They come in peace and they come bearing gifts. They come with names\nsuch as Mechadan, Sasha, Dahlman and Angel. They come with an\notherworldly rock that will leave your ears floating just down of\nnovasonic hyper space. In the unexplored regions just beyond\nJupiter's rings, before you reach the moons of Neptune lies the\ncrystal kingdom of Calumet City, from which our intergalactic heroes\nhail. Catching a comet's tail and cascading on waves of distortion,\nour shoegazing celestial friends will soon be found in Bloomington.\nThey are the Midstates and they are much, much more than "Space Rock\n101."\nOk, so Calumet City is the furthest thing from a crystal kingdom and\nif you look for Illinois anywhere between Jupiter and Neptune,\nyou're likely to be committed. Yet, listening to the ethereal\nMidstates, you could conceivably be convinced of such. From the onset\nof their critically-acclaimed but sadly buried debut album, Embracing\nMagnetics, the Midstates have been genre-bending and influence-hopping\nin the best possible manner. Originally formed and still lead by Paul\nHeintz and Steve Munoz, the creative writing force behind our cosmic\ncrew, the Midstates have gone through their share of ups and downs.\nMagnetics was released on Marc Bianchi's label,\nAudioInformationPhenomena. Bianchi, stationed from San Mateo, Calif.,\nhad managed to pick up the band's westward drifting signals and\nwould become more than grateful for releasing the Midstates after the\nalbum became the highest charting college-radio record for his label.\nDrawing inspiration from and comparisons to an earlier Pink Floyd\nnicely blended with the shoegazing fuzz of Ride, Magnetics was a major\ncritical success for the band. Yet, Bianchi was becoming more focused\non his own rising orbital-rockers, Her Space Holiday, and soon closed\ndown the label, leaving our starshine superstars lost in space.\nNot to be disheartened, though, the band continued to pursue its\npassion and to stretch the boundaries of its musical spacescape.\nThrough sheer persistence fueled by a raw love to live its music, the\nband self-released its following album, Mathing Moonlight. Under the\nsheltering embrace of Chicago, our Windy-City rockers were given the\nopportunity of performing at the Empty Bottle, a low-down, Chi-town\nfriend of the underground. Opening for more recognized groups such as\nStratford 4 and Windy and Carl, audiences found themselves slipping\naway in the sounds that seemed to defy gravity. Notably drawing a\nheavier influence from such '60s Krautrock wunderkinds as Faust and\nthe minimalist distortion textures of more recent groups such as\nSpacemen 3, our Moonlight musicians soon found themselves on a new\nlabel with a sunburst future ahead of them.\nSigned to Mental Monkey Records and drawing their new name from the\nlast track of their Mathing Moonlight release, the Midstates were\nborn. Further expanding the realms of their melodic universe, our\nspace-rock junkies released its most recent and most\ncritically-acclaimed album this past January. Its jazz\nexperimentations in the world of mellow rock melting into a more\nMercury Rev/Velvet Underground vintage pop, swirling gorgeous layers\nlike the eye of a nebula, the Midstates have given us Shadowing\nGhosts. Receiving comparisons from Spiritualized to Flaming Lips, the\nMidstates are touring from NYC to Philly this summer. Along the way,\nthey've decided to stop by and give a performance at Bloomington's\nVertigo, with local band Mt. Gigantic opening. A highly anticipated\nshow by those who know and appreciate good music, don't be surprised\nif Vertigo goes vertical when the Midstates blast off.\nThe IDS Weekend recently had the opportunity of interviewing lead\nvocalist/guitarist/writer Paul Heintz regarding his experience with\nthe Midstates. The following, conducted by Jessica Halverson, is his\ndiscussion with her.
\nQ: What's the story behind the transition from Novasonic Down\nHyperspace to Midstates? Is the band pretty much the same?
