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Tim McEwan

McEwan in 2018

Tim McEwan
McEwan performing live with The Midnight in 2018
Background information
Birth name	Tim Daniel McEwan
Also known as	Data, iAmData, Varsity Blue
Born	(1979-09-16) September 16, 1979 Copenhagen, Denmark
Genres	Electronic Pop
Occupation(s)	Musician record producer
Instrument(s)	Drums synths vocals
Years active	1999–present
Member of	The Midnight Deekay

Tim Daniel McEwan (born September 16, 1979) is a Danish drummer, songwriter, and producer. He is the primary producer and songwriter of The Midnight.

McEwan grew up in a musical family and started drumming at a young age. Around the age of 17, he began producing and did a few productions in his native Denmark. In 2008, he joined the Danish production group Deekay and began writing and producing for many popular artists.

In 2012, McEwan met Tyler Lyle at a songwriting workshop in Los Angeles. The two made an instant connection and began writing songs. McEwan and Lyle formed The Midnight and self-released their first extended play (EP) in 2014 and have continuously released music since.

Early Life

McEwan was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to Tom McEwan and Terese Damsholt. His father is an actor and musician and his mother is an actress. He has a brother, Oliver, who is also a musician. Being the son of a musician, McEwan was exposed to music from a young age, having access to a guitar, drum, and piano at home growing up. He started playing the drums as an adolescent and began producing at the age of 17.

Career

Throughout the early 2000s, McEwan produced a few songs and did some remixes. He gained higher prominence in 2008, writing and producing several songs on Show the World, the debut album from Danish singer and The X-Factor winner Martin. Also in 2008, McEwan became a member of the production/songwriting team Deekay, a Danish-based outfit that has written and produced songs for many popular artists including Jordin Sparks, Sugababes, JLS, and New Kids on the Block. In 2009, McEwan served as the drummer for Niels Brinck, who performed the song Believe Again as part of Denmark’s entry to that year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The song made the contest final where it finished in thirteenth place.

McEwan has stated that his musical influences include Avicii, deadmau5, Porter Robinson, Dirtyloud, Arty, and Mat Zo.

The Midnight

Still residing in Denmark, McEwan visited Los Angeles in 2012 and met Georgia based singer-songwriter Tyler Lyle at a songwriter’s workshop in North Hollywood organized by Katie Donovan, Lyle’s A&R representative at the time. Prior to meeting, McEwan had listened to some of Lyle’s previous work and liked Lyle’s folk sound. The two began writing songs and on McEwan’s suggestion, based their sound on 80s synth, having prior exposure to the synthwave genre and being inspired by the movie Drive. Their first song written as a duo was WeMoveForward, and their first release as a band under The Midnight moniker was the 2014 extended play Days of Thunder. McEwan is the primary producer and songwriter in The Midnight. While Lyle is the primary vocalist and lyricist, McEwan wrote the lyrics and sang the vocals on the songs Synthetic and Comet.

References

External links

• Twitter
• Twitter (Varsity Blue)
• Instagram
• Instagram (Varsity Blue)

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America 2

"America 2"
Single by The Midnight
from the album Kids
Released	August 3, 2018 (2018-08-03)
Length	4:01
Label	The Midnight Music
Songwriter(s)	Tim McEwan Tyler Lyle
Producer(s)	Tim McEwan
Kids track listing
Kids "Youth" "Wave" "Kids (Prelude)" "Lost Boy" "Saturday Mornings (Interlude)" "Explorers" "America 2" "Arcade Dreams" "Kids (Reprise)"
The Midnight singles chronology
Lost Boy (2018) America 2 (2018) Arcade Dreams (2018)

America 2 is a song by The Midnight. It is the second single and seventh track from their album Kids. The single was released on August 3, 2018.

The song was written by band members Tim McEwan and Tyler Lyle and produced by McEwan. It has a running time of four minutes and one second and is in the key of B-flat major.

The line "I've come to look for America too" is an interpolation of the line "I've gone to look for America" from the song America by Simon & Garfunkel - Lyle wrote America 2 as a response to that song from a pessimist's point of view. Additionally, the date on the single artwork, June 4, 1984, is a reference to the release of the Bruce Springsteen album Born in the U.S.A..

Demo version

An early demo of America 2 was released as a prize during the Fall 2020 ARG. Titled America 2 Demo, it is a stripped-down, acoustic version of the song that has no instrumentation other than Tyler Lyle's vocals and guitar. It was originally released as part of an episode from Lyle's podcast From The Secret Lair.

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Lyrics

I made my home in a ten-ton bomb
And I was so happy with 28 years of free fallin’
But now it’s all guts and I’m bawlin'
She was born in a tenement walk-up
With shit for nerves, you know she never learned to talk to adults
She said ‘everything's easier in here’

Like the dancer with bruises who gathers the cash
When the music is through, no she don’t look back
I’ve come to look for America too

All I ever wanted was a spot in the mountains
With an a-frame cabin and nobody counting our days
Or cursing or praising our name
But the best we could do is to enter the void
Like a wide-eyed child waking up to the noise of East Harlem
Don’t they see that we’re starving?

