go on tour because it was kind of spreading me too thin and and the beauty was

(46:28):
Last year when we were in the band was in Europe and and on the chromeo tour
I was able to be at home working on the album.
So it was really amazing
But when I was I mean I the workload
The the kind of head heaviness of the workloads is on me on the album production side
But on the live side very much the pressures on Tyler to be if there's no lead singer

(46:50):
There's no show right but we could do a show without me if I'm just playing some synths and some keys and some BBs
technically and so
The pressures definitely has been much more on Tyler
To perform to kind of be able to kind of not get sick and that's the that's always the challenge is
Try to get enough sleep try to get a decent diet

(47:11):
That's the hard part sometimes depending on where in the world you are and what the you know
food kind of opportunities are and and
Just not get sick
And if you can I think we always started our tours with like I'm gonna do work
I'm gonna bring workout gear and I'm do all that and then it just

(47:31):
Was like I just need to nap and
It's such you know Tyler always I remember you talking about you bring tons of books and I'm gonna write my thesis on life
And then I was gonna write a book last last year on tour
Yeah, always there's always like these goals and you end up just always
Prioritizing naps and to so as to not get sick and try to you know, it's it's brutal

(47:56):
While I you know, I had a such a blast and we were very blessed to do it in the way
We were on the level we were able to do it
It's it's tough on the body and I don't think people they don't see that side of it
Obviously and nor should they it's not their job to know that but it's our job to like Tyler said provide like an amazing night
And that requires energy from the whole crew all everyone.

(48:19):
It's it's a really we were amazing Amazingly blessed to have a fantastic crew around us to kind of lift us all up Yeah Is there anything that is is that you can share with us?
That's on your writer that is kind of out of the norm or crazy that you kind of requests When you're on tour It's it's no longer currently on the writer, but for the longest time we requested predator on Betamax and Hi-hot to sweater.

(48:50):
Yeah, the Dom McLean John McLean sweater
Predator on Betamax doesn't exist, but it was always just kind of thrown in to make sure that they read the writer
That's every every every few shows you would just see
Predator on Betamax like printed on the on the side of the wall
Yeah, that was that was our internal indication that they'd read the entire writer fully and was it basically taking their their job?

(49:16):
Seriously, I remember once we played in Manchester.
Was that Manchester?
No, not Manchester Glasgow
Very cold venue is the fall in Glasgow, you know, so like October sometime wet and rainy and
We're plays playing inside this venue that has to image and heat was next to us in the room next to us and and the

(49:37):
venue and and it was like a it wasn't like a castle, but it was like it felt medieval and it was cold and
That was the one and only time we actually got they had gotten two sweaters for us
Instead of the die-hard sweater.
They actually got some sweaters and we were just like oh my god
Give it to us and that was a blessing in disguise that they gave us the actual physical sweater

(50:01):
the joke was that the sweater that Bruce Willis wears in the airport and die-hard to and just
It's just to make sure that they read the fine print
We weren't expecting to get actual sweaters every venue when we nor did we nor should we but for that show
We did and that was a blessing.
I would be amazed if somebody actually found a beta max recorded it that would be Waiting for that's something I would actually look and read on the writer and find and do because I mean Do people even know what beta max?

(50:30):
I mean, I guess you can do a Google search and find it nowadays But I got I got my beta tapes from when we did our first broadcast television shows in my archives sitting, you know Right around the corner so I know what beta Trying to find it that would be pretty awesome You know, if you too and now how much control do you have in your stage design stage?

(50:52):
Update do you work with a company that puts that all together for you, or is it just a simple for this tour?
Is it gonna be a basic stage layout or how is how what should our what should your fans expect to see on this?
Tour for your stage setup.
Yeah, so Many months before a tour We're given a spreadsheet that says basically how much money we're gonna make or lose and and we try and elevate our level of Production ie the amount of lights and the you know Basically how much stuff we can rent beforehand?

