Release of the Week: Midnight Peacemaker

Can you give us a little background on your musical project Midnight Peacemaker and how you got started?

Well I guess it really began when I quit smoking cigarettes, you see I was a smoker for 15 years and then I was able to quit. When doing so I found out I was rich, and I was making more money than I thought I was at the time. I was able to afford a brand new motorcycle, copious amounts of vintage electronic drum machines/synthesizers, and recording equipment. I had amassed an obscene amount of gear, and I had more than enough stuff to record my own solo album.

What can you tell us about your inspirations and creative process for your new album "Diary of Dissonance”?

Well at that time I was kicking around a lot of previously unused material from both my older bands, but basically, it started as a big f**k you to our 45th US president with such tracks as “Not My President” and “Furniture Shopping”. That track is a direct quote stolen from the infamous Billy Bush bus tapes.

What music was floating around in your day-to-day life at the time of composing it?

I was riding my bicycle every day to work so I was listening to a lot of music, and at that time I would listen to full discographies of Prince, Midnight Star, Elliott Smith, Stevie Wonder, Brian Eno, Depeche Mode, and basically anything Vince Clarke ever did.

For you, what is the importance of releasing music independently?

It's really not that important to me, but it's literally the only way to release music nowadays. I completely understand that there are a lot of risks involved, at least here in the US, some serious cash is needed to promote a first-time artist. Making the record has become the most affordable component of the whole process. You now can create so much with so little.

The promotion and distribution have become this giant complicated expensive mess. It was always the most important piece of the puzzle, but now I feel it is completely out of control. The music business as a whole is like a microcosm of ultra-capitalism an unapologetic, racist, sexist, relentless race to the bottom all while promoting conformity and conspicuous consumption.

Can you tell us a little bit about your journey on streaming & downloading platforms?

I have always been an avid vinyl collector, but in my youth in the 90s, it was out of pure necessity. It was the most economical path to experiencing music. At that time, you could hit up the Cypress College swap meet and get 2 vinyl records for $1 or if you were lucky the one-off thrift store would unload 4 for $1. It was a wonderful time to grow up and for some reason the world no longer wanted vinyl.

The other thing that was happening at the same time was Napster and this was equally exciting if not more so. Imagine a world with no YouTube, no instant anything, and very primitive/ extremely slow Internet. I realize this is all stupid, and I know I sound like an irrelevant relic. The moral of the story is basically I had no money, I collected records on the cheap, and I could rip Weezer B-sides which almost always turned out to be the Lemonheads cover of Mrs. Robinson.

What are you working on right now / what projects await you in 2021?

Well right before the pandemic I was nearly halfway done with my second album, however, all that material was written, recorded, and produced in vain. That pre-pandemic world does not exist anymore. The world and mankind as we know it must undergo the greatest change, we have to implement the most extremist of ideas in order to prevail. Oh my lanta here I go again on existential dread. To answer the question, I've literally shelved that second album due to the material sounding far too fluffy and blatantly immature. I am slowly writing new songs now and will hopefully have something popping by Christmas.