Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
Jacob: music has always been a necessary part of my life. I grew up with music around and instruments being a part of daily experience. I love harmony and musical colour. Figuring out the puzzle and equations of time and space to create those collages will always be what drives me in the end.
Tom: My name is Tom Shand, I have been playing music for most of my life. Recently I’ve been really into improving my singing. I started learning the piano when I was six and the guitar when I was twelve. I also was exposed to a lot of music as a child however most of it was classic 60s and 70s music and because of that I continue to have a soft spot for that era.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Midmay”?
Jacob: The plan is to be open and honest. The message to new listeners would be thank you and I hope that our music can be a positive light for you in your day. As it’s hard enough out there to stay connected and making this music helps me to stay engaged with the world. So hopefully it can help others in that way too.
Tom: We would really like to make an album. Pop music is in a really confused place right now so I think it’s a good time to throw some stuff at the wall and see what sticks. My message would be I hope you enjoy it.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
Jacob: My inspiration is constantly changing. Lately I’ve been going back to old albums from my past and revisiting them. It’s given me a good amount of insight into my past experiences and allows me to see them in a modern light.
Tom: Right now I really like that JPEGMAFIA/Danny Brown album. Other music really inspires me to make music because good music is kind of like a magic trick and I like figuring out the trick.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “Keefer Street.”?
Jacob: It’s about wanting to reconnect with your partner and do old fun things again after coming to the end of a difficult period of life.
Tom: Jake wrote the lyrics for that one so I’m sure he can answer it.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
Jacob: our music is in my opinion easy to listen to but can also be listened to intently. As we work hard to create simple music that has significant sonic depth.
Tom: Chill
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Keefer Street”?
Jacob: We had some hardware changes during the recording process which made us need to double back and retake some parts. Tom ended up with a fair amount of hours lost due to this. It is always frustrating to do things twice.
Tom: Not really, we made it at my house and we wrote and recorded at the same time in Logic X. Some stuff needed reworking but nothing massive so it was quite smooth.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
Jacob: The message is to speak honestly and emotionally. The goal is to deepen that relationship between honesty and emotion to create a situation where others can connect with that and help the world become a little more empathetic.
Tom: That we love music, our songs come from an appreciation of the music we love and we hope others will too. Our goals are to increase our means and widen our platform as much as we can.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
Jacob: Johannes Brahms, Stevie Wonder, Donald Fagen, Tyler the Creator.
Tom: Before he died tragically in 2017 It would have been cool to collaborate with Kanye West, lots of artists’ best work was on those collabs. I also think George Martin would have been really cool.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
Jacob: think hard about exactly what you want out of the industry. Then carve out a situation that takes steps towards that vision. Make sure to be patient and obsessive with learning.
Tom: There are no rules anymore, who knows what will and won’t work. Do what makes you happy.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
Jacob: You don’t need to do it all. Pick your spots and take your personal time.
Tom: I don’t think he would care for anything I had to say.
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