Billing itself as "New York City's best-looking rock band," Open Till Midnight isn't short on hubris. In fact, the five-man group wears it like armor. As a rocker band hoping to graduate from playing cramped, sweaty NYC venues (cool as they may be) to headlining an arena tour, Open Till Midnight gets the importance of self-promotion. To hear the band tell the story, they are on the brink of breaking out. OTM just released their first LP. And they've got the buy-in of a pair of music veterans who know their way around producing songs that hit iTunes and Billboard charts.
Marc Swersky, a Grammy-winning songwriter, produced the LP and, to mix it, he brought in Mark Needham (who has worked with Shakira and The Killers, to name drop a few). "Having a pioneer and a legend mix our first LP gave us confidence," says Mike Cook, the band's lead guitarist and lyricist. Tracks one through ten were written during a six-year period in Cook's life and are a coming-of-age tale coated with post graduate-life themes: Love, loss, risk and reward. "The lyrics attempt to genuinely reflect real experiences by recalling a collective string of 'visual slides' that when placed together, form the narratives of each song," says Cook. "The lyrics aren't sugar-coated, they can be jagged yet refined and sometimes mixed with a shot of Jameson."
Unlike others in the indie-rocker scene, whose monastic devotion to the music makes them bristle at calculated marketing strategies, this Manhattan-born band embraces clever packaging. Promoting OTM as "basement frat party meets poetry club," Cook says the current lineup has been together for a year and a half. But he's been playing with Keith Gooberman (bass) and Ross Deutsch (guitar) since they were 16. Cook met Matt Ballinger (lead vocals) through a mutual friend and Zachary Eldridge (drums) joined OTM during open auditions last year. But the chemistry works, primarily because each member is dynamic in his own right. "When you're a five-member democracy with five passionate band members, agreeing on important factors that have to do with our music can lead to discord, arguments and exhaustion," Cook admits.
On the band's site, fans learn that, "Girls like Matt and Ross too (we're not sure why). Zach likes girls who like the drums. Keith likes girls who like Keith. Mike likes girls who break his heart (Mike writes the songs)". But a night out with the band really goes something like this: "Keith buys the Jameson (half the bottle is solely for himself). Mike gets philosophical and deep. Ross buys another guitar to serenade a girl and later buys her a drink on the band account. Zach orders some gluten free pizza and simultaneously enjoys some whiskey, all the while planning his entire schedule for the upcoming month and Matt, in his laid back manner, orders a pint of Guinness. After a few he's not so laid back anymore".
The problem with lots of music these days is that it often involves no live instruments, says Cook. "Bands that continue to innovate instrumentally, whose music comes off as authentic rather than trying to be something that it isn't," those are the bands that inspire and influence. It's a path OTM is passionate about and it's one that Cook hopes will soon land them at Madison Square Garden-his venue of choice, "Because we'd like to throw a proper party in our home town."
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