Born amidst the Miami underground comes MIDNIGHT SPELL, an unrelenting force of pure heavy metal in its truest form. Founded in 2017, the band was created to carry the torch of real heavy metal and push the boundaries of the genre to its limits. I spoke with guitarist Shane Grahan (a.k.a. The Hammer) and drummer Brian Wilson, who is a part of YNGWIE MALMSTEEN’s current band and toured the States with ENFORCER, to discuss only about MIDNIGHT SPELL.
-Hello and thanks for taking some time to answer to my questions. First of all, we would like to know about the formation of the band. When and how was it formed?
Hammer: What’s up! Happy to answer the questions! I was playing in a cover band years ago in 2017 and Brian had asked me after I played that gig at a club in West Palm Beach if I would be interested in forming a band with him. I excitedly agreed and we were the first two members of this band. As time went on and as we kept meeting up and jamming and discussing ideas, we got Cam to join the band a little after. Cam has been there from damn near the start. Later on Paolo joined us and we finally had a singer who was everything we were looking for. Eventually Denver joined in 2019 and he threw his solo sections on the demo alongside mine and we were finally a real band ready to make a name for ourselves!
Brian: It’s basically the band I was trying to form since I was 18 years old. I finally planted the seeds in late 2016 and started working on forming the band before I found The Hammer. For a good amount of time, it was just the two of us. We wrote pretty much the whole demo that way. It was a very long process before the full band came together, but that’s because I wasn’t accepting any compromise on who I wanted in the band. I’m glad it all came together eventually. I’m very proud of the band.
-Was the name MIDNIGHT SPELL the first choice for the band, and how did that come to be the one?
Hammer: MIDNIGHT SPELL was actually a band name Brian came up with right before the demo was released in 2019. We had 2 other names we threw around before we were ready to release anything. We are very happy with the name MIDNIGHT SPELL; it just has the right sound fitting to who we are.
Brian: It was very difficult finding something not taken by another band. I went through very many pairings of words I liked before settling on that. I wrote down a bunch of words I thought sounded cool on a piece of paper and tried different pairings. MIDNIGHT SPELL was actually one of them, but lost out to another name. It was at the last minute, right before the demo was finished that I decided MIDNIGHT SPELL was the superior name.
-From which bands does MIDNIGHT SPELL take its inspiration?
Hammer: If I had to pick, I would say ENFORCER, JUDAS PRIEST, SAXON, IRON MAIDEN, ACCEPT, RIOT. Seems about right.
Brian: We’re really influenced by heavy metal as a whole. We could list dozens of names and it wouldn’t even be scratching the surface. We’re all lifelong metalheads with influences all over the spectrum of heavy music.
-What would you say to people who think the kind of music you play is outdated?
Hammer: Heavy metal is the greatest genre of music that exists. It has no expiration date. Period.
Brian: Heavy metal is timeless. Hell, a lot of people call us old school, along with all the other bands of the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal movement, which may be true to an extent, but at the end of the day we’re not trying to be “retro”. I don’t really see it that way. We play what we like and have the appropriate presentation that goes along with it, whether it’s 1985 or 2021 or 2112, the year and the trends are irrelevant to us and the music.
-On this moment you’re on the Iron Oxide Records, a new music label run by Bart Gabriel, if I’m not wrong… How did you end up with this label?
Brian: I first came into contact with Bart through a friend when Bart was looking for a drummer for a project he was putting together that never really ended up working out. He’d put out a lot of bands and reissued a bunch of albums that I’m a fan of myself. So, he seemed like the right guy to work with. I reached out to him about MIDNIGHT SPELL and he was immediately interested. He told me he was working on a new label and wanted us to be a part of it and here we are. We’re proud to be one of the very first releases on Iron Oxide Records!
-Why did you choose “Sky Destroyer” as title for the full-length album?
Brian: When we came up with the music for the title track, Paolo, our singer, suggested the title “Sky Destroyer” for it and I knew right at that moment it was going to be the title track. It sounded totally explosive to me. I thought it really made an impact and represented who we are and what we do.
