Like father, like son. Midnight Kids have built a name for themselves in the EDM world. The group has gained some fans by remixing The Chainsmokers, Louis The Child, The Temper Trap and more. After pulling in millions of Spotify streams and YouTube views, the band – who remained anonymous up to this point – decided to write an original track — and to reveal their true identities. As it turns out, Midnight Kids are Kyle Girard and Dylan Lee. It seems while Dylan’s older brother, Brandon Lee, has been beefing with their father, Tommy Lee, Dylan has avoided the drama by throwing himself into music.
In celebration of the release of their first original song, “Find Our Way,” Girard EXCLUSIVELY talked with HollywoodLife.com about the significance of electronic music, about how “lucky” they’ve been to have their families’ support from the beginning, and when fans can see Midnight Kids play their very first gig.
Hollywood Life: What does the name of the band actually mean to you?
Kyle Girard: Midnight Kids to me is all about creating a community of people who are all about staying true to their youth, the ones staying up late not caring what the world thinks about them. Midnight Kids is a mindset and a lifestyle more than anything, and I truly feel that the name alone is something that anyone can instantly connect with.
“Find Our Way” is a very important track for you. What does that song really mean to you? And what should we expect to take from it when it is released?
“Find Our Way” means a lot to me personally. The lyrics were inspired by what I was going through at the time we wrote it. When we were in the studio writing the lyrics with klei, I told her about the last day I spent with my family and my girlfriend before I moved to LA. While it’s one of the hardest sacrifices I’ve had to make in order to pursue music full time, we knew that everything was going to turn out okay in the end regardless of how far away I was. The main thing I want people to take away from “Find Our Way” is that as hard as things may become, they will always get better.
Was it hard to keep it all a secret on who you guys were and why now did you want to reveal to the world who you guys are?
It was definitely a bit of a challenge keeping the project a secret for so long. Our manager, Dylan and I all felt that now was the perfect time to announce who we were, in conjunction with our first single.
Why electronic music?
Electronic music has been my escape for 8 years now, Dylan for almost 5. Being able to create any sound or invoke any feeling is what drew me to electronic music, I always found an incredible amount of happiness being able to sit in my room for hours on end creating different worlds and sounds that were direct representations of my emotions at the time. “Find Our Way” is no exception. Every sound we created and every lyric we wrote stemmed from how we were feeling at the moment.
Would you like to dive into other types of music and is this just the start of your musical journey?
It would be amazing to, at some point, create an experience similar to what Above and Beyond has done with hosting orchestral performances of some of their best songs. I’ve always been a huge fan of all types of music and I feel that Midnight Kids could eventually explore different genres of music. While both Dylan and I have been making music for as long as we can remember, we’re always looking to what we can create next.
Who else influences you musically?
Justice, Oliver, and Madeon are huge influences of the Midnight Kids sound. We take inspirations from all genres though, people like The 1975 and Charlie Puth are always putting out amazing music.
How has both yours and Dylan’s family and loved ones been supportive of your work or inspired you in your music?
We’re very lucky that our families have been supportive of us since day one. We both started playing music at a very young age, never being forced to play anything but simply doing it because we enjoyed it so much. Having the choice to be as free as we want in pursuing music, I feel, is most of the reason we’ve gotten as far as we have, especially when having such a great support system behind us.
When it comes to more original music over remixes, what can you share about the future of that apart from “Find Our Way?”
I can’t announce anything officially just yet, but we’re working on both remixes and originals that we’re very excited about.
Music brings people together, in times of fun and struggle. I would assume that might even happen for your band. How does music help enhance relationships or mend wounded ones?
I’ve always found solace in listening to music. We hope that our music and message is something that people can connect with and be a part of.
Where would you like to see yourselves this time next year? What are some major goals you need to achieve?
We would love to be on the road performing. We’re actually playing our first show this August in Chicago as part of an official Lollapalooza afterparty which we’re really excited about. It would be awesome to release an EP at some point, that’s something we’re constantly working towards, as well as building out our vision for Midnight Kids. We want to make sure everyone feels included and has a voice that is heard.