PCM's Kristyn spent some time speaking
with Nathan from the band The Midway State, while they were out
on the road traveling to Tennessee. Read on to learn a little
bit of history behind the band and what they hope to accomplish
with their music now and in the future...
Nathan: Hi this is Nathan
Kristyn: Hi Nathan, this is Kristyn with Pop
Culture Madness
N: Hey Kristyn, how are you?
KC: I'm fine, how are you doing?
N: Not too bad.
KC: Having some reception issues?
N: Yea - I guess so . . . does it sound okay right
now?
KC: Yes I can hear you. Can you hear me okay?
N: Good.
KC: Where are you guys at right now?
N: Between Florida and Tennessee. We're on like
a long haul today. We have to go all the way to Nashville tonight.
We played in Orlando at a luncheon there at the big Hard Rock
Café show.
KC: Is that the big one at Universal?
N: yea exactly.
KC: My aunt works at Universal Studios. Can you
tell our readers a little history behind the band? How did you
meet? I see you guys are from Canada. How does the music scene
differ in Canada versus the States?
N: They're pretty similar in a lot of ways - Canada
is similar to the United States. Me and Daenen, the drummer, we
started the band in high school with some friends. Basically started
touring around the country, my dad got us a van when we were about
17. When we got out of high school we moved to Toronto and we
started to work with a producer named Gavin Brown and basically
that's where we met Mike and Mike, our bass player and guitar
player now. We put an ad at University looking for a bass player
and guitar player and we had a couple of auditions and met them.
We've been with them ever since. For about two years now. So then
when we got out of high school, we did a tour of America afterward
with a band called the Shining Paigones and we played with them.
Then we met up with our manager/management company called A Point
of Music out of Canada. Just basically from touring and playing
shows and working on things is kind of how our career's gone thus
far . . . playing with Daughtry and Ron De la Luca and Black at
Night and bands like that. We've just been touring with other
bands for years and years and we just finished recording our first
full length record so it's kind of been like a natural progression
since me and Daenen started the band four or five years ago.
KC: Okay. So who would you say are some of your
main musical influences?
N: I love Neil Young, he's a Canadian song writer,
Carol King and her record "Tapestry"; I love the band
Fleetwood Mac a lot. Others in the band, Mike and Mike really
like Radiohead, Daenen likes them, and alternative rock. For myself,
I like the songwriters - Carol King, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac,
Journey, I love Paul McCartney, I love a lot of Paul McCartney
solo stuff.
KC: Yea that's a different one, most people like
the Beatles. It's interesting to hear Paul McCartney solo.
N: There's something about him - I love . . .Wings
is just kind of neat.
KC: What has life been like on the road? Have
you had any interesting road stories thus far?
N: Yea - a couple nights ago we were playing a show
and we were in the middle of our first ballad and there were two
women in a big fight. It was odd. But the tour's been really great
we have like seven or eight in our band and our crew, and everyone
really gets along really well. I think it's going a lot smoother
than you would think for a bunch of guys in a van. Definitely
being in the van for months at a time and staying in hotels at
night we've had lots and lots and lots of interesting situations.
Everyone kind of ends up back at the hotel at different time and
you don't really . . . as long as you're on time in the morning,
you're okay.
KC: Have there been any crazy fan experiences
yet?
N: Yea, we've had we're starting to get more people
and girls who drive like six hours to get here. We're not 100%
used to it so we almost feel bad for them. We're like 'wow you
drove that far? We're so thankful'. And we hang out with them
and stuff. It super duper exciting. I'm like oh my god because
you have that much confidence and you kind of want to keep going.
KC: that's a really good thing because I know
fans really appreciate that kind of behavior - it's almost like,
'aw man, you changed when you got bigger' and things like that.
N: Totally, it's so important to us that they know
how much we appreciate them. It's great at this level - bigger
artists like the headlining act, like Daughtry, it's harder for
them to do that. But we're not a big band right now, we're not
jumped by a million fans every night, but its really nice - our
fan base is growing in front of our eyes, we can really let them
know that.
KC: Well, I wish you guys all the best. How do
you feel about MySpace as a way to connect with fans?
N: I think it's really cool. We've had a MySpace
page for the last view years, since it kind of got big. We all,
we take time ever single day and respond to every single kid who
writes to the band - we try to get some kind of message back to
them so they know we really are reading it and we appreciate it.
I think it's an awesome tool. We went over and played Europe and
we're still keeping in touch with our Parisian fans and our British
fans and our Australian fans and our American fans all at the
same time.
KC: So you do maintain your own page, correct?
N: Oh yea.
