Midnight Mosaic is a sublime hybrid of rock ‘n’ roll and soul. Listen to vocalist A.t. Hunte’s soulful and soaring vocals and then hearing the frenetic, groove-based sound the rest of Midnight Mosaic produces and you’ll be blown away. In some ways it reminds me of Living Colour but with more a danceable quality to it. Comparisons aside, Midnight Mosaic provides a high-energy soundtrack to any venue they perform at and tonight will be no different. Midnight Mosaic will perform, tonight (September 22nd) at Happy Mondays at The Wonder Bar along with Tony Tedesco & The Filthy 3 and Grey Goes Black. We caught up with them to talk about their music and huh-energy performance style.
Midnight Mosaic Is (Members of the Band & The Instruments They Play): A.t. Hunte: Vocals, Trent Carter: Guitar, Harrisyn Hartt Keyboards-Synthesizer, AJ: Drums, Gil T. Brown: Bass, and Dee M: Backing Vocals
We’re Based Out Of: Asbury Park
The Story of Our Name Is: We met online at the right sites at the right times. New Jersey is full of musicians seeking compatible souls to make stew with. Some are cold, some fold and some create a flavor bold enough to please the palates of the masses. Jersey is a culturally-diverse fast-paced little planet it is a seesaw scene mixed of dreamers and drama seekers; the perfect recipe for the starving artist. The diversity of our state gave us our name and we truly are a mosaic.
Any New Music Coming Out Soon: We are recording a new single entitled Outside the Lines with Grammy award winning producer David Ivory. He has worked with The Roots, Erykah Badu, and Patti LaBelle. As the song gets built piece-by-piece it becomes more enjoyable to play live. Of course, we can’t wait to share the finished product with everyone we are quite proud of what we are creating. Stay tuned for a release date…
You’ve Seen Us Before [In Other Bands]: We prefer to focus on our present band not on any of our past ones.
Our Sound Has Been Likened to: We have learned to keep our hands in OUR pockets when enticed to touch this slippery topic… but if you like it maybe you could put a finger on it.
Cool/Famous Bands We’ve Played With: We have played with Bernie Worrell founding member and musical director of Parliament Funkadelic better known as P Funk. Additionally, he played with The Talking Heads, he is a Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer, a legend in every way, and a Jersey native.
You guys have such a fun sound — a great mix of straight up rock ‘n’ roll and soul — how did you decide upon this as the sound of Midnight Mosaic?
Midnight Mosaic: We never decided on a sound it just evolved over time. Also, what bands really influenced your sound? There are so many. Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Talking Heads, Michael Jackson, Van Halen, Prince, The Ohio Players, Hall & Oates, The Isley Brothers, P Funk, Jamiroquai, Pink Floyd, and NERD… just to name a few. They are all awesome in their own ways, and each one has brought us joy with their music. That’s the business Midnight Mosaic is in spreading joy and good vibes with our musical offerings.
There are so many bands out there in the Jersey and Philly scene to check out — what do you think separates you guys from everyone else?
Midnight Mosaic: Stage presence! A live show should be, well…alive! Have a pulse people; that is the most potent way to demonstrate what you are attempting to relay musically. I’m not recommending backdrops and stage props. Just be so into your song that you are tuned in to your song. Giving your all is your ultimate gift to music, and all who use it.
If someone read this interview and never heard you before, but decided to check you out, what song would you recommend they listen to in order to understand what Midnight Mosaic is all about?
Midnight Mosaic: Check out “Right to Die” — check our gratuitous YouTube plug!
A bit of more broad, sweeping question — what is it that you love about being in Midnight Mosaic?
Midnight Mosaic: The fact that we all contribute to the music not one of us writes the music alone we work as a group bringing our individual tastes to create a Mosaic.
What can the people coming out to Happy Mondays expect to see from you guys in terms of a live experience?
Midnight Mosaic: A great fucking performance! We’ve made it a tradition to put on the greatest performance you didn’t expect.
What do you have planned for the rest of 2014?
Midnight Mosaic: Finishing our new single, shooting a video for it, we are doing a showcase next month in Syracuse for college talent buyers to get on that circuit. Then we are performing at the Witches Ball on 10/11 in Mount Holly, on 11/1 we are performing at the Rutgers Homecoming after party at Old Bay in New Brunswick, and on 11/21 we are opening for Almost Queen at Starland Ballroom.
http://youtu.be/eBw0GIQhigs
