Turkey sandwich is a song is about fighting your own problems, especially the ones you’ve created yourself, say Midnight honeycake - INTERVIEW
“Dave: “I hope our music overall inspires other local artists to release whatever they can. We’re perfectionists, which is both a blessing and a curse. It took us months, even years, to release what we truly wanted to release. But I believe people should feel more comfortable sharing the art they create, even if it’s not “perfect.”
Justin: “I agree that I hope our music inspires other local artists, and in general I’ve always wanted to be part of a good local musaic scene, so I hope our shows bring us different bands and artists in and around Prague together for some fun times. A dream for me one day would be if someone was inspired to cover one of our songs and play them at their own show, that would be so cool.”
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Midnight honeycake filming (A)VOID sessions, photo Lux Praguensis
Marie: How did you start out as an artist/band - how and when did it begin?
Dave: “The start of the band will always be funny to me. I met Justin in the toilet of a club where he was performing with another band and I just started talking to him. It must have been awkward, but for some reason we met again later to play guitar together, and after just two rehearsals, we had our first show. On the way there, we found out the venue had a drum kit. So I called my childhood friend who plays drums and asked him to join us, one hour before the show. That night was both our first rehearsal and our first gig.”
Justin: “It was an interesting point in my still new experience in Prague at the time. I had taken opportunities to start playing music around Prague, even starting some sort of ‘proto-bands’ here in the sense that some bands formed in the early stages but never really had the consistency to stick yet.
So, one night I was playing with one of these ‘proto-bands’ at a pretty well known underground music club here in Prague.. and I met David that night, as he said in the men’s bathroom, at this club during one of our breaks.
Some time had passed after that and I had pretty much been done with these new band experiences in Prague and just started focusing on playing solo gigs more consistently and earning more money through that. One of these nights of a solo gig (again, at this underground club) I first had the idea to see if Dave was interested in joining for a guitar duo gig. And the rest was history..”
Marie: Tell me more about the new single Turkey sandwich - the recording process, who produced/engineered it and if they have any other successes?
Dave: “I produced this song in my bedroom years ago, but back then it sounded completely different from what it is today. After showing it to my mates, we reshaped it into the sound we have now.”
Justin: “This new single is called ‘Turkey Sandwich’ and we’re very excited to finally release it. We feel like it's a good representation of the first time we’ve all come together as a band and crafted a full song.
Dave’s colleague, Lukáš Musil, did the mixing/mastering on this, and will be the one to continue working on our upcoming debut album. We’re stoked to see how he produces/engineers, and love the work he’s done so far. We mostly recorded this single on our own and then brought it to Lukáš to work on from there, but the rest of the album will be recorded with him.”
Marie: What is the single inspired by? What is the story behind it?
Dave: “For me, this song is about self-reflection and fighting your own problems, especially the ones you’ve created yourself. It could be bad habits, thoughts, or the way you interact with others. It’s about facing those inner battles and realizing that only you can truly deal with them.”
Justin: “I also feel that for me it's a reflection on one’s own bad habits, even to a toxic point at times. For me, the yelling “I think I’ve had enough, you’re looking for a fight tonight…”, are directed inward as a self-warning to cut the bullshit, maybe you’ve had one too many drinks one night and start behaving a bit unlike yourself, for example.
And the title of the song actually came from a funny internet meme which is completely unrelated to the meaning of the song (to be honest), but we got a kick out of it and it stuck.”
Marie: Tell me a little more about the writing process. Is it stream of consciousness type writing or more planned and thought out? Is there an underlining theme in your music?
Dave: “We try to approach songwriting differently each time. Sometimes we start with vocal melodies, other times we create the full instrumental first and then sit down together to write the lyrics. That’s what I like about us, we keep finding new ways to create, and so far, it’s been working for us.
Justin: “Something I talked about with Dave is how for me, I really find I work best in writing when someone is there to collaborate and spark an idea. I appreciate Dave for often contributing that first part, and then bringing a music idea to myself and Luky to add the rest such as lyrics, further melodies, etc.
In terms of theme, I feel like so far our individual writings have focused on the typical heartbreak love themes in the past, but now focusing a bit more inward on self reflection, bad habits, depression and anxiety, time and aging. With all that being said, I’d look forward to exploring some more positive themes after this debut album is done.”
Marie: Where was the new release written? How does place and time influence you and your writing process?
Dave: “We wrote the lyrics for this song in one sitting at Luky’s (our drummer’s) apartment. It was a lot of fun brainstorming ideas and seeing everyone’s vision and direction for the theme of the song. In two hours it was all done and we were eating kebabs. Good times.”
