Summer’s Ending Soon: An Interview with The Midnight

(Photo Credit - Jimmy Fontaine, @jimmyfontaine1)

We had the opportunity to chat with Tyler Lyle of The Midnight about the band’s most recent release ‘Syndicate’ and their upcoming second half tour in support of the record which kicks off September 9 in New Orleans! FMI/Tickets, visit.

Alt Revue (AR): You just released Syndicate last year, with a deluxe release that came out this year including some stripped down demos and remixes. The record itself has been called your most ambitious to date. Syndicate clocks in at 17 tracks on the original release and took over two years to create. While some people may hear synthwave and think it’s just "party music" from how it may sound with it’s use of synth and sax. However, you all tackle some tough issues thematically on this one including the impermanence of the human condition, loss, and heartbreak. Did you go into Syndicate trying to see how far you could push yourselves from a songwriting perspective or did it sort of happen organically?

Tyler Lyle (TR): “I suppose it started with Heroes that was written during the pandemic, where we tried to push our boundaries as far as we could go. Then our fans kind of seemed to miss the more traditional synthwave stuff. We were going through a hard time, Tim was having some issues, and my wife was diagnosed with cancer. To be honest, this is kind of what came out. We wrote it in two main phases, one was 2023-2024 and played what we had for the label. We thought we had a finished album at that time, but we realized we had more work to do. So we went back and continued to work, wrote a bunch of songs and kind of paired them back. The result was we felt like we captured what we had as a vision. This was the first chance to take our time with a record.”

AR: For those that do not know, you all have a dynamic live show that includes live sax, synth, guitar, and more. Additionally, you’ve released a live album in the past as well. You’ve taken these tracks on the road in the spring and will be continuing with a headlining tour this fall. What has been your favorite thing about sharing the tracks of Syndicate in a live setting?

TL: "The fun part about it is that Syndicate is record eight or something like that. It's nice when you create albums and you have favorites. At this point, 10 or 15 years in, we have a lot of songs. This gave us an opportunity to pick some of our favorites, maybe 3 or 4 for the Time Machines Tour. When Tim and I were facing the challenge of putting a project together, we were trying to figure out if this a DJ set or a band, as Tim is more of a producer. For the first years we operated as a band, now we've kind of leaned into that electronic side of things.”

AR: You managed to partner with some great collaborators on Syndicate including Bonnie McKee, Jupiter Winter, and Carpenter Brut as well as some co-writes with Dan the Automator. Can you share about how some of the collaborations came together?

TL: "We love Jupiter Winter and have played with them in the past. Bonnie Mckee has been on our radar for a long time. We were on the same publishing company for a while when she was writing and working with Katy Perry and Brittany Spears. We just had a great opportunity to work with her and are very lucky to have her on the tour for some of the dates. Dan the Automator is a producer who is pretty prolific, we had the opportunity to sit in his home studio which was cool. I mean, we're just fans...The cool part of this job is we get to meet our heroes and sometimes get the opportunity to work together. Sunglass Kid was also involved as well. We cast a wide net when it comes to collaborations."

AR: The Midnight originated as a duo with Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan. You have added some supporting members over time. How has the infusion of these supporting members impacted you from both a studio/songwriting perspective, as well as when you do live performances?

TL: "I mean, the melodies and music are me (Tyler) there are few instances where we have writers in on the front end. Most of the production is Tim, to be honest it's always mostly been Tim and I throwing things together and bringing in collaborators later. Jupiter Moon and Bonnie came in a little early on their collaborations this time." 

AR: You recently shared a cover of “Tonight, Tonight” by the Smashing Pumpkins for a tribute where you’ve really added to the original track. What was it about this tune that made you feel that you wanted to put your own spin on it?

TL: "Oh my god. That record (Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness) that was the first double record I saw as a kid and I always thought that was ambitious and impressive. The music video was scary for that song, as I was about 10 years old at the time. It was very intriguing for me, at the time, as I had been listening to pop country records, TLC, and Ace of Bass primarily and this record had an edge to it. Whereas everything else seemed kind of safe. That opened the world up to more angry, harder, music. Smashing Pumpkins was my introduction to adult music."

AR: You all actually headed up production on this, with Tim helming the effort. Can you discuss the difference in the process of putting out a new record (particularly one this ambitious and enduring) when you’re heading the production efforts versus when maybe you have an outside influence in that role?

TL: "It's always been a double edge sword as an artist working with a producer because you are at the mercy of their music and their taste. The split for the band has been 50/50, with Tim's taste coming out on production. We do a great job of dividing the labor equally. Tim and I are both very different artists, I tend to throw as much as I can at something, whereas Tim is more precise and disciplined with his sound. I think between our personalities we can cover the role of artist and producer. Bringing in someone is always a risk, so we have never had that experience with The Midnight."