The Midnight interview: “Every day is a mountain you climb”

Tyler Lyle (left) of The Midnight on Heroes

From cult underground synth duo to arena filling fixtures, The Midnight have had a steady rise through the ranks, mainly thanks to their combination of flashy, irresistible melodies and unashamedly shiny productions with mature. philosophical lyrical content. On the eve of the release of their third album Heroes, we quizzed Tyler Lyle on the LP’s role as part of a trilogy, life on the road and much more….

This year has been a busy time for you both, with packed tours and the new album ‘Heroes’ out in a few weeks. How has it been returning this year to a new ‘normality’ over the pandemic?

The main things that kept me busy before and during the pandemic keep me busy after- namely family and time in my studio making music. There were a few months when childcare disappeared which was difficult, but on the whole (minus the two months on the road this year) most of the patterns of home life have stayed the same. 

Your next album ‘Heroes’ arrives as the follow-up to ‘Monsters’ – how do you think the new one differs from the last?   Was there anything you consciously set out to do with it or is it a case of looking back and noticing patterns once it’s done?

I’m reading The Lord of The Rings and I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to realize that it’s not actually a trilogy, it’s just one long story. That’s how I think of Kids, Monsters, and Heroes- one long story about growing up in three parts. Initially Tim was dreaming a big dream of what was possible in an album, but I was also having a literal Kid when Kids was being produced and mixed, so my involvement was too limited for a massive sprawling record. It became a story about growing up and becoming a self in the midst of loss and misplaced projections. It turns out, after a pandemic, the shift toward the heart felt like the right place to conclude it.

Were there any albums – or other influences – that you were listening to at the time that you now realise now have left their mark on it?

During the first lockdown, around mid summer,  I started digging into hair metal seriously with the hopes that we might be able to explore this sandbox with our production. Tim is the producer, so he rightfully goes with what he feels inspired by. Thankfully, he liked the idea and ran with it- with even more gas than I’d hoped. By the time tracking was finished in fall 2021, we’d both done lots of research about Mutt Lange. Tim did an awesome job putting his spin on Lange’s production (and I was across the country when Tim was recording his infinite vocal stacks). 

What studio set up do you two use and how do the tracks tend to come about – what comes first and what are your individual roles?

I bought a studio during the pandemic! It’s the first time I’ve had a proper recording set up. I’m writing every day when I’m off the road, which means that 99% of my work never sees day light, but it also means when Tim and I get in the same room there is enough prepwork and sketched out lyrics to fit around the skeleton of Tim tracks. I have my vocal chain set up in Atlanta and Tim has his synths in LA. We get together when it makes sense to. This record got an extra layer of polish from our live band (Royce Whittaker, Lelia Broussard, Jesse Malloy) and our old friends Nikki Flores and Oliver McEwan.

The album sounds like it has a big reference to the 80s soundwise – is that an era you’re fond of…  Was it amusing to see Kate Bush’s 80s track become a massive hit thanks to ‘Stranger Things’ when you’d already finished this album?

That song rocks, but I bet we’ll all be sick of the dance remixes of it by Christmas. This is the danger of using nostalgia as a trope- it flattens into two dimensions quickly. 

What about lyrically?  What are the songs about and is there a general overall trend to this album’s lyrics?         

One song is about surviving a fire. One song is about growing up. One song is about the mystical power of gentrifying Brooklyn. One song is about being stuck at the crossroads. One song is about a commute on the F train.  The theme is less of a what and more of a how. We were curious if we could paint everyday heroes with the respect that our society gives superheroes. It is a miracle to grow from loss, a miracle to choose the right path, a miracle to grind day after day in a job you hate because your child needs to eat. This miracle is everywhere and is so commonplace that it doesn’t get press or movies made about it. Growth from self knowledge to self love, then from self love to empathy, this is the miracle of becoming a Self, and these profiles in courage we thought we’d honor.

How do you deal with the long stretches on the road – what do you use to distract yourselves?  Books?  Games?  Films?  Spill the beans here please.

I have some rules. I need to be in the middle 80% of a book at all times. Sometimes it works better than others. Fall tour last year I read Dune, which was great. Spring tour I tried a Tom Clancy novel and I just couldn’t get into it. This fall I’m one book into the Lord of The Rings and am thoroughly engrossed. I’m trying to slow myself down to make sure I don’t finish it before the tour starts. I also trying to listen to a classic album every day- especially one I’m not super familiar with. My other distractions are medium distance running and video games (CoD and Tony Hawk when there’s a current gen console on the bus). I’m also taking my PSOne w Metal Gear Solid, Syphon Filter, and Driver on tour this fall for the green room. Anything to keep from staring at the phone. I will say, by the last week of any tour, all productive habits seem to collapse. 

You must be pleased with how you’ve managed to get to headlining Brixton Academy in just three London gigs – Kurt Cobain once said if Nirvana had headlined there then he would have judged them to be a success.  What was it like and where do you want to take the live show next?

Brixton was surreal. Your brain goes into bizzaro mode for the whole thing and you’re a rider on a roller coaster- not a tv commentator on a performance. I wish I could summon higher level thoughts about the experience to tell you about, but it’s all a tide of adrenaline and exhaustion. Then it’s over and it feels impossible that it ever happened or that it will ever happen again. Then it does. And again and again you walk out of the venue to the bus alone and hope that the Ken Burns documentary you’re halfway through will put you to sleep. 

As for Mr. Cobain,

Success is three things for me: 

-Providing a decent life for my wife and child

-Time spent creating

-Being plugged in to a community that you can give and receive from

I’ve done enough projects over the course of my 15 years in this industry to know that some projects will fill up a room and some projects will not, and I’ll never know which is which beforehand, so it’s best not to hang your hat on the external feedback like record deals or room sizes. Every day is a mountain you climb and no one can determine its worth except for you. I will say, this project is a lot of fun and I hope it doesn’t stop any time soon.

Ben Willmott

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