MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE - INTERVIEW

This is a two men american act with a inovative and strange musical proposal, create symphonic gothic-horror sounscape albuns based in keywords atmospheres. Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka are great compositors and the result of the proposal is a very dinamic and inspirated music. You are released the fourth album now, the incredible GATES OF DELIRIUM. Krepuskulum Interviewed Edward by e-mail.

Krepuskulum: Where come from the idea to create MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE??

Edward Douglas: When I formed Midnight Syndicate in 1991, I wanted to create albums that were soundtracks to imaginary films. The goal of the music would be to stimulate listeners' imaginations and transport them to worlds and movies of   their own creation. My original idea involved primarily instrumental music blended with sound effects and imaginary dramatic dialogue.

Talk to us about the band tragetory and about your first 3 releases.

I released Midnight Syndicate's first self-titled CD in July of 1997. I get a lot of questions about that first CD since it's not readily available and we don't really push it. The only reason we don't push it is because it's not quite indicative of where Midnight Syndicate is now and I don't want fans to be disappointed. Although the goal of that first CD was the same
(the whole "cinema of the mind" concept), it is not the same as what people have come to expect from Midnight Syndicate. The themes are not all dark (even purposely comical at points) and the music is not all classically-orchestrated instrumentals (there is rock, techno, jazz, even a rap track on there).

After that album, I really wanted to create a CD with a more focused theme. Since a lot of the tracks on the first album were darker in nature and I have always been a fan of gothic/horror film and art, it seemed natural to do a gothic/horror album. "Born of the Night" was the first album that featured Gavin Goszka and was released in August of 1998. We also worked with gothic
artist Joseph Vargo who designed the cover art and lent his voice on some narrations. It was the "Born of the Night" album that really established Midnight Syndicate's trademark sound (the dark, classical orchestration and sound effects). In March of 2000, we released "Realm of Shadows." Set in a cursed village by the sea, the CD really allowed us to expand our
compositions and develop our sound further. We released "Gates of Delirium" in March of this year.

Who are the fans of MIDNIGTH SYNDICATE? Do you have fans in all styles of music (like metal, gothic, pop)??

E: Our fans are a pretty diverse group. It's great. We receive mail from fellow gothic/horror artists and writers that use our music for inspiration as well as fans of gothic, heavy metal, movie soundtrack, and classical music. Halloween is a big holiday in the U.S.A. and our music works well to set the mood for the season. As a result, a lot of our fans are Halloween
aficianados and people who love to celebrate the Halloween season. We feel fortunate that, because classical music is so universal, we have the opportunity to reach a lot of different people.

The new album is conceptual, I'm right. Talk about your literary and cinematographic influence to compose the tale?

E: Gavin and I were working on the concept for "Gates of Delirium" as early as the "Born of the Night" sessions and at least two tracks on "Gates" were partially written during those sessions. We always envisioned the CD taking place in a turn-of-the-century asylum since that was one of the scariest times in mental therapy history. For myself, I drew upon my personal experiences of visiting old asylums. I also did a bit of research on the era before writing. There are plenty of cinematic influences (too many to mention here) however, I must admit, the asylum in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" came to mind more than once when writing for this disc.

Do you think in put lyrics & vocals in future compositions of  MIDNIGTH SYNDICATE??

E: We may use vocalists in future CDs but probably not in the traditional sense of an lead vocalist. With regards to lyrics, I really enjoy writing instrumentals because it leaves the interpretation of the music entirely up to the listener. Although words can help conjure images, without them the world and imaginary movies our music transports the listener to is completely of their own creation.

Are you invite to compose the soundtrack for any movie??

E: Universal Studios and several independent filmmakers have shown interest in our music. It is definitely something we see ourselves doing in the future. Right now though, Midnight Syndicate is enjoying enough success to keep Gavin and I really busy. Even though we would like to score films, it's also very gratifying to be able to work on your own projects where you have creative control.

What are your musical formation? Do you like metal bands??

E: Gavin and I are huge heavy metal fans. Many people are shocked to hear how big of a musical influence bands like King Diamond and Black Sabbath are for us. For the past 10 years, I've done a 70's/80's metal show called (Mr. E.D.) on a college station in Cleveland, Ohio - WJCU 88.7(www.jcu.edu/wjcu). The darker textures and themes of a lot of heavy metal are very much intertwined with the music of Midnight Syndicate.

The concept and artwork of GATES OF DELIRIUM remember the albums of  KING DIAMOND. Do you like this??

King Diamond is perhaps one of our biggest musical influences and a great thing happened to us recently with regard to that. Last year, when King Diamond was touring for "House of God" (my favorite metal album from 2000), we went to see him play in Cleveland. We were quite excited since we are big fans of his music. When the pre-show music started playing, it was "Born of the Night." They played almost the entire album and then blended it into King's first song. Needless to say we were very excited. After the show we met Andy La Rocque backstage who informed us that he was a fan of our music and that they were using "Born of the Night" and "Realm of Shadows" for the pre-show music on the whole "House of God" tour. For both of us, that was one of the best moments on this musical journey.

Do you play gigs? Talk about the performances and images in your gigs??

E: We haven't played out since March of 1998 (before "Born of the Night"). When we did, it was a multimedia concert which involved theatrics, original film, animation, and live music. We are considering the possibility of touring in the future. The only problem is that it is a very visual show and what that takes a lot to create. We also don't want to put on a show that will fall short of our fan's expectations. It is something we recently started talking seriously about again so...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Contacts:

Band: info@midnightsyndicate.com - site: www.midnightsyndicate.com