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I N T E R V I E W
June 2004
MIDWAY


midwaymidway@yahoo.com
emily@midwaymidway.com
Band contact number: 323-243-5111

Rock City: Hello, we are here with MIDWAY a local band from LOS ANGELES , and they're pretty damn crazy , so we're going to find out a little more about what makes them tick. . .


1. RCN: What type of band are you? (descriptive)

Midway:fun crazy synth pop punk band

2. RCN: Tell us the brief history of your band.

Midway:Started writing songs in summer of 2002 for fun, then we played a show without a singer at Mr. T's in Sept of 2002 - we didn't even tell anyone, but tons of people were there, and whoa, they liked it! We got a singer like a week later by pure luck and then our drummer left to go to Asia for 9 months, so we played with a robot drummer (drum machine) just for fun. Then he came back, but by then-we had a fan base and lo and behold, he was back for just a month and we recorded an EP and started touring and shit we just got so busy and now here we are rocking out all the time and licensing our stuff to TV and getting played on a bunch of radio stations and getting bit parts written in movies for us and whoa - it's wierd and fun.


3. RCN: Who are your musical and non-musical influences?

Midway:The Cars, The Rentals, early 80's video game music arcade and nintendo, hobos, robots, pirates and river dancers.

4. RCN: What are your dreams and goals?

dream is to tour Asia! goal is to license some more stuff - we're broke!

5. RCN: Who writes the songs, what are they about?

Midway:we all collectively write the songs - most the songs are about dumb things like The Karate Kid, or how Pacman eats alot of pellets and how does he shit? or falling in love on the internet, or building robots out of car parts, or how a guy can get a girl by wearing checkered shoes and buying her a lemonade.

6. RCN: What's your opinion of George Bush?

Midway: he's pretty retarded.

7. RCN: How do you promote your band and shows?

Midway: we're pretty lucky, people tend to find us, so it's mostly word of mouth! I think if the music is good, the word spreads. our music is FUN and most people like having fun. But we do the normal stuff, flyer, send press kits, cds out, tour, etc.

8. RCN: Describe your show, visual and musically.

Midway: fun, fun, fun, crazy, silly, sometimes disastrous, imagine a giant food fight, or a birthday cake landing on a snare drum, so the drummer can't hit it, or the guitarist breaking bones while tackling the singer, or the bass player playing while doing a headstand, cuz the singer has her in a wierd body lock and our synth guy plays with ONE finger only.

9. RCN: What do you think about downloading music online?

Midway: some say it's the demise of the music industry and that may be, but you have to evolve with technology and use the internet as tool and not an enemy - maybe there is a way to change the industry's approach to the downloading issue.... there are other sources of money besides CD sales, think bigger....

10. RCN: What's your outlook on the record industry today?

Midway: It's in unique trouble right now, but it's also on the verge of an interesting comeback, sometimes industries have to hit a rock bottom before thriving once again... it'll take some intelligence and some clean up of the older record execs who do things the old way in a new century.

11. RCN: What's your claim to fame? (What's unique about your band)

Midway: Most people know us as being really funny and hyper and crazy on stage or playing Rock n Roll dodge ball during our set.

12. RCN: Tell us a story about a day in your life.

Midway: When on tour, we play dirty mad libs and bring a tape recorder to capture all the best farts. Emily (bassist) and Theresa (singer) fart alot and very loudly and often! Kevin (synth) drinks tons and tons of coffee. Jason (drummer) can river dance like a mofo. We like hanging out in 99Cent Stores.

13. RCN: What inspires you to do what you do?

Midway: We're all experienced, educated musicians who have played in many many bands and as we got older, we needed to throw that 'serious career minded' sense out the window and just have fun.

14. RCN: What advice would you give to fellow bands?

Midway: Always make sure the most imp ortant thing about your band is the fun you're having and the music you're making. And ALWAYS have instrumental versions of all your songs readily available for licensing. You'd be surprised how many trailers/ad companies, tv shows, etc. want your song WITHOUT your vocal - that is MONEY baby.

15. RCN: What are some of your pet peeves?

Midway: Bands who are obsessed with being rockstars, the serious ones who want to "make it" HAHAHAHAHAHA. You know, the ones who are too cool for you and they piss on their crowd.

16. RCN: How does music affect you and the world around you?

Midway: This question is kinda hoaky.

17. RCN: What's new in the recording of your music?

Midway: We may add some horns, as our bassist plays a mean tenor sax and our one-fingered synth guy plays a really mean trombone. hence, the SAXOBONE.

18. RCN: What are the biggest obstacles for bands?

Midway: Money, money, and money.

19. RCN: What's the best and worst thing about playing clubs?

Midway: Best thing is entertaining people, making them smile, dance, have a good time. Worst thing is the whole booking/promoting/money bullshit that goes with it.

20. RCN: Tell us about your next shows and why we should be there.

Midway: We have 2 upcoming shows: one at Mr. T's in Highland Park on June 25 and one at Kiss or Kill at ZEN on July 13. These are important. cuz the KOK scene and the LA Indie Launchpad scene at Mr. T's are the 2 huges growing indie rock scenes in Los Angeles right now. So if you are familiar with them, then you are sitting on a hot seat of something incredible that is about to happen to the music industry. www.kissorkillclub.com or http://indielaunchpad.tripod.com/index.html


Rock City: Thank you for your insight and time. We'll look forward to hearing your music and seeing your next live show . . . Later gator.

Thanks, after awhile, crocodile.


www.midwaymidway.com

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