From The Floppy Disk
Interview with Lelia Broussard
The Midnight Wiki had the honor of interviewing Lelia Broussard of Jupiter Winter in January 2021. Lelia joined The Midnight as a touring member for the Fall 2019 Tour and also co-wrote and sang guest vocals on the song Monsters. She talks to us about beginning her music career at a young age, the pros and cons of being independent versus being signed to a label, appearing on TV on Jimmy Fallon and The Voice, her work with The Midnight, and her plans for Jupiter Winter in 2021.
What have you been up to lately?
I’ve just been making a lot of music! It’s been kind of nice to have all of this uninterrupted time to write. Royce and I are working on a Jupiter Winter album which is very exciting for me. Other than writing and working on music, I’m really into cooking. I go on a lot of hikes, I do a lot of workouts in my yard. Ha! Just trying to stay sane and not get or give anyone covid.
Let's go back to the beginning. When do you realize you wanted to pursue a career in music? How did you get your start in the music business?
I developed a big interest in music very early on. I sang incessantly as a kid and I started playing guitar around 12 or 13. I was writing songs as soon as I could string a few chords together and it’s been a lifelong love and pursuit ever since.
As far as my start in the business, when I was a teenager I would religiously seek out every open mic I could find to practice performing in front of an audience. I started playing shows around the Philadelphia area, made some recordings of my songs and started selling them at my shows. 88.5 WXPN - the public radio station in Philadelphia generously gave me some early support and helped to grow my audience in the beginning. When I was 17 I skipped going to college and moved to New York instead where I began collaborating with other writers and producers and doing a little bit of touring. That eventually led to my first publishing deal.
I was able to learn a lot about you that I didn't know when I created your article on the wiki. You released a few albums independently starting at a very young age. What was that experience like?
It was amazing! I don’t know if I deserved to record in a studio with the incredible musicians I got to work with just yet. I was a baby who had no idea who I was as an artist and I definitely wasn’t writing very good songs yet but it was a great learning experience and a huge privilege to be exposed to that world so early on.
I read that you had inked a publishing deal and lived in Los Angeles for a time. What other artists and writers do you work with? Did you/do you enjoy writing and making music for other people?
I did! The first publishing deal I signed was more focused on my own artist development, so I wasn’t really writing for others at that point. I started writing for other artists and projects a few years later, and yes! I love making music for other people. It can be kind of freeing to work on something for someone else because there can be a lot of overthinking and preciousness that goes on when making your own music. I love to help other artists realize their artistic vision and to help them say something that feels honest and true. With the right fit it can be very fulfilling.
You've dipped your toes in many facets of the music industry - you've crowdfunded an album, have done solo work, was in a band (Secret Someones) and signed to a label, toured extensively on stages big and small - what would you say is the biggest thing you've learned? Do you think an artist should try to stay independent as long as they can?
Don’t compare your path to anyone else’s. I’m still learning that one. Study the greats and always find and celebrate the joy in making music, especially when it becomes your job. Write a LOT and don’t be too precious with your ideas. That’s a lot easier to do when you’re prolific. Routines and staying connected to yourself, whatever that means for you really help with creativity. It can be good to stay independent as long as you can, but I think it just depends on the circumstance. There’s so much you can do now as an independent artist and getting as far as you can on your own obviously means more leverage for a better deal. My band Secret Someones got signed pretty much right away, and that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for us. Labels can provide a lot of support but they also suck in a lot of ways. I think it just depends on your circumstances.
You've been on TV several times - Jimmy Fallon, The Voice - am I missing anything? What was it like being on television?
Nerve wracking! The Voice is fucking terrifying. It’s a lot of pressure and they make sure you’re well aware of that. Jimmy Fallon was a blast. He was very nice and exactly the person you would hope he is. My band and I got to write a parody song about an audience member and it was the best. Questlove liked my song and that made my life.
How was it competing on singing competitions?
Honestly, it was a wild experience. I met some wonderful people that I love dearly, but reality tv is a strange beast. If you don’t fit into the mold that the producers have invented for you, you won’t last on the show. It was definitely an interesting experience, but I can’t say that I would ever do it again.
Your current project is Jupiter Winter. How did you meet Royce, and when did you guys decide to team up and start making music together?
Yes! Royce and I met on tour in 2015 at The Wonder Ballroom in Portland (which was coincidentally my first gig with The Midnight years later!) I was playing with my band, Secret Someones and we were opening for our Canadian label mates, Marianas Trench. Royce was working with Marianas and we became friends over the tour and after that we started dating. Shortly after we started dating my band broke up and I was trying to find my own creative voice again, and we just started making stuff. It’s taken a long time to evolve into what it is now, but it’s been the best growing and learning experience!
