Musicpix.net

Midnight to Twelve is a rock and roll band out of LA. Their new self titled CD was released in July of 2008. John Hartman, the band's lead singer recently spent some phone time with Musicpix. The talented unpretentious vocalist for a talented unprentious band. A refreshing change from those out their that are more style than substance. Midnight to Twelve is not looking to capitalize on the latest "teen rage". They are out to make music from their hearts. They are out to "make friends not fans".

We caught them live at the Warped Tour in St. Louis, MO. You may have heard the first single "Slam" on the television show " One Tree Hill". Check out their lastest release, and check out our coversation...

Musicpix:  Congratulations on your recently released album. You’ve come a long way since 2000 when the band began…how’s the journey been?

John:  The journey has been perfectly flawed.  I think that everything that’s happened in the past eight years has made us and brought us to where we are today, which is nowhere near the top but nowhere near the bottom.  We’re in the middle ground where a lot of bands can either crumble or rise above the pressure and I believe that we’re going to rise above.  We have a great team in place and we’re really excited about what’s going on with the band.

Musicpix:  Having come from selling your own CD’s from your van (over 13,000 copies), how does it feel to now have a label behind you?

John:  It feels great…it’s definitely encouraging to know that it’s not just the five of us-city to city and state to state.  We know that that all the pieces have come together more efficiently and more accurately vs. us trying to be everything and everywhere at once.  It’s definitely good to have label support and management so that everyone can believe in the project.  It’s really good to have people involved who believe as much as we do.  We’ve all been out here on the road for the last four years so to have the right people finally step up and believe and be excited, it’s more encouraging for us.

Midnight To Twelve Live Photos

Musicpix:  I caught you live at the Warped Tour in St. Louis.  You have a very natural, laid back approachable air about you.  It was a pleasure to watch you connect with the fans even before you started your shows.

John: I really try to keep things honest.  We’re just normal guys who are given the chance and the opportunity to play things like the Warped Tour and play with Shinedown, with Buckcherry and all that.  I try to have a conversation with as many people as I can to engage each individual.  Obviously, in a group, I want everybody to feel comfortable.  I want everybody to know that there isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t appreciate what we have.  I appreciate you noticing that.  It means something to me.  It’s taken a lot of work getting past being nervous or getting past the mystical lead-singer... I‘m just a normal guy who loves to sing and who loves music.

Musicpix: I know you came from Iowa and if I’m not mistaken, you put the band together in Whittier, CA. …both locales are pretty unpretentious high work ethic areas.  Do you think that has greatly influenced your approach?

John:  Yes 100%.  A perfect example of that is Band Tango Island down at San Padre Island a couple of weeks ago.  We drove through the night from Dallas, Texas down to San Padre Island.  We get there and it turns out that the show was going to be cancelled due to rain.  We were pretty bummed out but another band actually offered up their PA and allowed us to play.  It was us and Alien Ant Farm and a couple of other local bands.  “Can you guys help us?  Can you guys be there?”  We said sure... we’re super involved.  We’re hanging lights and chords, running sound doing staging…I almost killed myself because it was wet and I touched this big can of stage lights.  I got shocked and it almost sent me off the ladder but we get in there.  We get in there and do what needs to be done.  We’re all blue-collar guys.  We didn’t come from money or a rich family.  We’re willing to get down in the trenches and we get dig ditches with everybody else.

Musicpix:  You’ve opened for some great artists….Joan Jett, Saliva, Evanescence and Buckcherry to name a few.  Have any artists taken you under their wing so to speak and given you pointers?

John:  Yeah…every opportunity that we’ve gotten (Shinedown, Lynyrd Skynyrd)…just watching them and seeing their longevity…it’s not the norm because there’s a flavor of the month going on out there.  Just watching them and learning from and talking to them, they are doing something right.  You’ve got to pay attention to that and respect that.

Musicpix:  Your latest album was produced by a very accomplished producer, Sylvia Massy Shivy (Tool, Deftones, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash), what if any learning experiences happened during the process?

John:  There were plenty of ‘em.  Respect the music.  Let the music go.  Let the song go where it needs to go or don’t hold the song back.  One of our personal things is that we don’t do anything in the studio that we can’t replicate live.  We don’t use any tracks.  We don’t use samplers.  That’s another big thing that we learned.  Back in the day with Journey or bands like that….they didn’t have ProTools.  They sang what they sang, what you heard is what they were doing.  Sylvia is very organic in her approach to capturing the sound of the band and that’s what were’ about.

Musicpix: Your first single “Slam” made the TV show “One Street Hill.”  How has that affected your career and name recognition?

John:  That song is very special.  When it was on, we all had regular jobs and I remember getting emails and instant messages from fans of the show.  Since they learned about the band through the show, they’d tell me about their venues in their city so we could play their town.  So there I was, sitting in my office and 8-5 job and I’m thinking, ‘I’d be happy with a bar or a club or something.’  That really inspired us to pull the trigger.  We have small pockets of fans all over the country now so let’s go see them.  That’s when we sold houses and cars and haven’t looked back since.  That song was a pivotal point with us being where we are right now.

Musicpix:  You played a few dates on this year’s Warped Tour.  How was that experience for you…did you find it difficult vying for an audience?

John: It was definably a new experience but 99% of the people at the Warped Tour were there to hear music.  We looked forward to getting out there and talking with the fans and sharing who were are and what we do.  We were odd man out given the style of music and what we do but people can relate to a smile and a hand shake and thanks for visiting our booth.  “Here’s a sticker, here’s a download card…if you’ve got time, stop by our show, come on over and give us a chance.” That got us super far and that’s how we look at it.  It’s easy to get lost in that whole tour but we just reached out.  We’re all about making friends not necessarily fans.

Musicpix: Your live show is very energetic.  Your bass player, Al Baca stands out as the visual focal point much of the time.  You all see to truly love what you do.

John:  100%.  People have to believe.  We have to believe and so do they.  Each one of us brings our own style to the show.  We pride ourselves in our live show.  We ask people to simply come to our live show and make the call afterwards and then we’ll go from there.

Midnight To Twelve Live Photos

Musicpix:  One of the bands goals was to make an honest album.  What does making an honest album mean to you?

John: You're writing songs that come out of you because of experience…not just because we have eight soft songs and we need four soft songs…we really just write out of experience.  The songs are more birthed than written when the time is right.  You can’t keep it in.  Lyrically, I write from experience vs. thinking about how  someone else might feel.  That’s my definition.  Not trying to write the next this or that…people love who just listen to the songs and I know exactly where they are coming from…

Musicpix:  Your band bios open with the quote:  “Luck is what happens when preparation meeting opportunity.”  Do you think that opportunity has presented itself to you yet?

John:  I believe that we are at the point where the balloon is blown up as full as it possibly can get…the rubber band is as far as it can go and we are on the cusp of the opportunity that we’ve worked so hard to get to.  It’s not just because of us.  It’s because of the team we have around us and most importantly, it’s because our beyond local fans.  The balloon is ready to explode  The rubber band is ready to fly across the room and we’re all at that tension point where we’re so excited to see what’s going to happen.  All of us believe so strongly what we’re doing and we’re very close to critical mass where everything is about to happen.

Tour Dates

By:

Steve Mitchell