Midnight Youth

Midnight Youth have truly hit the ground running. Initially coming together in 2006 after the roots of the band honed their skills in the Rockquest series of shows, the band rapidly utilized the experience gained from the New Zealand high school competition and channeled the essence of their tightly-wound live performance into the debut single ‘Supernatural’. Unusually for an unsigned band, the song attained national airplay on NZ’s rock and pop stations; and even more unusually, inspired a house remix from Tim Phinn locally, and a further electro remix by Melbourne-based producers Vandalism, released on Australian label Central Station.

Selected by INXS as support act in New Zealand, the electric performance of Midnight Youth won over some new fans: not just those in the audiences, but INXS themselves. The veteran Australian group would watch Midnight Youth’s set from side of stage, later proclaiming the band as one of the best they had played with in Australasia.

These early successes resulted in the band being awarded the 2006 Rock FM Scholarship, which Midnight Youth translated into their next single, ‘A New Day’. As the song was released, the building momentum surrounding the band became tangible – the video remained in C4’s Top 40 for five weeks, and was nominated as Juice TV’s ‘Breakthrough Video of the Year’. Furthermore, the attention ‘A New Day’ received was not confined to New Zealand and Australia alone – they attained airplay on influential LA radio station Indie 103.1 (which numbers Henry Rollins and Sex Pistol Steve Jones amongst its DJs); and appeared on the US TV show, Project MyWorld.

2008 was a big year for the young band, after securing the opening slot for INCUBUS and OKGO in NZ, they were then selected by ACTIVISION BLIZZARD to preview the new GUITAR HERO 4 game at a global media retail conference.

Also, after being approached earlier in the year by a producer in New York, the band also began recording their debut record in Williamsburg Brooklyn in April/May, which is set for release in early 2009.

All of which brings us back to the here and now, with Midnight Youth releasing their first single THE LETTER. With songs drawing on their diverse cultural backgrounds – New Zealand, African, and British – and informed by the variety of rock and pop influences this heritage suggests, the audience Midnight Youth have the potential to reach is wide open.