The Midnight Expresso

Midnight Expresso - Man of Straw from Fat Rat Films on Vimeo .
Myspace Editor
Pimp MySpace
THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESSO STORYTHE MIDNIGHT EXPRESSOThe Midnight Expresso is one man, whose real name, for the time-being at least, shall remain a secret. But one thing that you can be very sure of is that he's tearing the capital a new one with a spell-binding mix of cabaret, hip-hop, jazz and electro; armed with just his trusty Yamaha keyboard and a mask that keeps his identity hidden, he's been playing some of the hottest gigs around – supporting the likes of New York's hottest new things, Chairlift, and a support slot at the recent Pete & the Pirates show at ULU, as well as having been invited to perform at the original Barfly club in Camden, as part of North London's biggest new year's eve extravaganza, The Chalk Farm Jamboree, supporting Kanye West collaborator Mr Hudson. Following the debut airing of the Midnight Expresso’s ‘Man of Straw (Black Rainbow)’ by Radio 1’s Rob Da Bank, 2009 promises to be a busy year for him, with several summer festivals lined up already. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////////////////////////////////////////Where did he come from? He began to flex his creative muscles at the tender age of nine, when he created and published his own comic – entitled The Midnight Expresso, it followed the adventures of a fictional spy/superhero whose powers were held in a magical guitar. In a perfect example of life imitating art, at the age of twenty he moved to the island of Jersey and, after winning a keyboard in a raffle, decided to take up music, performing under the aforementioned moniker. 'I asked a local promoter for a gig one day, without really considering the fact that I would have to actually write some songs', he says, 'when it came to the day of the show, I quickly scribbled down some song titles on a notepad, and that was my set list.' Using the titles as cues, he ad-libbed the entire show (lyrically and musically), and, along with the audience, was hooked. It's a formula that he still occasionally employs today. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////////////////////////////////////////Where is he now? Following this reclusive spell with another, upon return to London, he rented a barge in Limehouse Dock, which has been his residence ever since, and in which he's been writing and recording such whimsical/ hilarious/ ingenious/ ridiculous (delete according to taste) as the hip-hop tongue-twister 'Mirror Mirror', and the darkly comic bossa-nova number, 'Man of Straw' which contains the unforgettable line, 'I am a man of means/ Beans means Heinz means I am a can of beans/ I am a man of my word/ But the word's more absurd than the murder of mockingbirds' Using just the keyboard demos, and the occasional cowbell or egg-shaker, he boils music down to its pure essence, with a focus on simple melody of a song, but never without an oddball sense of humour – if you want an easy comparison – the likes of Wesley Willis, John Shuttleworth and Har Mar Superstar spring to mind. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////////////////////////////////////////Why? Drawing on a borderline obsession with elevator Muzak and restaurant lounge singers, combined with an interest in Victorian end-of-the-pier performance, his unique act won him a cult following on the island, before moving back to his hometown of London, but not before a six week detour to a caravan in deepest Cornwall. 'I rented this place not far from Land's End, and holed up with the keyboard and bought the only recording equipment I could find in the area, a Fisher Price tape recorder from a car boot sale… I recorded about thirty-five songs or so, all under the influence. Where the tape went, I have no idea – I'll dig it out eventually.' //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////////////////////////////////////////His identity shall remain a secret, but those that have tracked him down include the likes of Pete & the Pirates, Chairlift, Agaskodo Teliverek, and the Camden Barfly, and have been turned on to his lyrical charms enough to ask him to perform. Members of Art Brut are known to be fans, turning up to see a recent support slot with Screaming Tea Party in Angel. He was even invited to Jersey Live festival this year to play on a bill that included The Prodigy, The Zutons and Foals. It's hard to put your finger on what it is, but something seems to have got indie music's finest a bit excited.