THE SEA AT MIDNIGHT

[ Interview with Vince Grant from The Sea At Midnight by Diego Centurión. Photographs: Liauna Tolmasoff. ]

ANYTIME IS RIGHT FOR THE SEA AT MIGNIGHT

I have honestly felt trapped by the sounds of this project led by Vince Grant called The Sea At Midnight. It is not that he has great albums, he still does not have them because he has not yet released an album and perhaps that is what this project could generate with just a few singles, exactly five singles, "Medicine", Melancholia", "How Many Times", "Edge Of The World "and their latest single "We Share The Same Stars", which will surely be part of the debut album that would be released in this strange 2020. To find out about this project we contacted Vince to tell us about The Sea At Midnight.

Hi Vince! Thank you for agreeing to conduct this interview. To start, tell us where did this pandemic grab you?

Think like most of us, it took me completely by surprise. Released my first single “Medicine” in January and the second single “Melancholia” in February and then in March the whole world practically shut down. Obviously had no idea that I’d be releasing my debut album in the midst of a global pandemic. That being said, I’ve really got nothing to complain about as my family and loved ones have remained healthy and that’s the most important thing. My heart really goes out to all those around the world who have been directly affected by the virus.

Has the Covid-19 delayed things a little, or is everything going in the times that you have raised it?

As far as the music goes, Covid-19 has not delayed anything for me. I’ve stuck to the pre-Covid release schedule of all five singles thus far and the album will be coming out in the fall as planned.

I have read that the beginning of this project was by chance, tell us how did the idea of creating The Sea At Midnight come about and where does the name come from?

I had pretty much thought my days of being in bands or recording were over. Then one day was looking for a guitar teacher in the Musicians section of Craigslist and ran across an ad from a producer saying,

“If you’re a shoegaze, goth, post-punk, synth pop, darkwave, dream pop or similar genre artist looking for someone to produce or record your music that understands the genre, I would love to get in contact to discuss how we could possibly work together.”

Then it went on to list a number of my all-time favorite bands such as The Cure, Jesus and Mary Chain, New Order, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Chameleons, etc. I couldn’t believe his eyes. I’d never read an ad that ran so similar to my tastes. At the time, recording was the furthest thing from my mind, but I was so curious to meet this person I decided to get in contact and we arranged to meet. Turns out it was Chris King from Cold Showers! I’m a big fan of theirs and think the first thing I said to Chris was, “I’ve got songs of yours on

my playlists!” I was really impressed by the fact Chris didn’t mention Cold Showers in his ad or in talking with me before we met. Felt Chris wasn’t relying on his musical success to get clients. The initial meeting went great and as an added bonus Chris said to me he likes to use Brandon Pierce of Glaare to do drums. Was thrilled at this news, as he’d seen Brandon play live a couple of times and thought he was a phenomenal drummer. The day after our initial meeting sent Chris acoustic versions of some songs and we decided to do a single. After the two songs were finished thought this is such a dream, working with a brilliant producer who comes from the same musical place, plus an unbelievably awesome drummer, that I asked Chris what he thought about doing an EP together. Chris was up for it, so we got Brandon involved again and did three more songs. The plan at that point was to put out a five song EP, but when we were done recording those songs still didn’t want it to end. Was so happy with the way the songs had turned out, and had so much fun recording with them, that I asked Chris what he thought about doing an album. Chris was into the idea and once again we got Brandon on board. After a few more months in the studio, there was an eight song album.

I have read about your internal struggles, tell us from your experience, is it true that music heals?

I think that music definitely has healing powers. Don’t think I would have been able to make it through some of the things in my life without music. Both listening to others and making my own. For me writing songs is one of the main things that helps me deal with the struggles we all inevitably encounter being human. Making music is a therapeutic process for me that allows me to cope with my own inner, as I like to call it, “weather”.

You must be a little tired of talking about the bands The Sea At Midnight resembles, but tell us about the feelings that the songs of this project produce in you.

Lyrically many of the songs deal with my struggles with alcohol and drug addiction and coping with lifelong depression. Suppose there is a strong element of sadness to them, but I also feel they offer hope.

What is it like to work with Chris King as producer and with Brandon Pierce programming electronic drums?

Working with Chris was nothing short of amazing! He’s incredibly talented both as a producer and a musician, and a genius when it comes to recording and mixing. His knowledge of the whole recording process from engineering to mastering is incredible. Plus, he’s so relaxed and he created an atmosphere surrounding the whole process that was completely relaxed and really allowed creativity and ideas to flow. Brandon is also a super nice guy and immensely talented. I’ve never worked with such a creative and innovative drummer. His drumming style has a musical quality that I love. Overall, I’ve never had such an incredible experience recording or so much fun doing it. One of the best things about working with Chris is that we approached every song with the idea of, “What is good for this song?” Not, “How can we make it sound like all the others or how can we make it sound like such and such band”. Each song has its own individual vibe and we didn’t want to use a sonic cookie cutter approach with the

same musical template. That’s why I especially like bands such as The Cure and Depeche Mode. You know it’s them immediately, but each song has its own personality and style. If I strive for anything, it’s that. For The Sea At Midnight to be recognizable, but at the same time each song having its own unique personality.

The album called "The Sea At Midnight" in what state of post-production is it and when do you plan to release it?

The album is pretty much in its final stages of completion. The single “We Share The Same Stars” officially comes out on August 21st and the album will be coming out sometime this fall.

Tell us something about each single:

“Medicine” is about ways we cope and deal with emotional pain, whatever that pain may be.

“Melancholia” is about my lifelong struggle with depression and making peace with it.

“How Many Times” You know, this one has a lot of different meanings behind it. There are actually a lot of layers to the lyrics for me and rather than expound on my own meaning of the song, think I’d like each listener to experience and have their own personal interpretation of what it means to them.

“Edge Of The World” was written when I was going through a period of remorse about some past behavior of mine that was hurtful to others, particularly when I was using drugs and alcohol, that I was ashamed of and felt terrible about. Realized I had acted selfishly on many occasions without taking into account the feelings of others and how my actions would affect them. This was weighing on my mind one night while out taking a walk and when I got home picked up my guitar and “Edge Of The World” came tumbling out.

“We Share The Same Stars” The overarching theme is that we are all connected.

We are in a difficult time to make short-term plans, but what are the immediate plans for The Sea At Midnight?

There’s actually quite a lot happening. The single “We Share The Same Stars” coming out on August 21st and it’s going to be accompanied by the first official video. There is another video being worked on now for a subsequent single to be released early in the fall and then the record will come out after that. Wish I could say we will be playing live shows, but that seems like a far off possibility at this point due to Covid.

And to close this interview and thank you for this opportunity. What would you say to our readers who don't know The Sea At Midnight yet?

If you are a fan of bands such as The Cure, Depeche Mode, New Order, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen and other similar sounding bands then I would say you should check out The Sea At Midnight. Think you might enjoy what you hear.

Thank you very much Vince and Shameless Promotion for making us know this beautiful band!