Midgar Interview

Since 2008, sci-fi fans and alt-rock masters Midgar have been living out their Final Fantasy, dishing out musical masterpieces dripping in texture and classical technicality. On the eve of their Barfly showcase, Bring The Noise had a natter with front man Andy Wilson to learn about touring, cheese and tissues: The Midgar way.

Hi, so first things first, what’s your name and where do you come from?

My name’s Andy. I’m the singer in Midgar and we are from London.

Pleasure to meet you Andy. Where on earth did that unusual name come from? Midgar, not Andy of course.

Um, I’m a huge classical music fan and gaming enthusiast. Now, those two things aren’t generally linked but there is a Japanese composer called Nobu Imatzu who wrote the music for the game and film series ‘Final Fantasy’. I loved the music in the game and Midgar is a special place in the game. It’s a reference to the composer.

So as a child you were a bit of a games mini-geek which went on to shape your rock band? That’s lovely, we love geeks. But if you weren’t in Midgar what would you be doing?

That’s a really tough question. Believe it or not I used to be into sports, especially tennis and I’m a big fan of science as well. I like chemistry it’s the arty side of physics. Sports would have been given up as a teenager to be honest as I always had better things to do, so I’d have done something scientific. Music has always been the one there’s never been an alternative option.

You really are a geek aren’t you? Moving on from maths and science, what do you hope to achieve in the next year?

Wow, well we are currently writing a full length album. Completing that is number on the list and we really want to write a wicked album that we’re proud of. We’ll also be going hell for leather on the live circuit getting as many tours under our belts as humanly possible to play to as many people as we can. I think we’re writing the best songs we ever have, playing is the best part and we want to get it out to as many ears as we can.

How will that work in today’s saturated music scene? Why should we buy into Midgar?

There are certain things expected of UK bands at the moment. We don’t fit into that mould. I come from a classical background and there are a lot more interesting harmonies and grandeur in what we do. We make an effort to create pieces of music as opposed to just songs. Sometimes that goes over people’s heads if they’re after the quick, straight up screamy verse, shouty chorus. With Midgar there’s more to invest your time in musically.

Dare I say I’m nearly sold? Being self-confessed touring tsars, what can you not live without in the van?

For me in particular there are a few things I always rely on on the road because vocally I must pay a little more attention to what I do. I don’t eat cheese, it sticks your vocal chords together. Luckily these guys ask for pizza on the rider most nights. They’re so cruel. I like a good Bloody Mary, it’s always the first thing I ask for in a new venue. In Peterborough the barman asked if it was Tia Maria. We won’t be playing there again, the Bloody Mary was awful. We’re never far from our Playstation and always have The Ricky Gervais Show DVDs to hand.

No diva style requests on the rider just yet?

We asked for a pretty cool rider in our hometown recently. It was four pairs of crazy sunglasses, party hats, marshmallows and half a Cadbury’s Curly Wurly. We want something inventive to happen to the other half. Other than that, ‘rider’ is normally a swear word in most small venues so to have beer, water and a place to hang out is totally unbelievable to us. It’s hard to think about when we get to the next stage.

Tell us something about yourself that we absolutely, categorically will not ever find on you Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Blog or website.

Do you want to know what my phobia is? This is a closely guarded secret, only a handful of people know.

So you’re voluntarily unloading this secret onto a journalist? Seems a smart enough move…

This is quite hard to describe, I feel physically sick just thinking about it. OK, here we go, um, you know when you have a towel? Imagine the feeling if you rubbed it on your teeth. Twin that with the same feeling you get when, oh my God I can’t even say it (Andy looks pale and a little nauseous at this point) when you rip a tissue and you get all those little stringy bits. Oh god! I get cold sweats and feel sick at the thought of that tissue. Dry, torn tissue, I literally have to leave the room.

Right now what if, and heaven forbid this actually happen, your secret got out and at your next gig one hundred people showed up, each one clutching a pack of Kleenex. What would you do?

I’d either vomit on stage as they were doing it or leave. It actually makes me sick.

Wow, that’s heavy stuff. Well, I’m absolutely positive no body would be so cruel as to carry this out…Andy, plug your band. Now.

We’re Midgar from London and we are doing something good and alternative to everything else that’s going on. We’re definitely a live band. Live is where we do our thing the best so get involved and check us out. We’ve just released a new video on YouTube for Karmic Retribution. It is such a wicked video and must be seen to be believed. We’re so proud of it.

Written by Jessica Acreman

Tags: Midgar