The music industry seems to be taking itself a little too serious these days. We need some fun and excitement injected back into to it. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Midnight Devils. They are a high-energy band that takes glam rock to modern places. They hail from Omaha, NE, and Chicago, IL, and the power-trio consists of Sam Spade on bass and vocals, Chris ‘Sniper’ Hineline on guitar, and Jimmy Mess on drums. They’ve played with The London Quireboys, The Bulletboys, Enuff Z’Nuff, Yngwie Malmsteen and Pretty Boy Floyd just to name a few.
Music is an escape for so many people and these guys want to help you do just that. Their new album Never Beg For It dropped on 7/1 via Pavement Entertainment with none other than Chip Z’Nuff of Enuff Z’Nuff producing. Our first time working with the guys was back in 2020 when we did an Artist Spotlight on them. Fast forward to 2022 and we sat down with The Midnight Devils’ frontman/bassist Sam Spade recently. The guys had just got back home from playing and were about to hit the road again!
Sam Spade/The Midnight Devils: Hey man! We just got back from playing RockFest and it was so weird being up there. We were around some of the nicest people we have ever met. The crowds, the security, everybody was just so nice.
That was probably a welcome change from some of the things that you have experienced.
Yeah, exactly.
Let’s jump into this so I can let you get back to your busy schedule. Was your debut done independently?
Yeah, it was all independent. We funded that and we did everything ourselves. This new one was done with Pavement. We signed with them in 2020 or very early in 2021. Pavement was the only label that understood what we were doing. They were the only ones. The bigger ones wanted us to turn this down or said ‘you’re too wild, you’re too glam it’s too much. ‘Pavement got what we were doing. They said ‘we love it; let’s do this!
We’re fans of Pavement and the way they do things. They get it because they’re fans. They’re not just suits and ties; they’re actual fans of the music.
Anytime we need something, they’re there to help us. I guess at the end of the day, that’s what you want. A record label that is going to help feed the vision.
How did you first make the connection with Chip (Z’Nuff)?
We’ve been doing shows with him for the last two or three years. Jimmy xxxxx actually lived with Chip if you can actually imagine both of them under the same roof. They lived together and it was kind of natural for a Chicago band and an Omaha band to start playing shows together. They were our heroes, so it was such a cool thing to watch these guys every night and learn their wisdom from them. It’s a testament to how many years that he’s been going. They’re the hardest-working band I’ve ever seen.
We just did the Glam Slam Metal Jam tour and even after all these years we never really got a chance just to hang out until now. We would all go to dinner together, Enuff Z’Nuff and The Midnight Devils. We’d go into places and people would start screaming at the top of their lungs. Chip would be smoking weed at the bar. I thought this was the coolest thing ever. After dinner, it was a three joint party every night. You didn’t want to get on your phone or anything because you didn’t want to miss a minute of it. We would take the party back to the hotel and just spent hours and hours talking. It was such a blast! Chip would be up just as late as us talking and listening to tunes and smoking weed. It was just so awesome!
Chip is definitely a funny guy with the greatest stories and what a sense of humor. Speaking of Chip, you did the first album yourselves and with this one you had Chip on board as produce. What was it like working with him? What do you think he brought? Did he push you out of your comfort zone any? Which is not always a bad thing to do.
It was such a great experience working with him. The way we did things was we wrote the songs out and did them in the studio as demos in Omaha. Then, we shipped them off to Chicago. A couple of weeks later, we went down there and rehearsed and started recording. We went to that same first studio to record our demos, but the first record we didn’t even know how to start a record out. Where do we start, what do we do? With Chip at the helm, we knew everything had to be spot-on; the songs had to be great. He comes in and 30 records and two number one songs really speak volumes to me on the songwriting skills and the way he listens to the music. So he listened to our demos and he said we’re going to fix this, we’re going to do this, and I’m going to change this. You have to bring the best when working with Chip. We all went home after the recordings and I remember we were listening to it thinking holy shit, this is us. This sounds so good and so different from the first record. We went in to record a song called “Highway 69” which is the first single and a song that everyone seems to be talking about. We go in to record on that first day and I’m cutting the vocals and there’s a knock on the door. You never know who’s going to show up at Chip’s house and it was Donnie Vie (original Enuff Z’Nuff singer). He was there on the sofa with Chip and he’s like ‘come on bro, play those songs.’ He listened to them and he thought they were perfect the way they were.
I think I would freak the hell out as well seeing those two together in the same room especially being such a big fan of the band. When you guys started preparing for this album did you start writing when you come off the road or did you write on the road? Maybe these were some old demos that you dusted off and finished up?
There was one song called “Squeeze Me Dry” that Sniper did. That was one that pre-dates the first album. It was one that we had written for another band and we decided to re-do it and make it sound the way that we wanted it to sound. They were a couple of others that we had written in our down time before we went out on the road. We had planned on being on the road the rest of the year and then Covid happened which was terrible but also a godsend. We now had the time to sit there and work out these songs instead of having to rough it out and do them in the hotel rooms while we were on the road.
Covid actually gave a lot of artists down time that they weren’t used to having so I knew they were going to be some great art that came out of this. If there’s a plus because of COVID, that was it and I think we’re seeing it now enter
It was almost like a Renaissance. All that down time is producing a lot of great art that we’re seeing right now.