KC: Good. Where do you see the future of music
heading and where do you see yourself in that picture?
N: I think that the future is in . . . it's where it's always
been, in good songs. I think that no matter what the state of
the industry is or no matter how records are selling or what not,
people are always going to love a good song that makes them feel
a certain way and I always picture when I'm driving alone at night
in my car, if I can list to that record that I love or hear that
song, it gives me that feeling that nothing can ever take that
away. It's the same with live music. Live music is more important
then ever right now. It's like real bands that can really play
and have the real thing I think bands are really craving that
and needing that right now and they've gone through so much .
. . the kind of music that doesn't have those same intentions.
I think it's really coming around that way. I think the radio
and everything like that is going to start embracing real song
writing and broadening that again.
KC: That's a good answer. How do you feel about
music categories in general? Your lyrics do have, at least in
my opinion, some heavy emotional content, so where do you classify
Midway State?
N: In the music scene right now? I think we fit
into a wide range of the bands. I love a lot of piano based bands
right now, we're just kind of . . . we have a piano in the band
and its all about how you play it, you know? But I think we fit
into an "easy rock" kind of new genre. Maybe like .
. I hope to get to a place where in years and years, our new record
that's coming out will be considered classic rock, but check us
in 2020, you know? It's all about - we're really, really all about
the songs. Any band that plays the music and brings the songs
through songwriting or whatever, I think hopefully that's where
we'll fit.
KC: When should we be expecting the full length
CD?
N: It's going to come out in the New Year, around
April.
KC: What do you guys like to do in your spare
time, if any that you have right now?
N: Right now we're going to start the movie "Dumb
& Dumber" in the van. We watch movies - stuff like that,
listen to music. Keep up on all that band stuff on MySpace and
we've been really lacking spare time this last year - recording
our record, touring, rehearsing. I love songwriting, so whenever
I'm home or on the road, I take my recorder in the back and I
have my piano at home - I'm always working on writing for myself
or for somebody else -
KC: What is one goal you want to accomplish with
your music?
N: Do you have a specific meaning of that? Like
a personal goal or a goal for the music itself.
KC: A personal goal.
N: A personal goal . . . let me think about that
a moment . . . I really think that - since I was 14 when I started
writing, I've always wanted every song I've written, I've always
wanted to be recognized in one way or another. I don't think I've
ever written music only for myself. I love writing for myself,
but it's a personal goal that other writers recognize on a cultural
level. For me to put out a record in April of good band songs,
we put our whole hearts into it - our whole lives into it, I think
that if the public recognizes it and appreciates it, I think,
at this point in my live, that would be my musical goal fulfilled.
To be recognized one way or the other. There's always an award
show and stuff like that and they're incredible, but you can't
strive to win awards or have a certain number of fans, but I think
we feel really really strongly for the record that was made and
the music that we're making and we feel it says what we wanted
to say and in a lot of ways in putting out this record and having
it be released in Europe and North America and Australia and Japan
- that is a massive goal for me that we're making. When it's time
to take it a step further, a huge goal would be to continue to
do this. As lucky as we are, I'd like to go 10 more years and
the only way to do that is to be recognized and know that no one
really appreciates it the way we appreciate it ourselves.
KC: That's certainly not a bad goal to have,
especially when there's so many bands out there - it's being able
to stand out at least in some way and build up that fan base.
I certainly think you guys are on your way up.
N: Thanks so much, thank you.
KC: Finally, can you tell our readers one secret
about the band that we may not already know?
N: Hmmm let me think. (talking to band mates) We'll
just say that whole thing with the razor . . .
KC: I'll keep that off the record. Come on -
there's gotta be something!
N: Well, how about Mike & Mike our guitar and
bass players - you will never find them apart. They've been hanging
out since grade nine and they room together every night.
KC: Okay. That works. So that's just about all
the questions I have for you. Is there any message or comment
you'd like to share with readers of our website?
N: Sure. Just check us out on our MySpace or check
us out at a show or on our website and we really appreciate your
guys support. It means a lot to the guys and we can't wait to
share the new record especially with all the fans in April.
KC: That's awesome. Are you guys gonna be in
the Philadelphia area anytime?
N: Let me think . . . Probably the concept of the
tour is happening in January and February, but I'm sure we'll
be in your guys area before long . . we're always on the road.
We're bound to be there soon.
KC: We definitely want to come check you guys
out if you're in Philadelphia.
N: We'll definitely make sure that we save you some
tickets.
KC: Okay that's awesome.
N: Thanks so much!
KC: Thanks for talking to us - good luck getting
to Tennessee.
The
Midway State "Change For You" music video
