Midnight Syndicate
| Midnight Syndicate | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Chardon , Ohio , United States |
| Genre (s) | Ambient , dark wave |
| founding | 1997 |
| Website | www.midnightsyndicate.com |
| Founding members | |
| Edward Douglas | |
| Gavin Goszka | |
| Current occupation | |
| Edward Douglas | |
| Gavin Goszka | |
| former members | |
| Scott Angus (1997) | |
| Mark Rakocy (1997) | |
| Dennis Carleton (1997) | |
| Jamie Barbour (1997) | |
| Ray Portler (1997) | |
| Christopher Robichaud (1997) | |
| Joseph Vargo (1998-2000) | |
Midnight Syndicate is an American music group that has been mainly active in Gothic music since 1997 . The combo is from Chardon , Ohio , a suburb of Cleveland . The band describes their CDs as "soundtracks for the imagination" or "soundtracks for imaginary films". Most of the songs on the thirteen albums are characterized by a mixture of instrumental music and sound effects that are intended to create a suitable atmosphere for Halloween events, horror attractions and the role-playing industry.
history
Origin and the early years (1996-1998)
Composer / filmmaker Edward Douglas founded the Midnight Syndicate in 1996 shortly after he released a low-budget / micro-budget horror film called "The Dead Matter" (1996) direct on video , which he directed and wrote the music wrote, and of which he produced a remake years later. The following year the self-titled debut album was released. Most of the music on this album was written, arranged and recorded by Edward Douglas. In addition, Scott Angus, Mark Rakocy, Dennis Carleton, Jamie Barbour, Ray Portler, the rap act Dark Side and Christopher Robichaud contributed to the work. Douglas coined the term "cine-fusion" to describe the album. "Cine-fusion" is described in the notes on the album as follows:
A mix of film soundtrack and pop music ... a compilation of soundtracks for films that don't exist like that. The aim of this music is to stimulate the audience's imagination in a way that they are able to transport themselves into worlds or films of their own imagination. "
Musically, the album contains an eclectic mix of different styles, ranging from dark instrumental music (three of the tracks appear on later releases by the band) to rock , rockabilly , techno , hip-hop , new age , humor pop , jazz and space extend. Cinematic sound effects were also used in some tracks. In March 1998, a multimedia show was produced by Douglas and his company Entity Productions to support the album. The show included a mix of original short films, live music, animation and stage performance.
Breakthrough (1998-2000)
In 1998, Douglas teamed up with Gothic Fantasy artist Joseph Vargo, and the two decided to produce a thematically dark instrumental Midnight Syndicate album. For this purpose, Vargo developed the storyline and the concept of a musical journey through a haunted castle, where the music should reflect his Gothic artwork.
Composer Gavon Goszka, who was previously a solo artist on the so-called "Project Lore", also joined Douglas and Vargo in the new Midnight Syndicate line-up. Together they created Born of the Night , a groundbreaking and groundbreaking album designed to appeal to fans of Gothic music, the horror genre and haunted attractions. Douglas and Goszka composed, arranged and produced the music for the album, while Vargo served as executive producer and also wrote various short stories. He was also responsible for the cover design and packaging. Born of the Night was released as an independent production through Vargos Monolith Graphics and Douglas Entity Productions in September 1998, reaching the market just in time for the upcoming Halloween season. It became the band's first gothic horror soundtrack, which received both critical acclaim and direct commercial success, establishing the sound of the Midnight Syndicate as a trademark.
In March 2000 Realm of Shadows followed with the same flair of dark instrumental music in connection with a different Gothic setting. Once again, Douglas and Goszka composed, played and produced all of the music on the album, while Vargo was responsible for the opening narrative. The songs were titled after Vargo's artwork. Both albums became the official soundtracks for Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights and were also used in several other major Halloween theme parks such as Busch Gardens, Cedar Point and the Thorpe Park Fright Nights event. Heavy metal band King Diamond also used parts of “Born of the Night” as the opening music for their 2000 US tour. After that, Vargo and the Midnight Syndicate parted ways to work separately on future projects.
