Midlake Interview

Ages ago, Advantage to No One was something that I took very seriously and felt had a real chance of survivial. Today is the reckoning. Today it returns to come full circle and take its place in the "blogosphere".

Enjoy my interview with McKenzie from Midlake.



It seems that Denton, TX is the new capital for awesome music. One such band that has proven this is Midlake. I had a chance to conduct an interview with drummer McKenzie Smith. Enjoy!

Advantage to No One: first off, thanks for taking time out to do this interview

McKenzie Smith: No problem, my pleasure.

ATNO : you guys just got off tour with the Gloria Record, how was that experience?

MS: that tour was a very good experience for us, being that it was our first time out to the Midwest: and the guys in the Gloria record are super wonderful guys and it really helped to play with a band that has already toured quite a bit through the Midwest so we could play in front of some people

ATNO: were you happy with the responses you got from people who came to the shows on that tour?

MS: very much so. I think we had our best show in cedar falls Iowa, believe it or not it seems we always have good shows out in the middle of nowhere when we least expect it they were all pretty good shows though. We sold cd's every show and I think overall, got our music out there to a whole new group of people. I think the gloria record's crowd appreciated us.

ATNO: so its safe to say that touring the Midwest again is a strong possibility?

MS: absolutely. We play in and around Texas quite a bit, and when we get our full-length record out (hopefully in the fall) we are planning on touring the entire country

ATNO: should we expect the same kind of record we got with the EP or are you going to be experimenting a bit more?

MS: the ep was a good first release for us, but it is not the definitive midlake sound. We have grown a lot since we recorded that. I think that the ep opened a lot of doors for us and left the options open to do whatever we want. I don't know what people will be expecting, but we are working hard on the new songs and I think it will be a whole different experience sonically and emotionally.

ATNO: I've heard people compare you guys to Radiohead, would you say this is a far comparison, or are people not eating their Cheerios in the morning?

MS: hmmmmmm, well, I would say that earlier midlake, way before we ever recorded the ep, sounded more like radiohead circa the bends and ok computer, but now the only real comparisons to me and the rest of us would be that at times, Tim's voice is reminiscent of Thom York's voice. They share the same timbre. But I think that too many people liken every new band that happens to have interesting songs and cool sounds to radiohead because that is probably the only band that they can relate to and are familiar with. Our influences range far beyond radiohead and if you listen closer, I think you would here a lot more besides radiohead, Beatles anyone?

ATNO: any major plans after the full length comes out?

MS: the plans for now are to tour as much as possible in support of the new record and hopefully get to get out on the road with some other bigger bands and try to just get as much momentum going for us as possible.

ATNO: any certain things acting as inspiration for this record?

MS: Tim is the primary songwriter for the band. He draws inspiration from all sorts of things including, his relationship with his wife, books, poetry and just his imagination. This plus tons of music. I would say the same goes for the rest of us. Just drawing from life in general I suppose. This record we are really trying to take the listener to this place we are creating and hopefully that will be a good place they will want to stay in for a while.

ATNO: what do you guys do in your off time from touring and recording?

MS: well, unfortunately, we all have day jobs. But outside of that, we have been brainstorming on the new record, cleaning our house, drinking coffee, all sorts of crazy stuff. We are boring I'm sure there is more, but I am having trouble thinking of all the cool stuff we do.

ATNO: what long-term goals does Midlake have?

MS: ideally, we would like to be on a cool label that believes in financing us and sending us all around the world to play in front of people who love to hear us. I said that somewhat facetiously, but really, what we would love to do is be able to just quite everything else, and play the music we want to and be able to make a living at it. That would make us happy.

ATNO: What is currently in your CD player and why?

MS: that differs within in the band, but I will tell you mine. I have a few... sparkle horse- "its a wonderful life", neutral milk hotel, actually, from a mix cd that a good friend made for me, but it has some songs from them on it which I am really loving, granddaddy-both full length records, the Beatles- abbey road, Rufus wainwright- his first, "Rufus wainwright", and the flaming lips, "the soft bulletin", to name a few, I have a thing for beautiful melodies with interesting textures, a lot of these bands have that

ATNO: well I must thank you once again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this.

MS: thank you.

You can check out samples of some of the songs on the "Milkmaid Grandarmy EP" and see If they are playing a town near you at www.midlake.net.