-Which track on “Sky Destroyer” gets the best feedback from your fans?
Hammer: I have noticed three songs getting regular mentions in reviews and comments which are “Lady Of The Moonlight”, “Midnight Ride” and “Headbang “Til Death”.
Brian: I think I’ve been told almost every single song is a favourite of somebody’s at least once, which is crazy to me. I haven’t heard any particular title get repeated more than any other. That said, when we play live, the song that I think connects with the audience more than any other is “Lady of The Moonlight”, even since our very first show. “Between The Eyes” and “To the Stars” are also major crowd pleasers.
-So, you recorded a video-clip for the song "Lady Of The Moonlight". What can you tell me about the recording of that video?
Hammer: We got a good friend Chris Briggs who does directing and video professionally and we went with him. He did a great job! We shot it at the University of Miami. I gotta say it was a cool experience to be in a room like that with the whole setup and vibe.
Brian: I really loved the vision Chris had for the video, and I think he made the perfect choice of cast for the “Lady Of The Moonlight” herself. The scenes in the woods were fun to film. It was right across the street from a cemetery. Totally the perfect vibe.
-Tell me about “Mercy”. How do you decide about writing an instrumental track?
Hammer: I love this question! So Brian was on I believe his first tour with Yngwie and Cam and I were the other 2 band members at that time. Cam came over one day and we wrote that song in about an hour or so. It was the easiest song we wrote I gotta say. It flowed so well and we knew exactly what we wanted. Brian jammed it after the tour and that was it. That was the whole song, haha.
Brian: When I got home and they showed it to me, we were working out the arrangements and all, and I just couldn’t imagine it with vocals, so I suggested keeping it instrumental. When Paolo heard it later, he agreed.
- “Between The Eyes” and “To The Stars” are songs that you already included in your 4-track demo. What about the other two? Why did you leave out the other two songs? Will you ever re-record them?
Hammer: “The Bitter End” was and is a demo-only song. “Berlin” was a cover by SAVAGE that we had on there. I don’t foresee us ever revisiting those songs in a studio setting. I’m sure at some point we might play them live though.
Brian: I can say personally that “The Bitter End” didn’t quite turn out how I wanted it to. But hey, that’s what demos are for. I don’t think it’s really up to par with what we wrote after it. We really weren’t a full band when we wrote it. We pretty much finished it as a two piece of guitar and drums and everyone else just added their parts later. Maybe one day we’ll rework it or use some parts of it for something else, but as it is, I don’t see it happening. “Berlin”, being a cover, isn’t something I think that really needs to be done again.
-Did you write the album together as a band with everyone putting ideas on the table or do you have a different working scheme? And what inspired you the most to create the lyrics? The band writes the lyrics first or first the band creates the riffs to comply with the lyrics?
Hammer: In the beginning it was just Brian and I for a while, so a lot of the starting riffs were from myself. I alone had a hand in most of the writing of every single song on “Sky Destroyer”. We didn’t have a full lineup until two years after we started so I had a lot of the songwriting weight on myself as the lone guitar player. After we had Paolo and Denver in the band, the songwriting became an awesome process of just flowing ideas and everything gelling so well. After the full lineup was complete, the songs “Lady Of The Moonlight” and “Midnight Ride” were born. Those two songs I can happily and confidently say were a full band effort and they’re two of the more popular songs on the album.
Brian: It’s overall an extremely democratic process. Every single member has input musically. I’m the main lyric writer of the band, and the lyrics always come after the music. As for what I write about, it depends on what vibe I get from every individual song. I tend to lean towards darker themes, as I enjoy writing about them, but it all comes down to what I hear in the song.
-Did you face any setbacks during the recording session of “Sky Destroyer”?
Brian: The pandemic hitting in the middle of the process kind of derailed everything for a while. Our recording/mixing engineer even caught Covid himself. There was a two or three month period where getting anything done was next to impossible. At one point, I called the engineer, Mariano, and we were mixing the album over the phone! It was quite an experience. Luckily, Mariano is a total professional and the band all worked very well with him, so we got it done in the end.