Promotion (2001-2006)
The Midnight Syndicate's third gothic horror soundtrack, Gates of Delirium , was released in 2001. This time Douglas and Goszka brought two members into the team, Mark Rakocy (graphic design) and Christopher Robichaud (vocals), who had already worked on the first Midnight Syndicate CD. The Gates of Delirium story took place in a haunted Victorian mental asylum called Haverghast Asylum, making it the band's first disc to feature the fictional Haverghast family. This theme was also taken up again in later works such as The 13th Hour . Since then, Gavin Goszka has referred to Gates of Delirium as a personal favorite in the Midnight Syndicate library.
During the Halloween weekend in 2001, the band's six MP3 singles were in the top 20 of mp3.com (No. 1, No. 2, No. 7, No. 10, No. 12 and No. 19) and listed well over 100,000 clicks within three days. The title song from Born of the Night stayed at number 1 for over a week, while two other tracks from Gates of Delirium held their position in the top 40.
In August 2002 the band released their fifth studio album, Vampyre . The vampire-themed album was the Midnight Syndicate's first CD, the cover of which was drawn by fantasy artist Keith Parkinson.
By this time, the band's popularity among roleplayers who used their albums as background music while playing had grown to the point that the band regularly exhibited at game conventions. At one of these conventions, designers from Wizards of the Coast approached the band. The result of these conversations was the 2003 album Dungeons & Dragons: Official Role-playing Soundtrack, the first officially licensed soundtrack for the classic role-playing game of the same name. The album (the fantasy theme of which was a departure from previous releases) was broadly well received by music critics and the (role) play community and helped the band grow their fan base in Europe. Some of the tracks from this album were later used in the computer games Baldur's Gate - Dark Alliance II and the Shadowbane expansions Rise of Chaos and Throne of Oblivion.
In August 2005, the band returned to their origins, the dark musical themes, with their seventh CD, The 13th Hour . The album featured vocal effects by Lily Lane, front woman of the horror rock band Lazy Lane, and cover art by Keith Parkinson. Thematically, the CD played in an old haunted Victorian mansion and included songs such as Fallen Grandeur, Grisly Reminder, and Family Secrets.
Out of the Darkness (Retrospective: 1994-1999) was released in 2006 and contained re-recorded versions of various tracks from the albums Midnight Syndicate, Born of the Night, and Realm of Shadows. In addition, several of Edward Douglas' early horror film tracks, including The Dead Matter (1995), were also on this CD. Fantasy artist Rob Alexander designed the cover for this disc. The track Into the Abyss was used for the outtro of the Misfits live album DEA.D ALIVE! used.
The Rage and The Dead Matter (2007-2010)
In early 2007 the band temporarily moved away from creating “soundtracks for imaginary films” and composing music for real projects. She completed the film music for Robert Kurtzman's The Rage and wrote the music for Universal Orlando for Halloween Horror Nights 17's Carnival of Carnage. The Rage: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released in February 2008.
In September 2007 Douglas returned to film as director, co-producer and composer and produced the remake of his horror film The Dead Matter from 1995. During this time Gavin Goszka devoted himself to a solo project called Parlormuse, in which songs from the Victorian era in a modern Folk-rock style were re-recorded.
Then in August 2008 the band released The Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates , an album inspired by the music of the new Dead Matter movie. In addition, the first two music videos of the Midnight Syndicate were created for the songs Dark Legacy and Lost . At the end of the video for Dark Legacy , Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka can be seen performing on the stage of the Historic Phantasy Theater in Cleveland, Ohio - the first time they played live together in the band's history.
On July 30, 2010, The Dead Matter movie was released on DVD. At the same time, the Midnight Syndicate published a "Greatest Hits" compilation with Halloween Music Collection and an EP entitled The Dark Masquerade in which Gothic artist Destini Beard contributed operatic chants and lyrics to various Midnight Syndicate recordings. The Dead Matter: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was also released on July 30th. The CD contained both Edward Douglas' score, as well as other music that was heard in the film. In addition, other artists contributed remixes of various Midnight Syndicate songs to the soundtrack.
