HorrorAddictsCon: GothHaus Soundtrack – Midnight Syndicate

Music for GothHaus on Podiobooks.com, was provided by Midnight Syndicate.

Midnight Syndicate Halloween Music Gothic Fantasy Horror Soundtracks ABOUT MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE For more information on Midnight Sundicate, go to: MidnightSyndicate.com

Since 1995, dark music pioneers Midnight Syndicate have been creating gothic, horror, fantasy soundtracks for the imagination. Formed by composer/director Edward Douglas in 1995, their music has become staples of the Halloween, gothic music, haunted attraction, and role-playing game industries. With a catalog of CDs that blend dark, orchestral horror and fantasy movie score-style music with sound effects, the band consisting of Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka has had its soundtracks to imaginary films featured in everything from Hugh Hefner’sinfamous Halloween parties, Dungeons & Dragons, Barbara Walters specials and Monday Night Football to X-Box games, tracks by the Academy-Award winning rap act, Three Six Mafia, and Twiztid as well as concerts by dark music pioneers The Misfits and King Diamond. The music has also been featured on countless television shows and documentaries relating to horror films and the supernatural. For more information on Midnight Syndicate, go to: MidnightSyndicate.com or visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/midnightsyndicate

Carnival Arcane by Midnight Syndicate

“The train smoke drifting through the pale moon light signals the arrival of the Lancaster-Rigby Carnival. In a forest clearing, these mesonoxian visitors await your arrival. Stroll along the midway and behold wonders both fantastic and macabre from every corner of the globe. And be sure to ride their one of a kind carousel for an experience you’ll never, ever forget.”

As we swiftly approach Halloween, I can’t resist going through my music collection and digging up some gothic and ghoulish tunes. Without fail, I gravitate to Midnight Syndicate. In my mind I equate them with more than Halloween parties and haunted houses, they fill the season itself for me. I still enjoy listening to both Vampyre and Born of the Night. So it is with mischievous glee that I listened to their latest album, Carnival Arcane.

As usual, Midnight Syndicate has crafted another wonderful “soundtrack for the imagination”. The new album centers around the Lancaster-Rigby Carnival, a turn-of-the-century nighttime traveling circus. Naturally some of the tracks are playful and whimsical while others have decidedly twisted and dark machinations. Not only will this album appeal to goth listeners and those seeking a new Halloween classic but to the steampunks who fancy something a little dark with their Victoriana.

Each of the songs on the album introduce the listener to the Carnival Arcane and the carnies who are part of it. Emz has already played some of the tracks so I’d like to review some of my favorites, though to be fair it was hard to choose only four to shine the limelight on.

As I said many are whimsical, but it is with “Agent of Fortune” that some of the shadows begin to play and can be found lurking. What dark magicks does Madame Zora call upon to tell you your fortune? Only by peeling back her tent’s door and paying the price will you know for sure.

Ah, the “Freakshow” — this is one spectacle I would really love to see become tradition again. This song really brings these curiosities to life, and in my mind it represents the somber life of the geeks and freaks.

Are you feeling poorly and out of sorts? Then step right up ladies and gents and dispel your maladies! “Dr. Atmore’s Elixirs of Good Humour and Fortification” will lift your spirits (and lighten your pocket). I love the way the crowd interacts with this one.

Are you afraid of clowns or jacks-in-the-box, boys and girls? Then “Goons and Greasepaint” will send chills up your spine as the cackles and antics of these dark jesters will really get to you. This one gets my vote for creepiest track of the album.

Old fans of Midnight Syndicate will not be disappointed as their trademark epic instrumental soundtrack feel is here in abundance, and you can see also that they have grown in their musical storytelling. I think this album will also be a great starter for those who might never have heard their music or for anyone who might have written them off in the past as “just Halloween party music”. For those steampunks out there who would like a soundtrack full of the ambiance of the freak shows and carnival days of old, you’ll be pleasantly impressed.

Horror Addicts 067, A-ha as a Horror Band?

