Go “Behind the Boards” With Captain Midnite (Exclusive Interview)

(Editor's Note: This is the latest in our ongoing "Behind the Boards" interview series, which takes a behind the scenes look at the music you love.)

Captain Midnite is a producer/recording artist from Seattle,WA. He is 1/3 of the hip hop group The Let Go, as well as being a solo artist, whose work with Kyle Lucas caught my attention last year. I've been in contact with dude ever since and I'm always surprised by the cleverness of his work. If you aren't familiar, its time to get to know Captain Midnite.

John Stewart: For those who aren't familiar, could you introduce yourself?

Captain Midnite: I’m Captain Midnite. Producer, beat-maker and singer based out of Seattle, WA. I make Hip-Hop/Pop beats and also do solo work as a Post-Hardcore/Alternative artist where I sing over my beats. I don’t like to limit myself.

JS: How long have you been producing? And what was it that made you want to get into the game?

CM: I’ve been producing since I was about 16, which means about 6 years. I started working with a bunch of friends and making beats for them, but then I met Grieves when I was 18 via MySpace who was very serious about his music, and he basically taught me how to get started with everything and start taking it all serious.

JS: Being from the NW US, do you feel you are at an advantage/disadvantage when it comes to exposure?

CM: Disadvantage for sure, but I love it out here. If I lived in Cali I would fit in a lot more as far as the music scene and would have better opportunities for exposure but I love it in Seattle. Cali might be in my future though, San Diego is my second favorite place in the country!

JS: Last year you released an EP with Kyle Lucas ("I Brought Dead Flowers to a FUNeral"). Has your situation changed at all since then? What benefits have come from such a joint effort with an emcee?

CM: A lot of things have changed since we released that EP. Kyle is a very supported and established musician, which has done nothing but help me. Through that project I also discovered a kind of Hip-Hop I never knew I loved to make. Kyle is a really fun person to work with professionally and is also a great friend of mine, we are already working on a sequel EP to …"Dead Flowers", which we will be recording most likely in December.

JS: What are some commonalities in production that you try to stray away from? What are some mistakes you see other up and coming producers making?

CM: I am pretty unorthodox when it comes to everything production wise. I’ve just always done what feels right as far as the process I use to make my beats all the way down to the actual sound I am going for. I’ve never tried to sound different than anyone, but it just turns out that most of the stuff I make is pretty strange! Haha. And I have tons of fun doing what I do.



JS: How would would say the internet has changed the production game? Thoughts on Soundclick?

CM: The internet has allowed me personally to truly shop myself as a producer all over the country. Soundclick is kind of a cheap website in my opinion but it gets the job done. That’s where I post my beats for sale and people contact me if they are interested usually on my myspace. My Soundclick is soundclick.com/captainmidnite if anyone wants to see how I have it set up.

JS: Who would you say has inspired you the most when it comes to your production style?

CM: Various bands such as Pierce The Veil, The Mars Volta, Chiodos, Sade, Portugal. The Man, etc. have inspired me the most I would say when it comes to composition and what not. When it comes to actual beats I would say Danger Mouse, Grieves, Pendulum, Ratatat, and Black Milk are the kind of beat-makers that really inspire me.

JS: Sampling or all original sounds? Why?

CM: I do a lot of sampling for my hip hop stuff and absolutely no sampling for my solo work. Hip-Hop and samples get along great, the vibe just works. I’ve never been one to just loop a sample though, I love to just make it a completely different thing than what it originally was. Then I usually add more instrumentation of my own over the sample to give it a full vibe. For my solo work on my recent EP "Purple Heart Vendetta", I was going for one particular emotion and passion with each song and so I felt I should write absolutely everything, which I did via guitar, bass, piano, and keyboard.

JS: If you can, take us through your creative process.

CM: I can really only speak for my solo EP I just wrote because that has been my mind state for the last 6 months. I basically just sat down, wrote a bunch of guitar parts, recorded them, added tons of synths and drums in the beat, wrote lyrics and melodies, then went into the studio with Casey Bates and recorded it all. Simple as that, kind of.

JS: What platform do you use the most when working on your music (i.e. Pro Tools, Logic, live instruments, Reason, etc)?

CM: Fruity Loops, Audition, and Protools.

JS: What was the biggest obstacle you faced when trying to get into the game?

CM: Being a non-purist Hip-Hop producer has always been challenging but I feel that now I am doing my solo work which is a melding of a bunch of different genres, the focus won’t just be on being a Hip-Hop producer. I really like making the music I made with Kyle Lucas and I also really enjoy making Pop music like I did with the beats I made for T. Mills.

JS: Solo album just came out, correct? Details on that? Any other upcoming work we should be looking out for?

CM: Yes my solo EP "Purple Heart Vendetta" came out August 16th, 2010. It is produced by Casey Bates who is a rock producer that I really admire. I wrote all of the music and sang every word on it that you hear so I am pretty proud of it. I’ve never had so much fun working on a record, and I now know that this solo music is going to be the music that I primarily make.

JS: Did I miss anything? Where can people reach out to you and connect with you and your music?

CM: Check me out/hit me up on Myspace, Twitter and Facebook. Look for my solo EP "Purple Heart Vendetta" on iTunes and Amazon.com now! And check out my EP with Kyle Lucas "I Brought Dead Flowers to a FUNeral" on iTunes and Amazon.com (as well).

Myspace.com/captainmidnitemusic
Facebook.com/captainmidnitemusic
Twitter.com/capnmidnite