Feed The Beat recently caught up with Spencer Bastian, guitarist for Universal Motown’s After Midnight Project. The band’s debut full length, “Let’s Build Something to Break”, was released on August 11, 2009. Enjoy the interview!
Let’s talk about the name of the band. How did you guys decide on After Midnight Project?
Jason came up with the name before the band really existed. In his home studio he had a hard drive containing all the songs he was demo-ing at the time and the drive was labeled “The After Midnight Project”. The name has a literal meaning in that Jason was mainly working in the studio pretty late into the night after getting off work. After the band formed the name just kind of stuck. And the name just happens to be a pretty catchy acronym (AMP). Haha.
John Feldmann produced the album. What was it like working with him? Were any of you fans of his band, Goldfinger?
I know Jason, Christian, and Danny were Goldfinger fans. I’ll be honest I (Spencer) was not too familiar with John’s band but I was very familiar with the bands he had produced, including The Used, Josephine Collective, and Story of the Year. Working with John was one of the best experiences we have all had as a band. We went in with a lot of faith and trust in what he was going to do with us and we couldn’t be happier. His team of engineers are super talented and the whole studio just oozes creativity and has a great vibe. John even had us track a bunch of guitars and all the piano/wurlitzer parts at The Village, a renowned studio in West LA. A lot of our favorite records were done there and it’s got a kind of old school maybe even haunting vibe at times. Overall amazing experience and I would like to work with him again in some capacity.
How does your band stay connected with all those fans in different parts of this country and others that might not get to see you that often?
We have a lot of ways we stay connected. First of all, I am on Facebook and Myspace fairly often and spend a lot of time chatting and messaging fans, answering any questions they may have and keeping them updated. The band as a whole is very active with our Twitter account and the other big social networks. We also have a phone number fans can call to leave us messages and we oftentimes call them back or leave them reply messages. We do anything we can to make sure our fans know how important and appreciated they are to us!
You guys are constantly touring, is there a city you’ve adopted as a second home?
Haha there are many places around the country where we have friends and family who take us in and make us feel at home while we’re on the road….but I’d have to say San Antonio has definitely become a second home for us. I have a bunch of family who live there and they take such good care of us while we’re there! We seem to pass through Texas fairly often and we always make it a point to stop in San Antonio for as long as we can to rest, swim, eat, and maybe drink a few Shiner Bocks.
Since you’re from LA, what would you suggest to tourists see when they visit?
I am definitely not one to hang out in Hollywood much, but I guess it’s worth passing through there to check out the theaters and general tourist sites just once. But the areas I recommend the most are places like Venice, Santa Monica, Silverlake/Echo Park, Downtown, and maybe even West Hollywood. Check out Griffith Park in Los Feliz. The observatory is really cool and there’s tons of hiking trails deep in the mountains with some killer views in including the best view of the Hollywood sign. Obivously the beach is always a fun place too, from Malibu down past Venice there’s tons of fun stuff to do. Check out Chinatown, Koreatown, and Little Tokyo for some bomb-ass food (clearly I’m way into Asian food). Daikokuya for Ramen, Shi-do Rak for Korean BBQ, and Sushi Go 55 for sushi!
Oh yeah and make sure you go to The Key Club on the Sunset Strip and catch After Midnight Project! Haha.
Who are some of your favorite new bands (of the past 2-3 years)?
Hmmm…bands formed in past 2-3 years or that I found within past 2-3 years? One of my favorite bands is The Macpodz out of Ann Arbor, MI. They have one of the most fun and danciest live shows and they’re blowing up in the “jam-band” scene. Other newer, favorite bands are The Dead Weather and Bat for Lashes (I think kind of new?)
If you play a show with any artist(s) living or dead who would it be? I would love for us to tour with Foo Fighters, My Chemical Romance, Muse, Kings of Leon, Pantera, Deftones, Sepultura, Morbid Angel, Coldplay, Led Zeppelin, etc. Personally I want to do a show with Bonobo, Amon Tobin, Plaid and other electronic/dj dudes. Maybe Bat for Lashes too? 