-Can you tell us about the artwork and what it represents?
Brian: It’s the “Sky Destroyer” in its full glory! When Paolo suggested the title, “Sky Destroyer”, I imagined this demon coming from the sky and destroying all in its path. That’s what the song is about lyrically, and the album artwork is a visual representation of that. Roberto Toderico did a fantastic job bringing our vision to life.
-“Sky Destroyer” is available on CD, vinyl, and cassette. These days vinyl seems to sell better than CD’s, but what about cassettes? Not many people these days have the gear to play those on. So, why did you decide to go the old-school way?
Brian: Cassettes are definitely making a comeback in popularity. They make cool collector’s items. The cassette itself is limited to 100 copies, so it’s definitely high up there in collectable value. A lot of people bought our demo on cassette, and lots were asking if the album would be released on tape as well. If there’s a demand, we’re happy to meet it!
-The world is in pretty bad shape right now because of COVID-19. How are things in Florida, and what impact has this had on MIDNIGHT SPELL?
Hammer: I know it and it’s unfortunate in a lot of ways. Yes the band has been impacted I would say. No gigs lined up, no tours lined up, just working and writing in this down time. Once everything gets back to normal we wanna get out there and show the world who we are!
-What about the metal scene in your area? Do you think are there new Florida Heavy Metal bands that can break through in the future?
Brian: The scene in Florida is predominantly death metal. We stand out from the rest of the local bands quite a bit for that reason. That said, there are definitely some great local bands. The latest one I’ve seen emerge is KRYPTKEEPER, which was formed by Morgan Elle who has a pretty strong following. They’re probably going to do some great things. There’s also DEVIANT BURIAL who just put out their debut EP. I’d say these bands are the future of South Florida Metal.
-What is your biggest dream, involving the band? Is there a place or a festival you’d really like to go to?
Hammer: Honestly for myself I have two dreams I would love to see come true. The first is playing the fest in Germany, Keep It True. I feel like if you’ve played that fest, you’ve really made it as a new heavy metal band. The second is probably just my dream, but I really, really want to play a show or ideally tour with WHITESNAKE. I adore everything about them and that’s a band I’ve always wanted to share the stage with.
-What plans do you have for the future?
Hammer: Our main goal as a band, is to tour and keep releasing music and keep heavy metal alive!
-Name ten of your favourite albums of all time.
Hammer: Oh wow ten of them? Alright let’s see. I’ll do my best here. There’s no real order to this by the way. This is my personal list.
STEVE VAI – “Where The Wild Things Are” (Live album)
IRON MAIDEN – “Somewhere In Time”
MOTÖRHEAD – “Ace Of Spades”
WHITESNAKE – “1987”
DOKKEN – “Under Lock And Key”
OZZY OSBOURNE – “The Ultimate Sin”
DEF LEPPARD – “Adrenalize”
WARRANT – “Cherry Pie”
POISON – “Look What The Cat Dragged In”
RATT – “Out Of The Cellar”
Brian: Of course it’s ever-changing, but
for the most part it stays the same. In
no order:
LED ZEPPELIN – “Led Zeppelin”
ENFORCER – “Mesmerized by Fire”
TORCH – “Torch”
GRIFFIN – “Flight Of The Griffin”
DIAMOND HEAD – “Lightning To The Nations”
RAVEN – “Rock Until You Drop”
ANTHRAX – “Fistful Of Metal”
ANVIL – “Hard ‘n’ Heavy”
ALICE COOPER – “Billion Dollar Babies”
EXODUS – “Bonded By Blood”
-Thank you for taking the time to discuss the band with me. Any last thoughts you’d like to share?
Hammer: Absolutely it was a pleasure! Just want to say thank you to you and all the people around the world digging the album. Stay tuned, MIDNIGHT SPELL is just getting started!
Brian: Thanks for having us! Always support metal and headbang ‘til death!
Diego González.
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