Recent projects (2011 to today)
With Carnival Arcane , the band released their fourteenth studio album in August 2011. Thematically, this album revolves around a fictional traveling circus from the turn of the century (meaning the end of the 19th century) called Lancaster Rigby Carnival. The CD was inspired by research into the fairs of the time and Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. In 2012 the album won the Best CD category at the 2012 Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.
In August 2012, Destini Beard released the follow-up to their 2010 EP The Dark Masquerade . The CD again contained original songs and lyrics by Destini Beard, which had been combined with previously recorded Midnight Syndicate tracks. In addition, there was a remix by Pat Berdysz, member of the electro-industrial band Encoder and a song composed and sung by Destini himself called My Last Goodbye on the album. The CD is set in a cursed Victorian hotel and features cover artwork by Destini's father, fantasy artist Ed Beard, Jr. In February 2013, Into the Abyss was taken from the album Out of the Darkness as the outro for the Misfits live album DEA. D ALIVE! used.
In 2013, the band contributed the score to the horror creature feature, Ax Giant: The Revenge of Paul Bunyan. The film is a contemporary take on the legend of Paul Bunyan and premiered on Syfy Channel in June 2013. In July of the same year, the band released a new studio album called Monsters of Legend. The cover of the album showed pictures of Frankenstein's bride and The Werewolf of London and was inspired by the classic Universal Monsters, Hammer Films, Amicus Productions, and Euro Horror films of the 1960s and 70s, as well as by composers such as James Bernard and Bernard Herrmann , and Max Steiner. The album won the “Best CD” category at the 2014 Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.
In 2014 the band announced a series of live multimedia concerts entitled Midnight Syndicate Live! Legacy of Shadows at Cedar Point Amusement Park's HalloWeekends . She also announced that she would team up for these shows with special effects artist Robert Kurtzman , who had previously worked on The Dead Matter, as well as with director Gary Jones and face-off candidates Beki Ingram and David Greathouse.
Musical craft
Influences
Douglas cited the film composers Danny Elfman , James Horner , John Carpenter , Hans Zimmer , the heavy metal bands King Diamond and Black Sabbath , radio plays and horror film soundtracks as the main musical influences of the Midnight Syndicate. He also named Hammer Film Productions, the artworks by Joseph Vargo , Alchemy Gothic and Keith Parkinson , the books by Stephen King , the comics Tales From the Crypt and (fantasy) role-playing games as sources of inspiration. He also mentioned that Joseph Vargo's contributions to the Born of the Night CD were essential. In 2010, Goszka named similar musical influences (Elfman, Carpenter, King Diamond and Sabbath) as well as the band Dead Can Dance .
legacy
Influence on the Halloween music and scary attractions industry
The group's music is often used to create the atmosphere at events with a Halloween theme, but also in shops and at corresponding parties (including those at Hugh Hefner's), as well as for local “trick or treating”. Heather Adler credits the band for having been instrumental in legitimizing the genre of Halloween music (music for the Halloween season) and not only setting standards, but also inspiring other musicians to do similar projects create. On September 11, 2009, AOL Radio released a top 10 list of the best Halloween music CDs, based on AOL / CBS radio listeners. Three of the ten CDs were albums by the Midnight Syndicate (8th place Born of the Night, 4th place Realm of Shadows, and 3rd place Vampyre), which were placed directly behind Danny Elfman's The Nightmare Before Christmas and John Carpenter's Halloween soundtracks.
The Midnight Syndicate was the first to produce high quality soundtracks for this particular industry. In 2005, Leonard Pickel, editor of Haunted Attraction Magazine, estimated that “75-90% of the attractions in the industry have at least one Midnight Syndicate CD.” The music is also used by various amusement parks such as Universal Orlando , Busch Gardens , Kings Island , Six Flags and Cedar Point , which host various Halloween events (Halloween Horror Nights, Howl-O-Scream, and Fright Fest).
