Midnight Shifter once again takes their high energy and funkadelic musical perspective to the stage at The Espy—this time it’s the Gershwin Room for the semifinals of Emergenza Festival Australia. Before they hit the stage, they sit down to talk to us about how the last show went, how they’ve grown since then, and what’s in store for this Thursday, June 19th at The Espy.

FOR THOSE WHO DIDN’T GET TO SEE YOU IN THE FIRST ROUND, CAN YOU INTRODUCE US TO YOUR BAND MIDNIGHT SHIFTER?
Well, our musical fellowship is made up of four. Firstly, ripping & tearing on the G-tar is Mr. Daniel Bochenek, myself Jacob Best dropping a pleasurable amount of bass in your ear holes. We have a tasty plate of vocals seasoned by Mr. Adrian Macleod, and driving the ship and steering us clear of icebergs on the drums is Mr. Nic Symons. If you put all of that in a pot and stir until sizzling you'll get a good serve of Midnight Shifter!

WHAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE FIRST ROUND FOR YOU?
I'd have to say just performing for everyone who was there to see us and all of the people stuck around. We got a pretty good reception from every one that watched, and were very grateful to everyone who came along. It was also really cool get to check out so many other awesome bands!

OUT OF ALL THE SONGS YOU PLAYED, WHICH ONE GOT THE BIGGEST REACTION OUT OF THE CROWD AND WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?
Hmmm, that's hard to say from a performer’s perspective. I think maybe “Dinosaur Song” just because I think that was the first time we had played it live and it has some crazy genre changes in it, which I think took people by surprise.

CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE FIRST ROUND AND WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM IT?
I think we figured out that it's good to try something different, especially because we only get a short set so we have to work even harder at winning over the crowd. Doing things you wouldn’t normally do helps by giving the audience something different.

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO BETWEEN GIGS AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING TO PREPARE FOR THE NEXT PHASE OF THE COMPETITION?
We've been doing plenty of gigs and have very recently been doing some recording, which we are pretty excited about and can't wait for people to hear. Also just continuing with our rehearsal routine, which keeps us sounding lively!

SO HOW DOES IT FEEL BEING ONE STEP CLOSER TO THE EMERGENZA FINALS?
Well we're all pretty keen to play the Gershwin room! It looks like an amazing stage and I can't wait get up there and try it out!

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR UPCOMING CONCERT AT THE ESPY?
Hopefully the opportunity to play for some people who haven't heard or seen us before, and as always a crack at that trip to Germany to play for some more people!

For more details on the show at The Espy, June 19th, click here.