(51:24):
So if the tickets are selling well, then we can push it a little bit harder if it's gonna be a tough tour Then we'll scale back.
But um, yeah, we will have the same, you know amazing lighting and
Hopefully we're trying very hard to figure out how to get lasers on into this camp lasers are expensive and time-consuming

(51:44):
But but I I think I think it's time I want to I want to graduate to the next level of stage production
So that leads into my next question here is is taking out lasers from one of these things if you could host an event
Without any limitations you have the black American Express card ready to go sky's the limit
Name out of the not lasers, but name four other things you would want to have at that event

(52:09):
Gonna get with lasers
Tigers with lasers, I don't know.
What do you think Tyler?
You're the saxes with lasers lasers How turn turn a saxophone into a laser weapon that would be amazing you could add people.
Oh my god

(52:29):
we've been kind of dreaming because
This record is a little more EDM kind of dance music heavy and it would be so fun to
Really blow out the video wall
Possibilities we had video walls in the past, but it's always been kind of festivals
We have some content, but we haven't really kind of honed in

(52:51):
So it would be fun to do some, you know guitar hero battles on stage
it would be really fun to I don't know just make something very live and risky and and
You know combine MIDI triggers with with video triggers
There there's just so much to do so, yeah, I I've got I got big dreams about our stage

(53:15):
production coming up
Yeah, you mentioned guitar here and there is is have you ever done anything?
I didn't get to see this anywhere than the research that I put together quickly here for this interview But have you done anything for video games as in The Midnight video game?
or have you done anything with VR like Beat Saber or any of the Interactive games for VR or anything like that.

(53:39):
Are you available there?
We've done some is it one or two songs or there's been some songs used in video games But we haven't made our own video game we created a song for Road 98 mile zero.
I was a cool game that came out on 1696.
That's right.
Sorry and then we've We've been in a few video games, we just were in the f1 game chariot was was on that But no in terms of like from the beginning to end creating, you know A unique piece of music for use in a game that sounds so fun, and we would love to do that You know, yeah, it's it's I'm a big fan of VR Beat Saber.

(54:24):
We have a VR nightclub
that with this interviews going to you right now that I'm just somebody pop in there and
And talked about that but you know
I'm looking for a new workout program and looking for some new tracks and songs that beats it was fun
But there's some other applications in there for doing some workouts and fun stuff in this one
See if you had anything in there or you were developing anything for that

(54:45):
Maybe in the future if someone wants to hire us, please
That's awesome, well, we're just gonna wrap it up here really quick couple more questions here when you're not entertaining others
What do you both do to entertain yourselves
Like what's a day in the life of other than working out and staying in your physical regimen?
Tyler maybe writing a book and all that fun stuff.

(55:07):
What do you do and it's like Go do something and entertain ourselves What are the top things you you look forward to doing when you're taking a break from production and stage and on the road stuff?
Go for this I'm a home.
I'm a super homebody I Lately has been a lot of watching, you know X-Files and West Wing while I'm googling, you know furniture to kind of Doing interior design for my new place Going for nice walks.

(55:39):
I got my dog yogi next to me.
I go for walks.
I like I like cooking I'm I'm just kind of a homebody and I I love kind of going for walks downtown in my little city That's kind of that's it's simple.
It's a simple life, but that's how I like it
I
Have a garden I come from the country

(56:00):
So I lived in New York in LA and always dreamt of having a yard where I could grow things
And I finally have that and my muscadine harvest which is a wild grape that grows in the southeast
Is coming in so after our interview
I'm gonna go pick a couple gallons of muscadines and add them to the ones I've got in my fridge and I'm gonna make some

(56:21):
Homemade fruit wine, so that's my that's my non music related hobby for today
I still have a bunch of apple cider supposed to make some hard cider or some
Apple cider stuff I brew beers in the past and they've come out really good
You know, I was impressed with them, but they're looking at doing some cider a while back
But yeah, I love making that homemade stuff.

(56:42):
It's fun I'm gonna drive back a little bit into music production here question because I see some of your fans in the chat room are saying It would have been so sick.
Have you two done something for Tron?
Which I am a huge fan obviously 83 Tron coming 82
I was getting a 283 mixed up, but I love that film
Apparently they're coming back and remastering both Tron and Tron legacy for the new release of Aries

(57:03):
Which I'm super excited to see big fan fan of all that
but have you ever maybe sat down and thought as a project to take a movie that already has obviously score to it and
Rescore it just for your own fun purposes.
We had this conversation 20 minutes ago.
That's exactly what I want to do with heat Oh, what do you want to do with heat?
Okay.
Yeah I was just thinking Tron came up.