Horror Addicts Episode# 067
Horror Hostess: Emerian Rich
Intro Music by: Saints Of Ruin
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1980s | The Thing | Sonik Foundry | My A-ha Obsession
Find articles at: http://www.horroraddicts.net

Click to listen:

| 3 little witches | 1980s horror music | the thing |
| string of pearls | victorianator | inkling |
| holographic keyboard | 100 word story | books |
| midnight syndicate | rise of nightmares | ha fan feedback |
| hijack the blog | gothhaus | dead Mail | events |
| masters of macabre | the human centipede | sonik foundry |
| emz a-ha obsession | martha stewart’s halloween issue |

Quills New Address: 13 Nightmare Lane

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Awen/168/179/23

String Of Pearls by Mike Mcgee

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76003

http://www.midnightsyndicate.com

Illamasqua – makeup for the dead

http://illamasqua.blogspot.com/2011/07/final-act-of-self-expression.html

http://www.syntheticsensations.com

Poet’s Flame Group

http://mediamender.com/m/groups/view/Poet-s-Flame

http://www.hauntcast.net

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http://m.podshow.com/media/18914/episodes/294205/horroraddicts-294205-09-01-2011.mp3

h o s t e s s: Emerian Rich
s t a f f
Knightmist, Sapphire Neal, David Watson, Ed Pope, Dan Shaurette
Want to be a part of the HA staff? Email emzbox@sbcglobal.net
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13 Nightmare Lane, Awen, Second Life

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Midnight Syndicate – New Release “Carnival Arcane”

 

 

Gothic horror soundtrack musicians MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE will be releasing their fourteenth studio album, entitled CARNIVAL ARCANE, on August 2nd. “The theme of the new disc surrounds the Lancaster-Rigby Carnival, a shadowy, turn-of-the-century traveling circus with more than a few skeletons in its closet,” said Edward Douglas.

“The Victorian and Edwardian eras are a big source of inspiration for us. They also marked the beginning of the heyday for traveling carnivals, so that’s the time period we chose to set the disc in. We spent a lot of time researching early-20th century circuses and carnivals to ensure that the sounds and music work together to really immerse you in this world and the time period.

There’s also a big tip of the top hat to Mr. Bradbury whose work inspired many of the more horrific elements that appear in the latter half of the disc.” CARNIVAL ARCANE also features the vocal talents of Jason Carter (LORD OF THE RINGS: BATTLE FOR MIDDLE EARTH, BABYLON 5, THE DEAD MATTER) and fellow THE DEAD MATTER cast members Brian Van Camp, and Dennis Carter, Jr.

The CD will be available through the Midnight Syndicate website, Amazon, iTunes, as well as at Halloween retailers nationwide. It will also be available at select Hot Topic stores starting August 8th. Preview tracks will be made available on the band’s Facebook page and website shortly.

From the CD insert:The train smoke drifting through the pale moon light signals the arrival of the Lancaster-Rigby Carnival. In a forest clearing, these mesonoxian visitors await your arrival. Stroll along the midway and behold wonders both fantastic and macabre from every corner of the globe. And be sure to ride their one of a kind carousel for an experience you’ll never, ever forget.

— 7/14/11

About Midnight Syndicate:
Midnight Syndicate has been creating instrumental Halloween music and gothic horror fantasy soundtrack CDs for the past fourteen years. The group’s music has become a staple of the Halloween season worldwide as well as a favorite in the haunted house, amusement park, role-playing game, and gothic music industries. Whether it’s being featured at Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights, on Monday Night Football, in an X-Box game, or being used as background music for writers like Brian Keene or Tamora Pierce, their CDs are designed to take listeners on journeys into the darkest, most fantastic corners of their imagination.

Midnight Syndicate – www.MidnightSyndicate.com

Midnight Syndicate on Facebook – www.Facebook.com/MidnightSyndicate

Midnight Syndicate Films’ The Dead Matter – www.TheDeadMatter.com

Inside Horror Music with Midnight Syndicate

Midnight Syndicate has been creating instrumental Halloween music and gothic horror fantasy soundtrack CDs for the past thirteen years.   The group’s music has become a staple of the Halloween season worldwide as well as a favorite in the haunted house, amusement park, role-playing game, and gothic music industries.   From Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights and Hugh Hefner’s Halloween parties to Monday Night Football, X-Box games, the classic Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, and Barbara Walters specials, their CDs are designed to take listeners on a journey into the darkest corners of their imagination.

