Midnight Conspiracy's DIY Approach

Date Signed: June 15, 2012
Label: Ultra Records
Type of Music: Electro, Dubstep, House, Heavy Bass Electronic
Band Members: Louis Kha, Mikul Wing, Graham Geren
Management: Patrick Moxey & Melissa Sabo at Empire Artist Management, [email protected], Opsin Entertainment, [email protected]
Booking: Cody Chapman, [email protected], Max Braun, [email protected]
Legal: Dean Serwin, [email protected], Brian Rosenblatt, [email protected]
Publicity: Oscar Scivier, [email protected]
Web: http://midnightconspiracy.com
A&R: Jeremy Vuernick, [email protected]

By Andy Mesecher

When introducing your band, more than likely it sounds something like: Jeff Somebody on guitar, Tommy Forgettable on bass and Keith Nobody on drums. With Midnight Conspiracy considering themselves a “Live Experience,” their definition is a little different.

“If you were to break it down,” explains Loius Kha, one-third of the DJ collective, “generally Mikul [Wing] is in charge of visual, Graham [Geren] is the engineer and is deep into music production and I am more in charge of the music at live shows.” While Geren doesn’t join Kha and Wing on stage, he is still considered an intricate part to their success and has been involved since the beginning.

“Mikul and I threw these weekly [indie-electro] basement parties in Chicago” Kha continues. “Graham and another guy performed in another group [at the party]. This was where the idea of Midnight Conspiracy came together.”

Midnight Conspiracy’s signing story began to unfold through two parallel story lines: While the band continued to expand their Chicago fan base, Ultra Records owner Patrick Moxey was halfway around the world in search of a new artist to sign.

“Patrick went to school at the University of Chicago, so he has some [local] ties,” continues Kha. “He ran into a Chicago promoter in Amsterdam and [inquired about the Chicago scene]. That’s when he heard word of us. He came to our studio and hung out with us all day. … It was like he wanted to help blow us up because of his Chicago pride. He made it happen.” But Conspiracy’s signing was one of hard work more than chance. There is no greater example than with the band’s “Eye Live”—an EDM/dubstep performance with a giant laser light known as “Eye Live,” inspired by acts like Pink Floyd and Ghostland Observatory.

“We want to make sure we’re never manufactured,” explains Kha. “Eye Live is a 16-ft. version of our Eye logo. It has LED lasers and we envisioned the whole design. We had a lot of our friends help to build it but it’s constantly being modified.”

Keeping the DIY revenue flowing, the band share a clothing collective with other artists. Titled Dead Fame, the collective avoids direct relation to any of the artists involved to keep the merchandise more accessible. Adds Kha, “I don’t know if the whole DIY approach gives you legitimacy but at least you can take pride in saying you’ve done everything.”

Midnight Conspiracy’s newest single, “Sentinel,” will drop on Oct. 30th, 2012.