A: The group is almost identical, especially in the writing\ndepartment, which is exactly the same: Steve Munoz and I. The story\ngoes like this, people would always butcher the name and we never\nliked it anyway, it was too long and silly and so we wanted to get a\nname that people might take more seriously. "Midstates of Mind"\nwas the title of the last track on Mathing Moonlight, our last album\nbefore Shadowing Ghosts. Mental Monkey Records' Aaron "Word"\nMcEvoy was at first against the idea of us changing the name, but I\nassured him that it was a good idea and finally, he agreed. Novasonic\nDown Hyperspace was the result of committee thinking and too many\ncompromises with people who are no longer involved with the group.\nPlus we were younger and out of it. We thought, "It's just a name,\nwhatever" but since we finally grew tired of it ourselves, we\ndecided we wanted a name that wouldn't shout out "space rock\n101." We wanted the reviewers to have to listen to the album instead\nof making assumptions from the name of the group. Steve Munoz actually\nsuggested Midstates as the name and it took us a few weeks to agree on\nit. It's hard naming a group, especially when you've already been\nworking under something else for six years. Now when we get reviews,\nmost do not mention the Novasonic Down Hyperspace name, which is nice,\nas we're kind of embarrassed about it. The reviews have been even\nmore supportive now as a result. Back during the Mathing Moonlight\nrelease, reviews would often say things like, "great album, horrible\nname" and spend half the review making jokes about it. Now the whole\nreview is about the pure goodness of the music we've created, and we\nthink that's a good thing.
Q. What makes your music interesting primarily are all the layers and\ndifferent sounds you include. How long does it take to piece it all\ntogether, in the studio or while the song's still in the creation\nprocess? Is there a main songwriter, or does everyone pretty much\ncollaborate?
A: Basically, this is the midstates process: \nSometimes it starts in the shower, and other times it starts in bed in\nthe middle of the night, but\ninevitably I DO end up laying in bed on top of my vintage star wars\npillow case (from 1977 I might add -- and faded from years of\nwashings to prove it) with a guitar on top of me bending out melodies.\nFirst, I write a main chord progression and vocal melody. Later on, I\nedit the vocal melody to accommodate the main focus of the song,\nusually they all end up about the emotions people feel as a result of\nthe triumph of the human spirit. Then I take either a guitar over to\nSteve's house or he comes over early before practice, it's key to\nunderstand that we only meet once a week as a group so I have to\nsqueeze in new songs with Steve when I can, usually late after\nrehearsals or before and sometimes on Sunday afternoons. \nNext, Steve will say something like, "Man, that's awesome, let's\nwork on that," or "Geez, what were you thinking that's\nterrible" -- I'm paraphrasing of course, but you get the idea.\nIncidentally, I also critique my own stuff before bringing it to the\ngroup. I'd say only one in four songs make it to someone like Sasha\nor Dahlman's ears. \nAdam Province (our bassist and super musician as he plays everything\n-- incidentally, Steve plays\neverything as well) and Steve will often help me round out some ideas\nand add a bridge or intro. That's a very exciting step for the song,\nit's brand new and we love the process of figuring it out. \nBeyond that, nothing is written out. Instead, I take the main melodies\nI have and record them to a click track. Angel, our fantastic drummer\nand personal hero, comes in and works his magic over the rough melody\nand the song begins to take shape. Next we layer in Adam's bass and\nSteve's keyboards. Finally, we add in additional guitar from Dahlman\nand more keys from Sasha. At that point, I iron out the words for the\nsong and do my best to sing them properly. Then I edit the tune for\nmaximum listening pleasure, and voila, it's done.
Q. When you wake up and write a song, what do you hope comes from it\nin the end? What are your goals for your music? Do you want it to be\nheard, to change the world, to make old people dance?
