Interview: Endless Midnight

1: How did you decide on the name, “Endless Midnight"?
The name “Endless Midnight” was decided upon during an earlier version of the project that was a duo indie pop style band with a bit in common with current Endless Midnight. I originally wanted to use the word “midnight” as part of the band name. I hoped to capture the project’s focus on neutrality and duality and believed that the concept of midnight had many different ways it could be interpreted. This was intriguing as it could either be ominous or more painful. We went between three main options, “Sleepless Midnight,” “Eternal Midnight,” (which was very close to being used) and, of course, “Endless Midnight.”

2: What inspires you to create?
Endless Midnight’s current inspirations mostly revolve around mental illness as well as religion and cult imagery. I started creating music as a way to express myself through art and performance. Music and writing lyrics eventually became more of a coping mechanism in which I could express emotions while also telling a story. Creating music is important to me and it is especially important to me that I actually put my work out into the world. I love the idea of my art actually being listened to and spread. That my work could truly be meaningful and “real.” It's a very powerful feeling.

3: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be in a creative profession?
I would recommend trying to create for a purpose. It feels a lot more important as an artist to write about something meaningful to you. Don’t focus too much on fame and trying to do what will make you popular and trendy or you’ll end up seeming very generic and uninteresting. Make what is truly important to you.

4: Do you feel open minded about what you listen to? Do you like going out of your comfort zone?
The amount of openness I have to new music definitely depends on my current mood at the time of listening. I generally prefer to listen to music I have more of a connection with but I also enjoy connecting with new music and styles, especially when certain artists start to feel too same-y. I generally listen to a pretty wide range of music and have definitely gone out of what used to be my comfort zone and listen to genres ranging from rock to metal to rap to K-pop and electronic music!

5: What outlets do you find out about music from? (Record stores, magazines, samplers, etc.)
I usually find out about music from multiple different outlets. I originally got more into music based on licensed songs that I enjoyed from video games, which I would look up and stream on YouTube. I later got more into collecting CDs and have gotten into various bands based on finding their CDs for very low prices. I usually get into artists similar to artists I like and then follow a bit of a web through their influences and sometimes find an artist I enjoy completely unrelated to anything I have listened to before!

6: What is your favorite format to listen to music on? (CD, Vinyl, etc.)
My favorite format to listen to music on is CD. I’ve enjoyed collecting CDs now for around 5 years and my collection has grown intensely. I find CDs to be a nice way to listen to music because of its high quality and because of the lower pricing CDs can be found in. I personally enjoy physically owning and collecting media I enjoy and, in my opinion, CDs are the best way to experience this!

7: How do you feel the internet has impacted the music business?
The internet has definitely changed a great deal of how the music business works in both a positive and negative way. Its definitely created a way that allows artists to release and advertise their music without the need for a major label deal. It's much easier to find new artists when you do not need to physically purchase an album in case you may enjoy it. However, it is also difficult to make a living as an artist through streaming platforms as they pay very small amounts of money for streams. It's overall a mixed change in the industry that has pretty dramatically impacted music as a whole.

8: Who was the first band/artist that became your favorite band?
The first band that became my favorite band was Nirvana. They were the first band to make me really realize the impact of music and that music was a very powerful thing that can be made by practically anyone! I used to kind of think all popular bands and artists just made a deal with a label to be famous but Nirvana showed me more of the DIY side of music that I would later dive much farther into and come to love!

9: Do you have any hobbies outside of music?
Yeah, of course! I enjoy multiple outside hobbies, especially playing video games and watching movies/shows. I generally enjoy horror movies and shows, such as Saw and Dexter but I also enjoy some other genres like comic book shows and movies, especially The Boys and The Crow, and cartoons such as Adventure Time, Regular Show, Miraculous Ladybug, and The Owl House! I also enjoy writing stories and poetry!

10: What was the inspiration for your song “Changes”?
The song “Changes” was written, in its original form, a pretty long time ago in December of 2019. I began the song with a simple chord progression and wrote the lyrics from there. The first verse has a bit of a clear inspiration of the December season with its references. The song was intended to be about the balance between good and evil and the complexity of morality, and of course, going through changes to oneself. These combined make the song about the gray morality of the way the world around us is constantly changing. Ironically, the song itself went through many changes instrumentally. What began as a basic folk song with mostly the same chords and strumming (outside of a small bridge cut from the final version), developed into an acoustic and electric song based around a finger picked guitar and finally into the current version with a synth base combined with drop-d power chords played through a distorted electric guitar.