Influence on the role-playing industry
The Midnight Syndicate has a significant following in the (fantasy) role-playing game community. Their Dungeons & Dragons CD broke all previous gaming soundtrack sales records within the first month of its release. The 13th Hour CD not only won the Origins Award for “Best Gaming Accessory” from the “Academy of Adventure Game Art & Design”, it was also the first RPG soundtrack and music CD to ever win this award Has. In 2007, the Midnight Syndicate partnered with Goodman Games to produce Cages of Delirium, an adventure in the Dungeon Crawl Classics series based on Gates of Delirium that was sold as a bundle with CD.
distribution
When record companies and distributors rejected the band's first two CDs, Douglas began to build his own distribution network and, together with Goszka, sold the CDs straight out of his van and visited hundreds of shops and department stores personally to get his CDs . Nowadays, the Midnight Syndicate CDs are distributed to thousands of retailers around the world by Entity Productions and their partners, making the company one of the largest distributors of Halloween music. In addition to Dee Snider's Halloween music performance called Van Helsing's Curse, Entity Productions also distributed the remake of the 2010 film The Dead Matter.
Discography
Studio albums
- 1997: Midnight Syndicate
- 1998: Born of the Night
- 2000: Realm of Shadows
- 2001: Gates of Delirium
- 2002: Vampyre
- 2003: Dungeons & Dragons
- 2005: The 13th Hour
- 2008: The Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates
- 2011: Carnival Arcane
- 2013: Monsters of Legend
Soundtrack albums
- 2008: The Rage: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
- 2010: The Dead Matter: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
- 2013: Ax Giant: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Compilations
- 2006: Out of the Darkness (Retrospective: 1994–1999)
- 2010: Halloween Music Collection
Community works
- 2010: The Dark Masquerade with Destini Beard
- 2012: A Time Forgotten with Destini Beard
Movie
- 2010: The Dead Matter
In today's popular culture
The Midnight Syndicate credentials include the soundtracks to the films The Rage, The Dead Matter and Ax Giant. In addition, her music has been featured on TV shows such as Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People of 2002, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Today Show, Monday Night Football, NBA on TNT, Syfy's The Possessed, and Halloween programs on the Travel Channel for Midnight Syndicate and most recently played on the reality show Making Monsters. The music has also been used in various independent horror films such as Dead & Rotting, Revamped, Witchouse 3: Demon Fire and Song of the Vampire (AKA Vampire Resurrection). The music was also used in the now discontinued audio drama The Byron Chronicles.
Web links
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- ↑ Interview with Edward Douglas , FEARnet , October 2008.
- ↑ Michael Gingold, "The Dead Matter: From Midnight music to a movie," Fangoria Magazine (New York, NY), August 2010, Pg.6.
- ↑ US Copyright office Midnight Syndicate album © date September 17, 1997
- ^ Charles Cassady, "On Fright Night and Beyond the Spookiest Sounds," West Life , Oct. 25, 2006, Pg.11B.
- ↑ Radio Interview with Joseph Vargo, Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka ( Memento of the original from February 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. WERE 1300 Station, (Cleveland, OH.) October 1998.
- ↑ a b Interview with Edward Douglas ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Paragon Magazine , October 2003.
- ↑ a b c d Cover story on Midnight Syndicate ( Memento of the original from February 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Leonard Pickel, "Midnight Syndicate: Setting the Mood for an Industry," Haunted Attraction Magazine (Charlotte, NC), June 2006, pp. 24-28, 38-41
- ^ John Soeder, "Gothic Horror Rock Featured This Weekend," The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), March 2, 2000.
- ↑ Jeff Niesel, "Soundbites", Scene Magazine ( memento of the original from January 17, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Cleveland, OH) October 14, 1999.
- ↑ Interview with Midnight Syndicate Peter Iorillo, "Something Wicked This Way Comes," Dark Realms Magazine (Cleveland, OH.), Issue 1, January 2001, pp. 20-23.
- ↑ Midnight Syndicate News ( Memento from March 25, 2002 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Welcome . Utter trash. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
- ^ Bernard Van Isacker, "Midnight Syndicate: Success Comes From Within Yourself," Side-Line , Brussels, Belgium, July 2005.