A: We're always a hit with the older crowd, and by that, I don't\nmean late 30's early 40's, nope; I mean the golden agers. Except\nmy mom, she doesn't get it. She's only 65, maybe she's too young\nto get it yet. Of course her favorite bands are the Bee Gees and the\nCharlatans UK, whatever that tells you, I don't know. But actually,\nI do recall her announcing to us, her children, that her favorite song\nwas "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" -- which is\nprobably much more telling. Still, I maintain that someday I will\nwrite a song that she'll enjoy. And I believe I've heard her\nhumming "Hurricane" from Mathing Moonlight. So perhaps her\ncritiques are simply motivation to do better. Hmm, I'll have to\nthink about that, I might be on to something there. \nAnyway, I don't hope to change the world with our music, but I know\nit changed me. I simply hope to inspire those lucky enough to have\nheard it into doing something fantastic with their day or life. Or\neven if it simply puts someone into a better mood, that would be\ngreat. \nBut if you're asking me if we're interested in commercial success,\nI will say this: I work with the\nabsolute best musical minds in the world. Steve Munoz is a genius in\nhis own right and deserves nothing but the best from life. Adam\nProvince is another musical prodigy who's work ethic and attitude\noften create the best atmosphere for making fantastic songs. Dahlman\nhas his own musical outlet called The NervOus that's just\nastounding, so we're lucky he even takes the time to play with us.\nHe adds an incredible element of raw rock power to the mix that\nresults in otherwordly melodies that will be stuck in your head\nforever. Sasha Armstrong is our newest addition, and while she's a\npart-timer, due to the fact that she has a career in education, she\nsweetens any song with her synthesizer and occasional vocal. Then\nthere's Dan Chambers who we call "mechadan -- mechanical drumming\nman" -- who played drums on Shadowing Ghosts. He was there when we\nneeded a drummer for the sessions and with the album as my proof, you\ncan hear the wonderful results. He's also in education and can't\nspend as much time with us as we'd like. However, his input during\nthe Shadowing Ghosts sessions as well as his drumming, ended up being\nan endless resource for me. He also added some synth tracks and\ntheremin to the album, illustrating again how lucky I am to be able to\nwork with such fantastic well rounded musicians. \nAbout half way through recording Shadowing Ghosts, we crossed paths\nwith Angel Ledezma, extreme drummer extraordinaire. We knew Dan's\ncareer would impede his ability to play drums with us live so we\nenlisted Angel to fulfill the duties and add energy to our live sets,\nDan still sits in on special occasions, mostly playing theremin and\natmospheres via keyboards and delays.\n Angel's ability is on par with the greats, I'm talking Keith\nMoon (The Who), John Bonham (Led\nZeppelin), Steven Drozd (The Flaming Lips), Charlie Watts (The Rolling\nStones), Jaki Leibezeit (Can) and Klaus Dinger (Neu!), rock solid\ninnovation with impeccable timing. \nI have no doubt in stating that this is the strongest group I've\never been involved with. Making music with them is a joy in itself.\nHowever, I'd love for the music to make enough money for them to all\nlive comfortably. Then the world would be a better place. I can't\nimagine how great the music would be if we could all devote ourselves\nto it. We've accomplished this much already, just imagine how much\nmore and better we would be if we could make it the main focus for all\nof us. I think the world, especially the United States, needs another\nseminal group to arrive. Hopefully, it's us. We'd love to save the\nmusic listening public from the junk on the radio, and I'm confident\nthat I have the people to do it.
Q: Where do you draw influences from? Other musicians and other things\nentirely?
A: We're sponges. We absorb everything we hear. And since there are\nso many of us, it's a lot. I like that we bring it all to the table.\nPersonally, I've always been influenced by Brit rock from the '90s\non. That country has some magical ability to churn out amazing\nsongsmiths and production. Almost everything British touched by\nproducer/engineer Alan Moulder has influenced me. But I'm also\ninfluenced by movie scores, which I think is evident in some of our\nsongs. Lately, however, I've been heavily influenced by Brian\nEno's stuff, especially his APOLLO: Atmospheres and Soundtracks, a\ngreat, great record. Steve is heavy on the Jazz and Blues, as well as\nthe people like Johnny Cash and bands like Yaz. Remember Yaz?\nThey're fantastic. I also draw a lot from Rachmaninoff's work. I\nlove the romantic composers, but I have to be honest that he's the\nonly one I could pick out of a crowd.
Q: What are your two favorite albums of the past year so far and why? \nA: That's always a tough one, well, obviously the Flaming Lips'\nYoshimi record is just unbelievably good. I don't care what anyone\nelse says, it's much better than the Soft Bulletin. I'm only upset\nthat they made Yoshimi before I could. Second would be New Order's\nGet Ready. It's an amazing record that I've been listening to for\nover a year. You know we played a show near Northwestern University at\na club called Nevin's last Halloween as New Order. We never cover\nsongs, but since it was a special occasion we brought out the extra\nsynthesizers and danced the night away, well the crowd did anyway. It\nwas so much fun and confirmed my love for New Order. "Here comes\nlove, it's like honey, you can't buy it with money," from "Get\nReady," that line is as good as anything they've ever done. I wish\nI could write lines like that.
