Midnight Juggernaut's Vincent Juggernaut: The New Gay Interview

Vincent Juggernaut enjoys a nice bottle of water.

Why doesn't anyone listen to me? I posted a preview of last Tuesday's Midnight Juggernauts concert, and still no one came. And I mean no one. I counted about sixty people there, which doesnt look like much in a space as big as the 9:30 Club. Everyone that did come, though, got to see a really cool show.

The Australian trio of Vincent Juggernaut, Andy Juggernaut (not their real last names) and Daniel Stricker first gained prominence by touring with Justice last fall, and struck out on their own this spring to promote their debut album Dystopia. The kind of band that's perfectly suited to a laser show, Midnight Juggernauts takes some bombastic cliches of late '70s, early '80s progressive rock and makes them seem contemporary. And really fun.

I went over to 9:30 before the show to have a chat with their frontman Vincent. And it goes without saying that Vincent is really cute, and I got nervous talking to him. You should all be lucky that I didn't ask any off-the-cuff questions about whether or not he's single, or if he's ever seen a grown man naked. Or if he wants to.

Full interview (and the picture that made my day) below the fold.

The New Gay Zack: You and Andy officially go by the last name of Juggernaut. Why did you change your names like this? Are you creating some kind of Juggernaut brand name?

Vincent Juggernaut: We like being this weird mysterious creation out there, people don't know if were married or siblings. It made things more interesting. We like playing around with the band's image. There's a lot of strange mysteries about this band, like we don't even know what Midnight Juggernauts means. I probably shouldn't admit that.

TNG: That's no problem, it'll make some of my other questions more interesting. What are your biggest musical inspirations?

VJ: There's a lot of them, we all have some pretty diverse tastes. Like I've always been into stuff from the seventies and eighties, anything from Gorgio morodor to Blondie to The B-52s, to Van Halen, to lots of other cheese which I probably shouldn't admit to. Andy the guitarist, he's really into old school metal like Slayer, and Daniel is into stuff like The Pixies. We're not really purists in any scene or genre, we're just general music fans.

TNG: A lot of band today seemed like they picked a sound from days of yore and updated it. Your band seems really prog-y...

VJ: Yeah, I guess we like being able to play and experiment with the music we like. We love pop music as well, we love pop hooks and melody, but the widest scope you can play with is that prog land, it's fun being able to go off on different tangents here and there. Who knows? The next album could be some really self-indulgent orchestral prog-rock masterpiece.

TNG: Speaking of orchestral pop, I have to ask you about ELO. Because I always like to ask bands about ELO. Do you make a conscious effort to sound like them?

VJ: We definitely love their music as well, there's so much cheese in ELO's catalogue, but there are also really good pop hooks. There's something about that really uplifting mood they get into in some of their songs that really appeals to me. So yeah, I'm fine with that ELO reference, it could be worse.

TNG: Is there any significant Australian rock scene?

VJ: Australia has a pretty healthy scene, it's so far away from the rest of the world that it's this strange oasis. Particularly in Melbourne, where I'm from, there's lots of live music venues so there's lots of band that can start up. It's really a healthy live scene which goes on down there, there have been a lot of straight up meat and potatoes rock bands like ACDC and that style, so there's a strong scene in that world. What we were doing was hard at the beginning, the synth pop crossover scene that we like playing with, but now that scene is growing in Australia and people's minds are opening down there, its easier for bands like us to get their music out.

Let the record show that Vincent put his arm around me. I was a gentleman and kept my hands to myself.

TNG: I've noticed that there's a lot of sci-fi imagery in your music. Your name sounds futuristic, and song titles like "Into the Galaxie," Shadows and "scorpius do too. Are you big sci-fi fans?

VJ: I probably was a sci-fi nerd growing up, I grew up with sci-fi films. I had literally thousands of sci fi and horror movies, and B-grade and X-rated videos.

TNG: What was your favorite?

VJ: I really like this film "Chariot of the Gods," it's a documentary from the early Seventies, it's about conspiracy theories of aliens visiting the earth, it's really funny. The one thing about all the films from that era is that the soundtracks really appeal to me as well. There's this mix of synth jams and orchestral flourishes here and there, I thought it was really evocative what you can do with that soundscape.

TNG: Is your album's title, "Dystopia," supposed to fit under that science fiction umbrella? It makes me think of Blade Runner, personally.

VJ: We liked the idea of having an album which had this dark mood to it, and the title was a dark feeling which we thought suited the album. Even though it has pop elements and it's optimistic, we like playing with light and shade throughout. So it's like these pop songs, but there's this darkness and melancholy progression which we like playing with.

TNG: Is any of it personal? Like with your song "Road to Recovery," people hear the word recovery and think of AA...

VJ: [Joking]We're all alcoholics! No, but I suppose they would be personal on some level but we haven't really climbed out of the depths at the moment. Maybe "Road to Recovery" could be recovering from the evening before...

TNG: Like "Road to Aspirin and a Bottle of Water?"

VJ: Yeah, thats it...

TNG: You have been in many "Bands to Watch in 2008"-type lists in music magazines. Are you getting overhyped? Is it intimidating to have reputation preceding you?

VJ: I don't really know what goes on around me. We're happy that people get into the music but we try not to get too involved in those kind of lists because they can just as easily turn around and bite you. The music is going to get exposure, we try not to take too much to heart. With the music industry and the press, there will always be trends where people might be into something this week and then attack it the next week. , We've always made sure that we're making music because we love and are passionate about what we do, about writing and creating and performing. As long as we keep that up we'll be ok. TNG