As I told when I reviewed their latest CD "Gates of Delirium" this has become one of my favorite bands because of their musicianship and their atmospheres with extreme quality. We talked to Gavin Goszka one half of this excelent outfit.


What can you tell me about the history of Haverghast Asylum that is
featured on your last album "Gates of Delirium"?

G: Haverghast Asylum is a fictional turn-of-the-century mental institution
that serves as the setting for "Gates of Delirium". Although an imaginary
place, Haverghast is based on the reality of what actual mental institutions
of the time were like. Reading about this rather dark period in mental
medicine, along with visiting several of the institutions themselves really
helped us re-create what it must have been like for the patients who walked
those halls. It also provided some great images to draw upon for writing.

Do you create the music in your album with the concept that you want for
a particular story in mind? Or do you create the music and then you fit the
concept to it?

G: We start with the theme or overall concept, and then develop as much
detail as possible, so that we have plenty of ideas and images to write
from.
Although both Ed and myself write independently, we keep in close contact to
ensure that the material we're working on is right for the album. Then, we
bring all of the material together for review and final editing before going
to the studio to mix and master the album.

How are the tracks in your CDs composed? Do you work with computers?

G: Typically, I lay down a basic rough sketch of a song on piano, and then
begin to flesh out the arrangement from there. Ed seems to work on both the
song itself and the arrangement simultaneously, as even rough versions of
many of his tracks sound amazingly close to their final versions. We do use
a Macintosh-based digital audio workstation to mix and edit the individual
tracks, as well as for mastering the disc once everything is assembled.

Have you received some propositions to compose music for horror movies or
something like that from people from the movie industry?

G: We've been approached by several independent film companies to do the
scores or themes for their films. Right now, we're negotiating with J.R.
Bookwalter of Full Moon Releasing to provide some of the music for the
upcoming Witchhouse III film. Universal Studios also requested copies of our
CDs for future consideration. They have been using some of our music in
their Orlando, Florida theme park during Halloween.

How are the experiences that Gavin and Ed have in filmmaking? Do they
compose music different fromthe one in Midnight Syndicate for the movies?

G: Ed wrote and directed a B-horror film called "The Dead Matter", that was
produced by Entity Pictures and released in 1996 by Sub Rosa Studios
(www.b-movie.com).
The score for this film was very much in the style of our later work. He also
produced the multimedia concert that accompanied the release of the first
(self-titled) Midnight Syndicate album. I come from a strictly musical
background, and have not done anything with film up to this point.

How is your collaboration with gothic artist Joseph Vargo in the albums?

G: Joseph provided part of the conceptual focus for "Born of the Night",
along with the vocal narrations. We were happy with the end result, so we
hired him to do the artwork and an opening narration on "Realm of Shadows"
as well. For "Gates of Delirium" we went back to Mark Rakocy who is one of the
founding members of Entity Productions and who worked with Ed on the first
Midnight Syndicate album, the multimedia concerts promoting it, and "The
Dead Matter."

Do you think that the three last albums are more complex and darker than
your debut one?

G: The first Midnight Syndicate album (self-titled) was more of a solo
project for Ed, and featured a wide range of musical styles, from rock to
country and even rap. The album did contain some of the darker elements that
define our later work, however, and set the groundwork for our continuing
goal: to transport the listener to imaginary worlds of their own creation.
The last three albums are definitely more focused and consistently darker. I
think our writing has steadily grown and developed since "Born of the
Night".
"Gates of Delirium" is not only our favorite Midnight Syndicate CD to date,
but we feel that it encompasses our most involving and intense material, and
is the most intricate production-wise as well.

Which is the people that you think buys your records? Gothic people,
metal people ?

G: Actually, we have a very diverse audience. Our first three fanmails came
from a teen-age Goth, a lawyer in her 50's, and a heavy metal fan. The fact
that our music can cross over the boundaries of age, lifestyle and genre is very exciting. Our
metal following is pretty substantial. A lot of metal fans are drawn to
darker music in general, and have thus found a common tie to us. We even
found some unexpected fans in the members of King Diamond, who chose our
music to serve as the pre-show soundtrack for their latest tour.

Which is the relationship that Midnight Syndicate has with the Halloween
industry?

G: Halloween is a huge holiday here, second only to Christmas, and we've
been fortunate enough to have found a close association with it. Halloween
is a time when the general public becomes fascinated by things dark and
mysterious, so naturally our music has an increased appeal at this time as
well. Many stores and Halloween attractions have been using our music to set
the atmosphere for their customers. This has allowed us to reach a broader
audience that might not have otherwise regularly listened to either Gothic
or classical music.


Do you think that the best market for Midnight Syndicate´s Music are the
USA or the sales have been better in Europe?

G: So far, we've seen the majority of our sales come from the US, as this
is where most of the retailers that sell our music are located. There are
several stores in Germany, Italy, and the UK that are carrying it, however,
and this is a market that we are currently working to expand.

What can you tell me about Entity Productions?

G: Entity Productions is our parent company. It started out as a multimedia
production company, focusing mainly on film and animation. After the success
of "Born of the Night," the focus shifted. Now the majority of Entity's
resources are dedicated to promoting and distributing the music of
Midnight Syndicate.

How did your music ended as intro music for King Diamond´s shows?

G: That was quite a pleasant surprise. Musically, King Diamond is one of
our biggest influences. While we at one of his shows last year, we found out
that King and his guitarist Andy LaRocque had chosen "Born of the Night" and
"Realm of Shadows" as the official pre-show music for their "House of God"
tour. We had never contacted them before, so that made it even more exciting.
This was without a doubt one of the best things we've experienced so far.

Are you preparing your next record? Which is the concept around it?

G: Right now, we've decided to take a short, but well-needed break. We've
been writing, recording and promoting our music pretty much non-stop for the
past three-and-a-half years, and felt that it would be good to catch our
breath and replenish our creativity. We'll be promoting "Gates of Delirium"
through Halloween, and will begin work on the next album beginning in
January of 2002. As far as the theme goes, we've been discussing a few ideas, but
haven't decided on anything yet. We're also in the planning stages for a
series of live multimedia concerts for 2003.

Are Ed and Gavin influenced by musicians that make scores for films or
do they have other influences?

G: Some of our influences include film composers like Danny Elfman and John
Carpenter, as well as metal bands like King Diamond and Black Sabbath. We
also draw upon gothic artwork and literature for inspiration.

Is there something more that you want to say?

G: We're going to be debuting our new website, www.midnightsyndicate.com,
this summer. Our previous home on Entity's site (www.entityprod.com) has been
completely redesigned and updated, and we've added a slew of new features as
well. In addition, our music is currently available for preview on
www.mp3.com.