September 28, 2009 The Captain Midnight Band Interview with Music Without Labels & Beat-Play
The Captain Midnight thing started in Oxford, MS around 1992 as part of a theatrical rock band called “Cardinal Fluff”. The band was formed as a backlash to the “Grunge” movement, which was itself a backlash to the unending parade of “Hair Metal” bands coming out of L.A. in the late 80’s. Lots of lashing going on. We were writing suggestive lyrics and doing perverse things onstage, and in order to protect our parents’ professional careers, we adopted aliases. I became Captain Midnight during a wild, LSD-fueled vision quest.
When Cardinal Fluff folded in 1999, I moved to New Orleans and kept the Midnight persona intact. I became involved with some UNO Jazz students who were short a guitar player. We developed into a Jazz-Rock-Hip-Hop-Jam band called “CRÖNK” and had some success. We were doing shows with guys like Galactic, Merl Saunders & Melvin Seals, as well as playing Jazz Fest, French Quarter Fest, doing some cool tours, etc. all within months of the bands inception.