Sin: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. I want to say first, FABULOUS work. You guys have been part of many really cool things. Before we get to that, how did Midnight Syndicate start?

MS: I had this idea for a band that would create “soundtracks to imaginary films” by blending instrumental music and sound effects.  I always enjoyed instrumental music as I felt that it left  interpretation completely up to the listener and really sparked the imagination.  Take that and add sound effects reminiscent of the radio dramas of the 30s and 40s or a really good horror film and you got a formula for transporting a listener to a world of their own creation.  I’m a huge horror movie, high fantasy, and supernatural buff  so almost every creative project I’ve ever done tends to head down a darker path.  Midnight Syndicate was no exception.   Gavin joined me as my writing partner on “Born of the Night” (our second disc) and we’ve been writing music together ever since.   We just celebrated the 13th Anniversary of our first disc so we’ve been doing a lot of looking back this past year.  It’s been a great journey so far.

Sin: Where do you take inspiration from?

MS: Horror movies, roleplaying games like “Dungeons & Dragons,” and “Call of Cthulhu,” history (especially the Victorian era), horror artwork, and stories of the supernatural.   For me, I have to add EC Comics, Twilight Zone, and Stephen King to that list.  I get a lot of inspiration from those stories.  

Sin: You guys are often known as “Halloween music” or “Haunted House music.” Are you comfortable with that and what genre would you say you think Midnight Syndicate fits in?

MS: We are.  We’ve made a mark in those areas and are proud of that.   When we were first starting out, there really wasn’t anyone else doing anything like this.  Fans of Halloween and Haunted house designers had a choice between a bunch of cheap recycled sound effect tapes from the 70s and Monster Mash-type party compilations.   We changed that by producing effective dark atmospheric discs that focused on the music as much as the sounds.   Quality too and taking a lot of time to get it as good as possible was and always has been a staple of what we do.  I think people appreciated that.   When you are the first to do something (as we were for haunted houses, Halloween retail, and roleplaying games) a lot of doors and opportunities can open for you.   Granted, the fact that we weren’t easily classifiable made it impossible for us to get a record or distribution deal (lots of rejection letters) but we combatted that by starting our own label and distributor, Entity Productions and that’s worked out pretty well for us.

Sin: You have worked with/provided tracks to many other artists over the years: Three-Six Mafia, Twiztid, The Misfits, King Diamond… is there a favorite piece that resulted from any collaboration with other artists or their using your compositions?

MS:  It has to be Three-Six Mafia’s rap track “Wolf Wolf.”  Ironically, I experimented with a vampire-themed rap track on our self-titled debut called “Premonitions of a Killer.”   The music was based on a musical theme I had written for the vampire character Vellich from the original 1995 version of “The Dead Matter” film.  I turned that musical theme into a rap track with vampire-themed lyrics written and performed by some friends of mine that went by the name Dark Side.  To hear a legendary rap act like Three Six Mafia take one of my songs  and turn it into a kick ass rap track was surreal.   To this day, that track is special to me on many levels.

Sin: Last year, AOL put out a list of the Top 10 Best Halloween CDs of all time. Three of these were Midnight Syndicate releases. That’s quite an achievement considering all of the Halloween and gothic-themed music that’s out. What is your reaction to that?

MS: It was awesome.   Both of us were happy and humbled.  It’s great for us because as a part of the Halloween holiday there’s at least one time of the year where we can hear our music playing in bigger venues to more of the general public whether it’s Halloween radio stations like AOL and Sirius XM, amusement parks, haunted houses, stores, tv specials, or homes that decorate for trick-or-treaters.  Definitely a bonus.