(57:27):
I was just wondering if maybe you've never thought about doing it for Tron specifically not for Tron, but we when Joseph Kaczynski's people reached out originally we they couldn't say which movie it was.
They said it was a Paramount entity So but our first thought was is it Tron but that's under Disney So it couldn't be but we were kind of hoping is it Tron Tron?

(57:48):
No, yeah, I don't I don't I don't know that we could beat you know Daft Punk and And then and then Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails.
I feel like they're they're they're pretty qualified They're they're doing great.
We're just gonna leave it there.
Yeah, two two artists two groups fans.

(58:09):
I'm huge fans of both
Big fans of both, but yeah, he decided to say it because they kept saying Tron Tron came up
Oh Flash Gordon reference just came up from Eurostar
You know, I heard some reason they can't really remake Flash Gordon won't go into that conversation or it was passed
Long ago because of too many sci-fi films were being released and the remake of it was like passed over or something

(58:32):
She's a bummer.
I like the original 80s one Anyways that that being said is there anything else you want to let our DJ sessions fans know about?
Or your own fans know about before we let you get going um Other than the fact that yeah, I stream on Twitch.
I'm gonna stream tonight in exactly eight hours 7 p.m. Pacific Time On Twitch I I stream on our midnight Twitch channel and we got a tour coming up in Europe and a record and a record October 3rd syndicate one month one month from today syndicate drops.

(59:09):
We might five of the 17 songs as singles There may or may not be one more Proper single before it comes out and there may not have saxophone on it Yeah, but we'll announce new new tour dates soon And and where's the best place people can go to find out all that information?

(59:32):
I mean our website is probably the best The Midnight official calm
We're on all the socials I forget what our tags are on all the different that you know, the
The Midnight LA I think it's our Instagram or is that that's our Twitter our X midnight official
Official and the Instagram is also The Midnight official

(59:53):
I'm pretty sure and I can't remember all the other tags, but we're on all the socials YouTube all the stuff awesome
I'm gonna try to do something here really quick never done this before in a show
But I'm gonna go ahead and bring in the chat room really quick here because I can't give a hundred and twenty-two
shoutouts to
Want to give a shout outs to everyone who is in the chat

(01:00:14):
Let's see if I can do this and if I copy pasted this right here.
Oh, oh I have a reason I have a character limit of five people says she's crying.
Don't cry.
I can't do it I can't I can't give everyone a shout out in the chat room.
Unfortunately, that's it.
Just let me do I Think everyone's they're busting out saying hi mom.

(01:00:35):
I'm on TV Awesome So I'm gonna put the chat away.
Thank you both for coming on the show today
Really appreciate it would love to follow up with you much here in the next few months as we always like to stay in touch
I guarantee you fans of the show
I will do some more dig deep diving research on these two gentlemen and The Midnight for your listening viewing pleasure

(01:00:57):
Thank you all for being here today and Tim and Tyler
Thank you and want to give a shout out to Hannah in the background as well for the twitch channel
She was awesome and brought to all your fans
Activating your twitch channel make this live today as well
Thanks for having us.
This was this was really fun.
Absolutely.
Y'all have a wonderful afternoon out there in Atlanta and Tim We're on PST. So you have a wonderful after all morning, I guess It's awesome time here, thank you both for both for coming on the show today.

(01:01:26):
All right, appreciate you're welcome on that note
Don't forget to go to our website the DJ sessions calm check us out find all our socials there
You can find a 2700 past episodes over 700 news stories
We have our VR nightclub mobile app being redone right now and more at the DJ sessions calm
Check it out exclusive mixes interviews all that and more at the DJ sessions calm

(01:01:51):
I'm your host Darran coming here from the virtual studios in Seattle, Washington with Tim and Tyler
I got to figure out how to point this way.
I usually don't have three people on the show from Atlanta and Portland DJ sessions today and remember and thank you to all the fans for watching and remember on the DJ sessions the music never stops sweet

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The Midnight - Syndicate, Creative Journeys, and Touring Life on the Virtual Sessions

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The Midnight - Syndicate, Creative Journeys, and Touring Life on the Virtual Sessions