MJ for IM//UR: "we tried to take a shot in the back of this moving vehical but it was looking a bit depressing so we felt we had to beach it up a bit. "
Bands must always evolve. The Midnight Juggernauts that toured Dystopia are not the same ones that made that Dragonette remix, nor are they the same ones that are about to release new album Crystal Axis. And that's one of the reasons they're one of the few bands born during the Hype Machine era that is still relevant even after taking three years between albums.
Other reasons can be the fact that the band has a strong visual identity, which they've developed further with video collective Krozm. For example, the cover of Crystal Axis, which shows the band jamming around a sculpture, was the initial starting point for the idea for the 'Vital Signs' video - the one with all those dizzily, technologically deformed bodies. And on stage, the trio of nice, hairy Aussies become giants, dominating the crowd simply through their music, which is made with as many synths and drum parts (live kits and electronic ones) as a band of their size can carry around the world...which, nowadays, is as impressive as light shows and huge screens at the back of the stage.
And finally, the most important thing for any artist: they make really good music. Midnight Juggernauts are described and categorised into different genres all the time, from stadium rock to krautock, new french wave to maximal and electro rock. They're always impressing blogs, their fans, critics, others bands and weird combinations of all the above, simply on account of the quality of their music. And from what I saw (yes, Brazil was included this time on their world tour), heard and read (including bits of this interview), people will have to create new genres to describe Crystal Axis, because their music is getting weirder and more complex, but aiming - as odd as it may sound - to make pop music.
At first, songs like 'Vital Signs' and 'This New Technology' might not seem like the best way to express this pop side, as they are developed under layers and layers of synths, bass and furious drums, but look behind that and you'll notice the vocals are given more space to be, and as a result, are better executed.
This evolution, this development, is strictly connected to the time the band took to make of the new album. Although crucial, time is probably the most overlooked factor for musicians and their music. But as a band who doesn't suffer from a label's pressure - in case you don't know, they are their own label - Midnight Juggernauts gave themselves enough time to experiment, explore and reconstruct until they felt, three years after releasing Dystopia, that the second album was ready.
We talked to Vincent Vendetta about Crystal Axis, Justice, Beyoncé's sister Solange, new bands and B grade horror films as inspiration. We even got a sunny bit of artwork as a gift! Now it's the time to see if a band that are doing things their own way can fly over the dust the hype has stirred up and left behind to make a solid second album. We think we know the answer - it seems like Midnight Juggernauts do too.