Sin: Midnight Syndicate created the first original soundtrack for the Hasbro roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons and has been featured in a few other computer games as well. How did that come about? Were you excited about these projects?

MS: Absolutely.   Both Gavin and I are huge fans of Dungeons & Dragons.  To to be asked to do the first official soundtrack to a game we grew up playing (and was a influence for our work in Midnight Syndicate) was an honor.   It also let us stretch our wings a bit since the theme dictated more of an  fantasy feel than the typical horror themes we deal in.  It was a great project and working with Wizards of the Coast was awesome.   The disc did really well for us and that led to some licensing opportunities with the folks who put together the game Shadowbane and Baldur’s Gate 2: Dark Alliance for the X-Box.   As a huge fan of the Baldur’s Gate franchise it was excellent hearing our music in there.
 
Sin: Tell us about The Dead Matter (movie). How did you become involved with it? Did you enjoy working on it? 
 
MS: I did an earlier version of “The Dead Matter” back in 1995 as my first project out of college.   We were really limited by the budget so our goal was to complete it and use it to put ourselves in a position to remake it with a budget down the road.   That opportunity came about through Midnight Syndicate and Robert Kurtzman ten years later.   We shot the new “The Dead Matter” movie in 2007 and released it on DVD this past year.  It’s a supernatural thriller about this relic that can raise and control the dead (“dead matter”).  It’s got both zombies and vampires mixed in there with lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing.   Unlike Midnight Syndicate, there’s also is a bit of humor in there which audiences seem to be enjoying.   I directed and scored the film as well as co-produced it with Robert and Gary Jones.  My goal was to make a film that would entertain people and it seems like people are having a lot of fun watching it (which is the a great feeling having worked on it for so long).  The whole process was a great, tremendous experience and I’m already looking forward to the next one.

Sin: In April of this year, you came out with your first music video for Dark Legacy and then in June, your second video, for the song Lost. What made you decide to do a music video and how was making it different from other projects you have worked on (if at all)? Were you happy with how both turned out?

MS: We were really happy with how they turned out.  As far as why we did it, we just felt that it was something way past due,  it would be a great thing our 13th Anniversary, and we knew they’d make cool extras for “The Dead Matter” DVD so we did it.   After coming off “The Dead Matter,” I wasn’t interested in directing the videos so it was really David Greathouse (for “Dark Legacy”) and Andy Smoley (for “Lost” ) that came up with the concepts and executed them both.   It was quite a different experience as Gavin and I are usually right in there on everything.   But when you trust the director’s vision (like we did with Andy and Dave) it makes it easy, even fun, to just sit back and watch them do their thing.  They are both two very talented directors.   The “Dark Legacy” music video marked the first time Gavin and I had played together live on stage so that was a lot of fun.   I loved the attention to detail Dave and the Precinct 13 artists put into the scenery and his whole vision.  In “Lost” I loved all the little references that Andy and the 529 Films team dropped in there.   From the “The Dead Matter” on the theatre marquee, on the television, and on the computer, to the radio station playing all Midnight Syndicate – it’s just really, really entertaining for me to watch.  

Sin: You are the inspiration and an influence for many other artists. Who would you cite as the influences behind Midnight Syndicate?

MS:  Musically our influences are film composers like Danny Elfman, John Carpenter, Jerry Goldsmith, Bernard Herrmann, Hans Zimmer, and James Horner as well as heavy metal artists like Black Sabbath and King Diamond.   I’m also influenced a bit by bands like Sisters of Mercy and Rob Zombie.   For Gavin it would be Dead Can Dance and early Genesis.   Movie sound design and the radio dramas of yesteryear have been a big influence on the Midnight Syndicate sound from the beginning.

Sin: What’s next for Midnight Syndicate?

MS: Gavin and I are at work on a brand new Midnight Syndicate CD we’ll be releasing in August of 2011.   It’s going to have a dark carnival theme with a twist.   After a year or so of post-production and handling the release of “The Dead Matter,” we’re just really excited to be getting back to making another Midnight Syndicate CD.

Find out more about Midnight Syndicate at: www.MidnightSyndicate.com