Front row with Midnight Hubris

Photography by @king_khanya

Front row with Midnight Hubris

My next interviewee for the FRM Blog is a real undiscovered gem. Someone I consider an artistic genius & self-taught musical prodigy, Miguel, aka 'Midnight Hubris', is a vocalist, producer and sound engineer (mostly self-taught) who also writes, plays guitar, drums, bass, piano and produces electronically.

I'd previously heard quite a bit of Midnight Hubris music through a mutual friend of ours, specifically both projects 'What's Going On?!' and 'Midnight FM!'. But 'SIRBUH' is the first official Midnight Hubris album offering with a developed plot & character and the finished product really shows. The artist authentically peels away the layers to his life and succinctly narrates stories surrounding deep topics, such as apathy and depression.

Photography by @king_khanya

The beginning of the album actually reminded me of the intro to Tyler the Creator's 'Cherry Bomb', so it came as no surprise when Miguel mentioned in our interview that he's highly influenced by the global artist and his unique talent for characterisation. The creation of alternative universes with fictional characters is precisely what allows SIRBUH the freedom to flow as what it is.

The album sounds wonderfully diverse, a fluid mix of different sonics exploring dreamy soundscapes coupled with jazzy basslines. You also still get a lot of raw hip hop in it too! Funny enough, most of my favourite songs on SIRBUH, like 'Coast2Coast' & 'I Think I Might Love Ya', included his long-time friend & collaborator, Yagatomo. I also really enjoyed 'NeverLoving' with Shoka Sunflower and 'You Can Chill Sometimes' featuring Bvse.

So, from explaining the meaning behind 'SIRBUH' & more – I had the absolute pleasure of virtually engaging Midnight Hubris to find out more about their journey into music thus far.

Photography by @king_khanya

Would you mind introducing yourself and including a short description of what you do?

MH: I create under the moniker Midnight Hubris but my name is Miguel and I’m a vocalist, producer and sound engineer. I really enjoy making music and being able to have as much control and understanding of it as I can. I’m mostly self-taught, I write, play guitar, drums, bass, piano and produce electronically on my laptop and then if there's something I can't do or think someone else would do better, I’ll bring them in and collaborate.

Photography by @king_khanya

When did you start making music? And when did the realisation point hit that this is what you wanted to pursue with your life?

MH: I’m 22 and I've been making music since I was 17, so its been about 4/5 years now. I've been dancing around my room pretending to be the lead singer of my favorite music since I was a little kid and the idea of being a musician was always something I thought about but I only actually realized I could make music at home when I was about 17. One of my old friends, Andy Rautenbach, that I met at school when I was like 7 is a really cool artist and I found out in grade 11 that he was making music in his room – and once I saw his setup and chilled with him in studio a few times, I started putting every bit of money I could get my hands on into building a studio.

Photography by @king_khanya

So your latest project – SIRBUH – which I really enjoyed by the way! You mentioned that it's an altar ego. Would you mind elaborating on this for the audience?

MH: I liked the idea of creating a character that I could express things through and not be forced to be fully attached to me and have to make everything so personal. Tyler the Creator is a big influence of mine and I liked how he created characters for every album. SIRBUH is an extreme and exaggerated figure that is raw and honest about their feelings and thoughts. The album was a combination of my own feelings, thoughts and experiences as well as things I had witnessed or been exposed to.

Photography by @king_khanya

I've actually heard quite a bit of your previous music through a friend of mine. So I've listened to 'What's Going On?!' & 'Midnight FM!'. How do you personally feel that SIRBUH differs from those, if you do at all?

MH: SIRBUH is my first full-length album with a developed plot and character. ‘Midnight FM’ was more of a mixtape just because of the way I compiled the songs and wasn’t really pushing a theme or anything – it was just a mix of songs I made at that time. ‘Whats Going On?!’ was a collaborative EP I made with Yagatomo during lockdown – a very good friend of mine who I found a lot of my sound and style with. We’ve spent countless hours in studio just making stuff whenever we could, I remember once we didn’t notice the sun had risen and we had gone right through the night. I've got a project coming out early next year that’s fully produced by Yagatomo that I'm really excited to share.

Photography by @king_khanya

Who do you collaborate with most when making your music?

MH: When Yagatomo and I were both still in our hometown East London in the Eastern Cape, we’d work together pretty regularly but now we try see each other whenever we're in the same town. I've also worked a lot with Shoka Sunflower (Yaga’s cousin), Uncle and Bahbahroo, who I met online. Now that I live in Cape town I work a lot with Bvse, Scintilla, IAmSlolo, Katzbru, Kila G, Richi Rich, GZS Creative and a bunch of others. Cape Town has so much diverse talent and it can be a beautiful place to be as an artist despite how difficult it can be to work in the entertainment industry.

Photography by @king_khanya

So what's next for Midnight Hubris in 2022 looking beyond?

MH: Right now I’m trying to educate myself more on how the business side of things work and how I can make more of an impact in Cape Town. I’m super excited for 2023, I have a bunch of different music I’m releasing: a RnB/Hiphop project fully produced by Yagatomo, a techno EP, an alternative electronic/ hyperpop EP. I'm working on the visuals for these projects and planning their release over the next few months in the earlier part of 2023. I also have a bunch of other music that’s gonna be apart of something else. I work on music almost everyday so I'm always making something new. A few of the artists I look to work with in the future are K.Keed, Laudable, Dee Koala, Blxckie and Insertcoinz.

Photography by @king_khanya