Marie: Were you listening or watching anything in particular quite a bit during the recording and writing process?
Dave: “Probably ‘Breaking Bad’”
Justin: “Probably ‘Better Call Saul’.”
Marie: Do you think there is a perfect time and place to listen to the single, does it lend itself to a particular listening experience?
Dave: “I wouldn’t say there’s a perfect time to listen to this song, but I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to get to know us better. Since it’s the first song we ever wrote together as a band from scratch, it really represents who we are and the direction we’re heading in.”
Marie: If you could hope that your music inspires someone to do something, what would that be?
Dave: “I hope our music overall inspires other local artists to release whatever they can. We’re perfectionists, which is both a blessing and a curse. It took us months, even years, to release what we truly wanted to release. But I believe people should feel more comfortable sharing the art they create, even if it’s not “perfect.”
Justin: “I agree that I hope our music inspires other local artists, and in general I’ve always wanted to be part of a good local music scene, so I hope our shows bring us different bands and artists in and around Prague together for some fun times. A dream for me one day would be if someone was inspired to cover one of our songs and play them at their own show, that would be so cool.”
Marie: Tell me more about your musical influences? Are you hoping to achieve a certain sound or theme on your new release?
Dave: “My musical influences vary a lot. I grew up on classics like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, but during my teenage years I got into punk rock and metalcore. I try to blend all the styles of music I love.”
Justin: “Most of my musical influences come from a rock background, but I try to take some influence from all genres that I enjoy like hip hop, reggae, electronic, and more. But generally speaking I feel like I’ve always wanted some foundation in my music of alt/indie rock with some punk and heavy vibes, but that I also want freedom to infuse some of those other genres I mentioned depending on the song and vibe.”
Marie: Tell me more about you and your successes as an artist?
Dave: “Actually I think our biggest success is simply moving forward with our plans as a band and still pushing on. We’re adults with regular jobs now, and time is incredibly precious these days. It honestly feels like a miracle that we’re such close friends and a band at the same time, and that we still find the time to work on our music together.”
Justin: “So far I’d agree that our success so far is what we’ve managed so far to just keep this momentum as a growing band going, and that we maintained our friendships along the way. I know we have plenty to be proud of already, but there are plenty of milestones I can envision for us reaching eventually.
For now, I just think its cool we are checking off boxes I always imagined doing like releasing a proper single with unique cover art we made ourselves (thanks Luky), or that we played our first festival gig last summer, or that we printed our first T-shirts a couple weeks ago - I like these little milestones we’re clearing and look forward to the next bigger ones.”
Marie: What are your hobbies/interests outside of music? Anything else I should know about you?
Dave: "I like learning new things. I both love and hate the feeling of being bad at something and then watching myself improve. I enjoy running, working out, cooking, reading novels, and playing video games when I have the time."
Justin: “I actually also feel that love for learning new things. For me I want to keep improving the skills I have whether it’s in music writing, performing, engineering etc. Or learning new languages when possible.
I also love working out, exploring different areas in sports when possible, traveling, any kind of art, photography, the occasional video games and series binging…I think that covers it. And also a little bonus info I studied ecology/environmental science, and try to be ecologically minded in general habits etc., and will see what other ecological opportunities will pop up in life.
Quick fire questions
The first thing I do when I get home is…
Dave: “take off my shoes and outside clothes.”
Justin: “actually same as Dave, then I probably fire up the YouTube shortly after if I’m being honest”
I’ve always wanted to go to…
Dave: “back in time to when I was in high school, but with my current mind, just to flex on my classmates.”
Justin: “space.”
Being a twin is…
Dave: “something I don’t really know about.”
Justin: “something Dave definitely doesn’t know about.”
Worst joke I’ve heard…
Dave: “was probably something I said in fifth grade when I tried to impress my crush.”
Justin: “Why did the can crusher quit his job? It was soda pressing..”
First thing that comes to mind when seeing a giraffe…
Dave: “is wondering how the first people who ever saw this animal reacted. Like seriously, how did they even explain it to others? ‘Yeah, it’s kind of like a horse… but with a two-meter-long neck?!”
Justin: “The first thing that came to mind was 1) I used to have a badass giraffe onesie and 2) I just picture one of those memes that’s like “how would a giraffe wear pants??” and then imagine different ways that a giraffe could wear pants. Or like how would it wear a tie? Would the tie go to the top of the neck or the bottom?? I think I spend too much time online.”