Like the dancer with bruises who gathers the cash
When the music is through no she don’t look back
I’ve come to look for America too
And we stole the car on the 4th of July
I pawned my guitar and we drove through the night
I’ve come to look for America too

Lyrics source

Official versions

America 2

from Kids

America 2 (Instrumental)

from Kids (The Instrumentals)

References

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Horror Show

Horror Show
EP by The Midnight
Released	October 16, 2020 (Amazon Music) March 19, 2021
Genre	Synthwave Rock
Length	23:54
Label	Counter Records
Producer	Tim McEwan Essenger
The Midnight chronology
Monsters (2020) Horror Show (2020) Endless Summer (5 Year Anniversary Edition) (2021)
Singles from Horror Show
"Neon Medusa" Released: March 3, 2021

Horror Show is the second extended play (EP) by The Midnight. It was initially released through Counter Records on October 16, 2020, exclusively through Amazon Music for streaming. The EP was made available on all platforms on March 19, 2021, following the release of Neon Medusa as a single earlier in the month.

Background and composition

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted The Midnight's plans to tour and promote their new album, Monsters. To get fans engaged with the band during the pandemic, an alternate reality game (ARG) began on September 24, 2020, and continued through October 15, 2020, with fans working together each day remotely to solve clues and discover hidden prizes. On October 13, 2020, the prize was a link to an empty Dropbox folder labeled "The Midnight - New Album". A Twitch channel by the name of "halfinlightandhalfindark" (a reference to a lyric in Last Train) was also discovered, and the channel posted a message stating "WEDNESDAY 10/14 @ 12 PM EST." At that time, the EP was streamed for the first time and its title of Horror Show was also revealed. After the stream ended, it was confirmed that the EP would release on October 16, 2020. The EP's initial exclusivity to Amazon Music was in part due to the company helping fund its production. During the time of the original October release, physical copies of Horror Show were available to pre-order from the band's online store, which included a download link to a digital version of the EP including the instrumentals.

Four of the six songs on Horror Show were co-produced by Essenger. The album also features a new collaboration with Nikki Flores, a cover of the 1978 Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith hit single Because The Night.

Singles

Neon Medusa
March 3, 2021

Track listing

Horror Show

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"The Stranger"	Tim McEwan Tyler Lyle	McEwan	1:42
2.	"Ghost in Your Stereo"	McEwan Lyle Micah Dalton Jeffrey Blake Simpson	McEwan Essenger	4:09
3.	"Neon Medusa"	McEwan Lyle	McEwan Essenger	5:05
4.	"Devil Make a Deal"	McEwan Lyle Luke Laird Natalie Hemby	McEwan Essenger	4:56
5.	"Good in Red"	McEwan Lyle Jesse Molloy Simpson	McEwan Essenger Molloy	4:26
6.	"Because The Night" (feat. Nikki Flores)	Bruce Springsteen Patti Smith	McEwan	3:36
Total length:				23:54

2021 Release bonus track

No.	Title	Length
7.	"Neon Medusa (Edit)"	4:13
Total length:		28:07

Credits
Additional instrumentation was provided by Jesse Molloy (saxophone on Because The Night), Maddie Rice (guitar solo on Neon Medusa), and Nikki Flores (background vocals on Good In Red and vocals on Because The Night).
Mixed By Tim McEwan. Mastered by Emily Laxar at The Lodge, NYC. Front cover by Max Löffler.

Release history and variants

Digital release history for Horror Show

Date	Edition
October 16, 2020	Standard
Initial release, which was only available for streaming/download via Amazon Music or by preordering a physical copy.
October 16, 2020	Instrumentals
Was available to download by preordering a physical copy of the EP. First The Midnight release to have vocal and instrumental versions available on release day.
March 19, 2021	Standard
General release to all platforms. Contains an edited version of Neon Medusa as the final track. Bandcamp release also includes the instrumentals.
May 14, 2021	Instrumentals
General release to all platforms.

Physical release history for Horror Show

Year	Format	Color/Design
2020	Cassette	Transparent Orange
This and the Translucent Grey variant were the first tape variants, both available to be preordered on October 16, 2020. Orders began shipping in January 2021. Contains the instrumentals on side B. First time an instrumental version of an EP/album received a physical release.
2020	Cassette	Translucent Grey
This and the Transparent Orange variant were the first tape variants, both available to be preordered on October 16, 2020. Orders began shipping in January 2021. Contains the instrumentals on side B. First time an instrumental version of an EP/album received a physical release.
2020	LP	Transparent Orange
This and the Smoke variant were the first vinyl variants, both available to be preordered on October 16, 2020. Both variants run at 45 RPM, the only The Midnight vinyl releases to do so. Orders began shipping in January 2021. "Kill Your Demons" is etched in the run-out area.
2020	LP	Smoke
This and the Transparent Orange variant were the first vinyl variants, both available to be preordered on October 16, 2020. Both variants run at 45 RPM, the only The Midnight vinyl releases to do so. Orders began shipping in January 2021. "Kill Your Demons" is etched in the run-out area. Some copies of this variant had a more pronounced darker color closer to black, which is reflected in an updated render.
2022	LP	Bloodshot Splatter
Third vinyl variant. Unlike the first two, this variant runs at 33 ⅓ RPM.

References

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