- ↑ Midnight Syndicate Blog January 15, 2013
- ↑ Midnight Syndicate News Archives ( memento of the original from July 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. July 30, 2007
- ↑ The Dead Matter. International Movie Database, accessed August 4, 2014 .
- ^ A b Carl E. Feather, “Syndicate Ready for Halloween,” Star Beacon (Ashtabula, OH), October 8, 2008, Sec. B, Pg. B1.
- ↑ Midnight Syndicate Video Shoot Update Gregory Burkhart, FEARnet News, March 12, 2010
- ↑ Midnight Syndicate Spec-Ed DVD Gregory Burkhart, FEARnet News, May 27, 2010
- ↑ FEARnet "Carnival Arcane" Gregory Burkart, August 15, 2011
- ↑ 2012 Rondo Award Winners David Colton, April 3, 2012
- ↑ Drive-In of the Dead Interview with Destini Beard Mark Zahn, June 20, 2012
- ↑ Midnight Syndicate Blog - January 2013 January 15, 2013
- ↑ DEA.D Alive on Discogs
- ↑ The Wrath of Paul Bunyan Clips Start Swinging Steve Barton, June 13, 2013
- ↑ Aaron Von Lupton, “Listen To My Nightmare,” Rue Morgue (magazine) (Toronto, ON), August 2013, p. 61.
- ↑ 2014 Rondo Award Winners David Colton, May 13, 2014
- ↑ Midnight Syndicate Announces Live Halloween Show 'Legacy of Shadows' FEARnet, Gregory Burkart, March 14, 2014
- ↑ Catch 'Midnight Syndicate Live!' At Cedar Point's HalloWeekends Bloody Disgusting, Jonathan Barkan, March 17, 2014
- ↑ FEARnet interview with Edward Douglas, October 31, 2008.
- ^ Interview with Midnight Syndicate. Geek In the City, June 17, 2009, accessed August 4, 2014 .
- ↑ Goth Chick News: Do the Dead Really Matter In the Movies? Thirteen Questions for Midnight Syndicate's Edward Douglas. Black Gate, July 29, 2010, accessed August 4, 2014 .
- ↑ Creatures of the night come alive on new CD ( Memento of the original from January 28, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. interview with Midnight Syndicate, Chronicle-Telegram, October 1998
- ↑ Halloween Blues ( Memento of the original from August 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Interview with Gavin Goszka, October 2010
- ↑ Heather Adler, "Haunted Harmonies," Rue Morgue (Toronto, ON), Issue 50, Pg. 131
- ↑ a b c d e Scream Kings Jason Bracelin, Scene Magazine (Cleveland, OH), May 25, 2005, pp. 10-13.
- ↑ Trevor Tuminski, "Hymns from the House of Horror" Rue Morgue (Toronto, ON), Issue 100, Pg.49.
- ↑ Best Halloween Music CDs Sara Anderson, AOL Radio Blog
- ^ A b John Horton, S "cary Music Writers Accomplish Their Ghouls", The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), October 17, 2006, Sec. A, Pg. A1.
- ↑ Jim Vickers, "Scream Songs," Cleveland Magazine (Cleveland, OH), October 2006, p. 30.
- ↑ Jeffrey Lee, Background Music for Role-playing Games Examiner, Aug. 5, 2009
- ↑ The Origins Awards ( Memento of the original from August 10, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Jennifer McKevitt, "Art of Darkness," News Herald (Mentor, OH), October 29, 2006, Sec. E, Pg.E1.
- ^ Carl E. Feather, "A little night music," Star Beacon (Ashtabula, OH), October 30, 2006, Sec. B, Pg. B1.
- ^ Van Helsing's Curse website
- ↑ Midnight Syndicate's Van Helsing's Curse Store
- ^ Mark Koestner, "Dawn of his Dead," News Herald (Mentor, OH), Jul 30, 2010, Pg. C10.
- ↑ a b Midnight Syndicate. International Movie Database, accessed August 4, 2014 .
- ↑ Midnight Syndicate Blog
- ↑ Darker Projects website ( Memento of the original from November 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