What are each of your roles in this project? What type of sound are you going for?
Royce is more focused on production and I’m more focused on the songwriting, although both of us contribute to both aspects. Lately I’ve been writing and fully producing out a demo, then I’ll take it to Royce and he’ll add in new elements and help to polish and finish it. Sometimes Royce will write and produce a track on his own and I’ll write a topline (lyric + melody) over it. We love a mix of organic and electronic elements. We want to make smart pop music that makes you feel things. I guess that’s indie pop? Tyler says we’re pop wave. I hadn’t heard of it before but I think that feels like an accurate genre for us.
Let's get into your involvement with The Midnight. I've read that you got the touring role through an audition. Can you tell me a bit more about that process and experience?
A wonderful artist manager friend of mine recommended me to their team. We chatted on the phone and they asked to see a few videos of me playing their songs. Tyler and I had been in the same singer/songwriter community for many years, although I don’t think we had ever formally met. He was familiar with me as an artist and songwriter and I had a lot of other mutual friends with the guys. After sending a few videos of me playing, singing and doing my thing over their recordings they asked me to join them for their upcoming tours and after that I had I think two weeks to learn about 25 songs. It was intense but so much fun!
Prior to joining The Midnight on tour, did you have any prior experience or exposure to the synthwave genre?
No, I didn’t!
The synthwave genre and style is quite different from the music you've made for most of your career. Did you find it difficult to learn and get in tune with the songs?
I didn’t find it to be extraordinarily different than learning any other genre or style of music. Most of their songs have a very classic pop structure but their palette is very specific. Recreating all the sounds is one of my favorite parts of doing this gig.
OK - let's talk Monsters, the song. I remember when I saw The Midnight in Fall 2019 Tour, Tyler originally sang all parts of the song. When was it decided that you would sing on the album version? (you sound great by the way!)
Thank you! Yes! While we were on tour in 2019 we were playing a few new songs they were working on, Monsters being one of them. They had the idea to make it into a duet and they gave me the opportunity to take a stab at rewriting and singing the second verse which was so very cool of them. I did it on one of our days off in a hotel room somewhere in the US and thankfully they liked what I did. I’ve played with a lot of artists and it’s not very often that you’re welcomed into their creative process, so it’s been a real honor to get to collaborate with the guys in that way.
Let's talk about the amazing The Midnight Online concert you guys did last fall. When did you first hear that the band was interested in doing a livestream concert? Was it odd to play in a big outdoor venue with no fans?
They let us know a few months before so we thankfully had plenty of time to prepare. Oh my gosh it was so incredible to play music with my favorite people again. All of us had missed it so much. It was very weird and a little sad with no fans, but it was such a huge joy to be able to come together to do that.
What is your favorite The Midnight song to perform and/or your favorite The Midnight song in general? (other than Monsters!)
That’s so hard! I really have so much fun playing the whole show. I love playing America 2, Lost & Found, Los Angeles, I have a blast playing the solo in Gloria. From the new record, Last Train is VERY FUN for me. Neon Medusa is crazy. Royce shreds and that riff is so fun to play.
What are your plans as a musician for 2021? Do you think you and Royce will release an EP or album sometime this year?
Yes, we’re working on an album for Jupiter Winter and I’m so excited to have a whole body of work to finally be able to share. Hopefully we’ll have it wrapped up later this year. I just want to continue growing as a person and an artist and writing, more collaborating with my friends and making things that feel honest and true.
Anything you'd like to say to all the Kids and Monsters out there in The Midnight universe?
Just that I have so much love for all of you! Thank you for being so sweet and welcoming to me. Best fans in the world.
Be sure to follow Lelia and Jupiter Winter on Instagram!
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America Online
| "America Online" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Midnight | ||||
| from the album Monsters | ||||
| Released | May 13, 2019 | |||
| Length | 5:49 | |||
| Label | Counter Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Tim McEwan | |||
| Monsters track listing | ||||
Monsters | ||||
| The Midnight singles chronology | ||||
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America Online[1] is a song by The Midnight. It is the first single and second track from their album Monsters. The single was released on May 13, 2019.[2]
The song was written by band members Tim McEwan and Tyler Lyle and produced by McEwan. It has a running time of five minutes and 49 seconds and is in the key of B minor.