Q: Why do you write about ghosts so often?\nA: I guess I never realized I wrote that many songs about ghosts. I\nactually don't believe in ghosts or anything like that, I think I\nmeant "Be a Ghost" to be more about the triumph of a man coming to\nterms with his feelings for something just out of his reach. Maybe\nit's about his decision to be ok with how things end up, which I can\ntell you from personal experience, is never an easy thing. Sometimes I\nchoose words for how they sound over meaning, and actually I think\nthat's something that New Order's Bernard Sumner does as well. I\ncould be wrong though, I can only speak for me. The title of the album\nis completely open to interpretation, but if I were to venture a\nguess, it's kind of a downer title. I say that because ghosts are\nalready hard to see, and by that I mean the things that are ghosts to\nus, like a meaningful relationship or finding a job we really like or\nbeing able to drink a significant amount of scotch while balancing the\nperfect buzz and not drooling all over ourselves. So if we're\nshadowing ghosts, we're just piling on stuff, digging a bigger hole,\nmaking it difficult to see the problems that are already kind of\ntransparent. Does that make any sense? At the end of the album, we put\n"Coma Turtle" which to us is like the ray of hope for better\nthings to come. I have no idea if it actually resolves anything, but I\nhope it does.
Q: What I liked the best about meeting you all was how approachable\nand friendly you are, and how you pass out your own flyers and buttons\nand didn't bring some lackey along with you. Does your band\ngenerally take a do it yourself type of approach to that sort of\nthing, and do you think it would pay off to start acting like\nrockstars?\nA: Not at all, we're totally genuine in almost every way. We never\nplan what we're going to wear. We just dress the same way we dress\nall the time. I can admire some groups that have stage attire, because\nit works for them, but we're from a south suburb of Chicago called\nCalumet City and it's quite the blue collar town. I often say to\nAngel that we're the Bruce Springsteen of space pop, and he always\nlaughs. Anyway we would feel silly and it would hurt the performance,\nand since we only rehearse once a week, we don't need anything else\naffecting the performance. Thank you, we always try our best to be\njust like everyone else, because we are. We take out the trash, do the\ndishes, do laundry and plug in our own amplifiers; we just happen to\nmake melodic songs at the same time. Don't get me wrong, it would be\nnice to have someone around help out with stuff, as you've seen,\nwe've got tons of equipment and as a result, I often forget to pack\ncds to sell or buttons to give out. So in that way, it would be nice\nto have someone around to help us out. It's easier in Chicago too,\nmore people we know are there and they help us push cds on people and\nall that. Personally, I enjoy meeting people at our shows, they tend\nto say nice things about us which is always great to hear, but\nsometimes they don't like us and that's ok too. The funny thing is\nthat regardless of whether they liked you or not, if you have the guts\nto go up and talk to them, chances are they'll buy you a drink.\nMidstates likes free drinks. I'm locked into being an anti-rock\nstar, I've got nothing to hide, I write these songs and play them\nfor whoever will listen. The proof is in the music. And at the end of\nthe day, the music is what keeps us driving all over the states for\nlittle or no pay, keeps us up till 6 a.m. getting the mix just right\nand makes us feel like we're contributing good music to the world.\nWe always joke around that we're going to be the Can of the digits\n(2000-2010). Maybe in like 2030 people will find Shadowing Ghosts in a\ndusty bin at some tiny mom and pop record store and start a\nresurgence. Meanwhile, we'll be on album 20 by then, I hope.
Q: Why did you start playing music? What is the best part about it?\nA: I have a very lame reason for playing music: I was bored. I have a\nshort attention span for things and there weren't enough cool video\ngames coming out fast enough for the Nintendo entertainment system so\nI hooked up with some friends who had a band and needed a singer. It\nwas a horrible, horrible band and I hope we never get huge because if\nit were ever on "Behind the Music," I would die from\nembarrassment. Seriously though, my real reason is even lamer. I like\nbeing creative and it's an excellent vehicle for my creativity. It\nkeeps my mind busy and that's a good thing because my mind will\nbother me about all sorts of things that I don't want to think about\nif it isn't thinking about music. It is an escape; there are moments\nin our songs that I want to live in. Moments live that I wish could\nlast forever. Knowing that we're just getting started is the best\npart. That it can only get better as we get better and make more\nrecords.
