I sat down for a chat with the Midnight Juggernauts on Saturday, September 13 before their live set at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge.
They discussed how and when films depicting cannibalism might trump hardcore porn, a recent show at a “James-Bond[-like] Sheraton” in Austria, the new NYC venue Le Poisson Rouge, and, of course, the music: Grandmaster Flash, their new writing, and being “ready for the next chapter and to step things up a level.”
Don’t miss photos, videos and a review of the night, also on TheMusic.FM.
Interview With The Midnight Juggernauts
After walking into the green room at Le Poisson Rouge and past the members of their entourage playing Rock Band (or something similar) on the venue’s flat-panel TV, I sat down in a back room with Midnight Juggernauts members Vincent Vendetta (keys/vocals) and Daniel Stricker (drums).
So it’s not a full US tour this time, but obviously New York is special.
Vin: We wanted to do a proper big tour of the US, but we had all these different festival dates in Europe which kept clashing. So we only had like two weeks to come here and Mexico so we just tried to throw in as many shows as we could. And it really was a part of this weird Vice tour where it was more on the west coast. And then we realized we can’t come to the US without playing New York. So we had to organize this show with friends like last-minute over the last two weeks. It wasn’t really advertised but we’re happy that lots of people turned up. And it should be a fun night.
And Grandmaster Flash?! He recently remixed you guys, and now he’s sharing the bill with you tonight. How’d that happen?
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Midnight Juggernauts - Into The Galaxy (Grandmaster Flash remix) [MP3]
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Midnight Juggernauts - Into The Galaxy [MP3]
Daniel: We just have a friend who’s doing some stuff with him and it just kind of happened organically. It’s weird, its so left-field. Very cool. Pretty funny guy.
Vin: I remember watching “The Message” all the way in Australia and just thinking, wow, that was such an exciting era for music. And just I love that clip. And now it’s just amazing that somehow our worlds have converged and he’s remixed our music and we’ve been bumping into him a lot. In Japan, and last week in Austria–we played this weird kind of James-Bond Sheraton together.
Daniel: We turned up to the venue and the woman said “you’ll get up on stage and then the missiles on stage will go off and when you hear the explosions the curtains will be opened and you’ll be pushed forward through the smokers.” And we’re just trying to keep a straight face because it sounds so absurd. And then it’s a total This Is Spinal Tap moment—it’s like when Stonehenge comes down. Because the explosion wasn’t even that good.
We’ve got a couple days off after tonight. We haven’t slept really for the last five days. Not because we haven’t wanted to sleep. But every day’s been like a 6 a.m. flight. And we’ve been playing at 12.
Vin: But this is like the last day of that run. So it’s all about tonight where we get to let our hair down. Because we don’t have to wake up at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. We can just sleep for four days if we want to.
What do you guys think of the new venue, Le Poisson Rouge?
Daniel: It’s really nice. It’s kind of got that underground basement jazz lounge feel.
Vin: We really tried to do something different and we’re happy with it. The soundcheck sounded good.
Have you had any time to write or record, or will you in the near future?
Vin: Yeah, while we’re traveling on the road we’re writing a hell of a lot for the next album and pretty soon we’re gonna get down in the studio and flesh out all these new tunes and do more writing. And we’ll start recording later this year. And we want to have the new record out next year … we’re ready for the next chapter and to step things up a level.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Midnight Juggernauts - Ending of an Era [MP3]
Daniel: It’s funny, we’ve been working on these couple of ideas already and the direction it’s going in is interesting. It’s probably going to be a tribal epic, I think. That’s what it sounds like to me.
Vin: Because while we’ve been traveling we have a DVD in the vehicle and we’ve been getting lots of bad cannibal films.
Daniel: Total inspiration. Yeah. Cannibal Holocaust. I don’t recommend that.
Vin: We were in Belgium a month ago and we went into some truck stop and there was this scary woman at the counter in the middle of nowhere and there was all this ultra-disgusting porn behind her. And the most family-friendly selection we could buy was Cannibal Holocaust.
Daniel: Far from family-friendly.
Vin: It’s a little bit uncomfortable in a car with six guys watching double-penetration porn, so we went with that. That was disgusting. I don’t know how we managed to sit through it.
Daniel: But thinking about the record … it’s too early to tell.
[Someone knocks and I think my time limit is being enforced.]
Sum up your whole worldview in five seconds?
[We discover I am not being kicked out.]
Daniel: Worldview. Don’t fly? Because you’ll cry.
Vin: You’ll cry when they give you the excess-baggage fees.
Daniel: And the world is… what was that quote?
Vin: … A vampire?
Daniel: Wild at heart, weird on top?
(Note: Daniel’s quote is from the 1990 film Wild At Heart. Vin’s guess was a famous Smashing Pumpkins line.)
It always comes back to Billy Corgan.
Daniel: I love Billy Corgan. Lots of people don’t like him. I like him.
The world view. I don’t know! We’ve seen a lot of the world this year.
That wasn’t a serious question, by the way.
Vin: We tried to come up with a serious response.
It’s better if you try than to… If you try, try your best. It’s better than…
It’s worth a try.
Daniel: It’s worth a try. Thanks very much.
Don’t miss photos, videos and review from the night along with an interview with Chris from The Bumblebeez conducted the same night.