During a tour stop in the Spring 2019 Tour about a month before the single's release, the band talked with NewRetroWave about America Online:[3]In an interview with Magnetic Magazine after the release of Monsters, The Midnight further stated:[4]As a kid you’re sort of [disconnected] from the world… But when you’re in your teenage years, everything is sort of inner-conflict, relationships, all happening at once. The tensions of romantic love, acceptance in groups and things like that. …it’s not a sunset right? It’s more of a sort of blog track. I love going on vaporwave track playlists on youtube. I love the low-grade, low-fi, bitcrushed sound – it’s like that but with a bit more of a cleaner palette, a cleaner mix. So, that one will set the tone. Tyler is definitely on it, but in a bit more of a…vocodery way.
Tim: This sets the tone for our album. We’re in the era of connectivity. Gone are the days of being a kid, riding around on bikes, exploring the world around you. You’re a teen now and your nights are spent online in your bedroom, logged onto chat rooms, while the door to your parents is shut and you are searching for your own identity.
Tyler: This track was basically done and we’d decided to do it as an instrumental, but at the last minute I decided to try and write something. By that time we knew what the album was about roughly. This became the premise of the record- is love necessarily reciprocal- is hate? What is intimacy without proximity? Are we really connected at the bottom of all of this, especially when “all of this” is mediated by so many layers that seem un-human.
According to McEwan, the synth used in the opening of America Online is Serum with EchoMelt 2 added to get the uneven tape jitter effect.[5] The vocoder used is a mix of VocalSynth 2 from iZotope and BitSpeek.
The date on the single artwork for America Online is August 6, 1991, which is the day the world's first website was published by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN.[6][7]
Lyrics
If I love you, will you love me?
If I want you, will you want me?
I’m reaching, are you reaching out?
If I touch you, will you touch me now?
Through the wires to the heart
Phantom fingers fumble in the dark
I thought I did; I felt a spark
Are we all one beating heart?
If I love you, will you love me?
If I hurt you, will you hurt me?
I’m reaching, are you reaching out?
If I touch you, will you touch me now?
Through the wires to the heart
Phantom fingers fumble in the dark
I thought I did; I felt a spark
Are we all one beating heart?
Or are we strangers?
Am I a stranger?
Lyrics source[2]
Official versions
America Online (Instrumental)
from Monsters (The Instrumentals)
References
- ↑ "America Online | The Midnight". Bandcamp. July 10, 2020. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "America Online | The Midnight". Bandcamp. May 3, 2019. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ↑ Zistler, Andrew (April 5, 2019). "The Midnight Talk Tour and Reveal New Single - America Online - NewRetroWave - Stay Retro! | Live The 80's Dream!". NewRetroWave. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ↑ Middleton, Ryan (July 10, 2020). "The Director's Cut: The Midnight - MONSTERS - Magnetic Magazine". Magnetic Magazine. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ↑ "We are The Midnight and we're playing Electric Forest for the first time. Ask us Anything! : ElectricForest". Reddit. May 21, 2019. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ↑ Nix, Elizabeth (August 4, 2016). "The World's First Web Site - HISTORY". HISTORY. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ↑ "info.cern.ch". CERN. August 6, 1991. Archived from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
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Red, White and Bruised: The Midnight Live
| Red, White and Bruised: The Midnight Live | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live album by | ||||
| Released |
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| Recorded | 2022 | |||
| Genre |
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| Length |
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| Label | Counter Records | |||
| Producer | Royce Whittaker | |||
| The Midnight chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Red, White and Bruised: The Midnight Live | ||||
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Red, White and Bruised: The Midnight Live is the first live album by The Midnight. It was initially released on April 22, 2023, exclusively to independent record stores as part of Record Store Day 2023[1] before getting a widespread release on September 1, 2023.[2]
Background
On February 13, 2023, a short soundbite of Tyler Lyle from a live show was shared to the band's socials, with a cryptic date of February 16 given.[3] On that day, Red, White, and Bruised: The Midnight Live was officially announced with a small trailer and was slated for release on April 22, exclusively on vinyl through independent record stores as part of Record Store Day 2023.[4] The songs on the album were recorded throughout various shows during The Midnight's 2022 tours in North America and Europe.
1300 copies of Red, White, and Bruised: The Midnight Live were pressed across three different colors - red, white, and blue - with the color not being known until opening the record.[5][6] The album was promoted with a live acoustic performance by Lyle at Criminal Records in Atlanta, GA on the day of release.[7][8] It was hinted that the album would be made available again at some point in the future.[8][9]
On August 15, 2023, it was revealed that Red, White, and Bruised: The Midnight Live would have a full release on all platforms on September 1.[2] Heroes was released as a single from the album on the same day and was accompanied by a corresponding live music video. In addition to vinyl, the album was also available in cassette form for the first time. The digital and cassette versions contain eight new tracks in addition to the eight included on the original vinyl release.
