Interview with Will Lindsay of Middian

Middian are from Eugene, Oregon and formed out of the remains of YOB. They released a killer debut called “Age Eternal” on Metal Blade earlier in 2007. It’s a blend of heavy beats, swirling riffs and eeries vocals plus more. I recently got to interview bass player Will Lindsay to find out about the response to the album and what they are currently up to.

MM-How did this band form?
WL-Middian was formed by Mike. When Isamu and Travis quit Yob, Mike tried out a rhythm section that he just didn't feel was right to carry on what Yob was doing.
Mike started jamming with Scott. They knew each other from a music store they both worked at. Mike asked me to join the band because we knew each other pretty good. My previous bands all played several shows with Yob over the course of their existence.

MM-Who are your influences?
WL-My personal influences are bands like Black Flag, Rorschach, Born Against, old Carcass, old Napalm Death, Death, Black Sabbath, My Dying Bride, early Ozzy, etc...
Mike and Scott would have plenty of other things to add to that list, I'm sure.


MM-What has been the response to Age Eternal?
WL-People seem to like it. It gets compared to Yob quite a bit. For where we were as a band when it was recorded, we're really happy with it.

MM-How long did it take to write and record the album?
WL-We had been a band for about eight or nine months when we recorded the album. I think we spent a week-and-a-half tracking and about a month mixing.

MM-Where do you get the ideas for topics for your songs?
WL-Mike writes the lyrics. I'm afraid it isn't my place to offer those kind of insights.

MM-What are you currently up to?
WL-Scott got hit by a truck riding his bike home from work about a month ago. He had to get surgery on his collar bone, so we have not been doing a whole lot. I've been taking roadie gigs a lot the last few months, too. Once Scott gets healed up, we're gonna start writing our new album. We're also planning on doing some west coast shows with Indian in March.

MM-You finished your tour back in the summer. How did it go?
WL-There were ups and downs. Things should have been done better during the preparations and promotion, but that was beyond our control. We had a lot of good times and met a lot of good people. The last two-and-a-half weeks was with Minsk and they were a joy to travel with and hang out with.

MM-You have one album with five tracks so what was your set list like?
WL-Our set list varied, depending on the venue and amount of bands on the show. We usually played three songs off of the album and 'My War' by Black Flag. Sometimes we would do the whole album and there were a few shows where we only did two songs.

MM-Your songs are long and fairly complex at times. Are they difficult to reproduce live?
WL-We practiced a lot and played a lot of shows the month before we left on tour. They were all nailed down pretty well by the time we hit the road.

MM-You music probably gets put into different categories. How would you describe your music?
WL-I just tell people we're a metal band. I'm not overly concerned with which sub-genre people want to tag us to.

MM-What bands would you love to tour with?
WL-We have some good friends who play amazing music. I would love to tour with any of them. The folks we have done trips with before, like Ludicra and Asunder. I would love to do a real tour with them. Minsk again, of course. I'm looking forward to our trip with Indian. They're my favorite current band right now.
Yeah, our friends. That's who I would love to tour with.

MM-What does 2008 hold for this band?
WL-We're going to getting around the west coast a bit, but we're planning on laying low most of the year and writing our new album. Plans are to record it in the fall, and then do another US tour and a European tour in 2009.

MM-Pick the band you prefer from the following pairs.

WL-
Black Sabbath or Deep Purple: Black Sabbath.

High on fire or Mastodon: High On Fire

Electric Wizard or Sleep: Sleep

Rush or Yes: Yes

MM-What is the music scene like in Eugene, Oregon?
WL-A few good bands and a lot of garbage. Ninth Moon Black is the best Eugene band. If you're on the west coast, you should go see them in March when they tour.

MM-Anything else you would like to say about your band or your music?
WL-Thanks for the interview!

Thanks to Will for doing this interview.

http://www.myspace.com/middiandoom