Singles
Tracklist
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Neon Medusa (Live)" | 4:19 |
| 2. | "Days of Thunder (Live)" | 4:14 |
| 3. | "Lost Boy (Live)" | 4:23 |
| 4. | "Deep Blue (Live)" | 4:52 |
| 5. | "Heart Worth Breaking (Live)" | 5:12 |
| 6. | "Good in Red (Live)" | 4:55 |
| 7. | "Vampires (Live)" | 4:38 |
| 8. | "Sunset (Live)" | 6:49 |
| Total length: | 39:22 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 9. | "Heroes (Live)" | 6:11 |
| 10. | "Change Your Heart or Die (Live)" | 3:13 |
| 11. | "Brooklyn. Friday. Love. (Live)" | 4:08 |
| 12. | "Gloria (Live)" | 4:39 |
| 13. | "The Comeback Kid (Live)" | 5:38 |
| 14. | "Heartbeat (Live)" | 4:33 |
| 15. | "Shadows (Live)" | 6:37 |
| 16. | "Los Angeles (Live)" | 7:36 |
| Total length: | 81:57 | |
Release history and variants
| Date | Edition |
|---|---|
| September 1, 2023 | Expanded |
Contains an additional eight songs that were not present on the original Record Store Day release. | |
| Year | Format | Color/Design |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | LP | Red, White, or Blue |
 First vinyl variants, initially available to buy only at independent record stores starting April 22 as part of Record Store Day 2023. 1300 copies were pressed for the RSD release, with the color being either red, white, or blue. The color is not known until removing the record from the sleeve. Additional copies were available beginning in September 2023 as part of the wider release of the album. | ||
| 2023 | Cassette | Red, White, or Blue |
   First cassette variants, which released in September 2023. Like the vinyl version, the tape color is random and will be either red, white, or blue. Contains the expanded edition of the album. | ||
References
- ↑ "ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｎｉｇｈｔ on Twitter: "Announcing 'Red, White and Bruised: The Midnight Live! Available April 22nd exclusively as part of this year's @recordstoreday in the US and the UK! Our first ever live album was recorded over the course of our 2022 tours in the US, Canada and the UK." / Twitter". Twitter. February 16, 2023. Archived from the original on April 21, 2024. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｎｉｇｈｔ on Twitter: "Our live record is available to preorder today on LP and cassette, out on September 1st in case you missed out on the RSD release! "Heroes (Live)" is also out today along with a live video you can watch here: " / X". Twitter. August 15, 2023. Archived from the original on August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ↑ "ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｎｉｇｈｔ on Twitter: "Something's happening… " / Twitter". Twitter. February 13, 2023. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
- ↑ "ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｎｉｇｈｔ on Twitter: "Announcing 'Red, White and Bruised: The Midnight Live! Available April 22nd exclusively as part of this year's @recordstoreday in the US and the UK! Our first ever live album was recorded over the course of our 2022 tours in the US, Canada and the UK." / Twitter". Twitter. February 16, 2023. Archived from the original on June 27, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- ↑ "SpecialRelease | RECORD STORE DAY". Record Store Day. April 22, 2023. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- ↑ "ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｎｉｇｈｔ on Twitter: "Our live album Red, White & Bruised is out tomorrow exclusively at indie record stores for @recordstoreday. Each copy was randomly pressed on red, blue or clear vinyl w/ foil covers & gatefold packaging. We hope you love it as much as we did playing for all of you & making it. " / Twitter". Twitter. April 21, 2023. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- ↑ "ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｎｉｇｈｔ on Twitter: "Hey Atlanta! I'm (Tyler) playing a Midnight solo set at @CriminalRecords for Record Store Day! I'll bring some sharpies, you buy our new live record, we'll take selfies and wait for Ben Folds. It'll be a blast❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥" / Twitter". Twitter. April 7, 2023. Archived from the original on June 27, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｎｉｇｈｔ on Twitter: "Thank you to everyone who picked up a copy of Red, White and Bruised this weekend, and to those who came out to @criminalrecords on Saturday! The LP is sold out, but please don't buy copies from eBay or Discogs if you missed out — more will be available soon 👀💜" / Twitter". Twitter. April 24, 2023. Archived from the original on June 27, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- ↑ "Tyler Lyle on Twitter: "No one buy this on eBay (please). These copies will be available post RSD. Also, if you come to our VIP in the fall and want this record signed, Tim and I will gladly do it. We aim to make autograph abundant bc this sucks for fans & it sucks for us." / Twitter". Twitter. April 23, 2023. Archived from the original on June 27, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
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|---|---|
| EPs | |
| Studio albums | |
| Live albums | |
| Remix albums | |
| Singles |
|
| Tours | |
| Related articles | |
Click the heading above to read more!