Did you record more than the 11 tracks that ended up on the album?
We had 10, so when we went in to record the album Chip told us that the label wanted a cover for a single. He told us to come in tomorrow to start recording and we’re going to have a single that the label wants us to do. We thought what in the world are we going to do? We were in the van in Chicago going down the road to go get some hot dogs and “Working For the Weekend“ came on the radio and we said ‘that’s it, that’s the one!’
It’s a great cover and that video is so much fun. Are you guys doing your own take of the whole Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley Chippendale skit from SNL?
Yes, they call him The Pink Bastard from parts unknown and he’s becoming our mascot. He’s actually my cousin and he’s into cosplay and acting. He’s a riot and he’s having so much fun. All of that energy is just so infectious.
It really is! How could you watch that and not have fun?
We do all this stuff that we think is funny and we put it into our shows. We throw out these pink $69 bills. From the stage it looks like confetti showering down. We did it because we thought it was funny and it’s really worked out really well.
You know that element of fun is really missing in music today.
You’re right; it really is. We thought it would be fun. Bands have done it before so it’s not reinventing the wheel. It’s just putting a new spin on it. It’s an old Alice Cooper gimmick and other bands have done it but with us it’s $69 bills. The crowd goes crazy trying to get them and at the end of the night they’re holding him up while we’re taking pictures.
I’ve seen Alice over the last several years in concert and people actually get into fights trying to get those when they fall.
I threw out at least 100 last night and the night before and there was not one lying on the ground at the end of our show.
You did it as something fun and something that was simple but it’s turned into something much bigger.
Yeah, pun intended (laughs). It’s become a keepsake of the show. Every fan that comes in and sees the show that grabs one and takes it home then they’ll remember us.
Had you guys already planned on going with that one for the single or did you go with it because people were gravitating towards it for some reason?
I think it was the first song that we had finished for the record and it had already been in our live set. Everyone said they loved it, but I was on the fence about it as a single. We decided to go with it for the single even though it kind of hit us out of left field. We planned on “Working for the Weekend” to be the first single and first video but this came out of nowhere. So now there will be a video for that it too. The record company was coming to us and said the first week we were up to 3,000 streams and the next week is 11,000 streams. There’s some momentum there so let’s capitalize on it. So, to celebrate our first single coming out there will be a 12-inch single with “Highway 69” and “Working for the Weekend” etched vinyl. It’s going to be so cool and limited to 300 copies I’ve always wanted to be on vinyl and I think it would be a great way making that dream a reality
You guys are really on top of your game when it comes to merch. You can tell that there’s a lot of emphasis put into it. Do any of you guys have an art background or do you give these visions to someone else to help create?
We’ve been blessed with having great artists around us. I can use Photoshop and I can get to a certain point, but I’m not a drawer by any means. There’s a girl here in Lincoln, Nebraska named Livi Ahlrichs who is doing a ton of stuff. There’s another artist in Japan Yuko Yukumyawho also does amazing work. My go to designer is Rico Childs in Omaha. We have these artists who get what we’re doing. I came from the background of loving KISS. We turned it into this freeform creative thing with the devil character itself has become a human doing human things, just natural human funny things. The more that we think about it the sky is the limit you can really do what you want and still think it’s funny. It’s that KISS influence but for the next-generation. Bands like The Misfits had such great imagery and graphics and I wanted to capture that because I think that is something that separates a really good band from one that’s not as good. I think it’s that creative side that you want to explore.
I think this whole digital generation is really missing out on that artwork and imagery. There’s no great cover art, there are no liner notes or any of that stuff that you get with a physical copy of something. Look at bands like KISS or Iron Maiden or The Misfits. You lose all that in the digital world. It’s something that’s been lost on this digital generation and the digital world in general. Guys like you or keeping it alive and turning it on to a whole new generation who are not aware of what they missing inter
I think it’s made bands lazy for lack of a better term. I’m always looking for good artwork. Just the other day I was talking to this girl who said she wasn’t sure about buying a CD because she didn’t have a CD player in her car. She said that she would probably just download it. I told her whoa, digitally you don’t get any of the artwork or any of the liner notes. You don’t get the smell. And she was like ‘smell?’ Have you ever smelled a freshly open CD or freshly opened album or even an old album? They have this distinctive smell and it’s an exciting thing. I feel like when you put an album out there’s a whole lot of thought that goes into the story and digitally half of the thought is lost.
I don’t think digital downloads sound as good as a CD or an album these days. It’s just so compressed that you just not getting the whole thing.
I think the last one that I listened to was the latest Michael Monroe record. I’m a huge fan, but I listened to the record and I thought this is good but I don’t get the story, I am kind of lost. I really feel like having that CD or album in front of you while you’re listening to it makes all the difference in the world.
It’s a very exciting time for us right now and we are staying so busy. I am shipping out CDs as well. All of the orders come from me so I pack them up and ship them from my apartment. I have my goals like how many CDs do I want to sell because this is a big deal. We’ve been shipping out CDs like crazy. We have a big homecoming show next week in Omaha, Nebraska. We have a little bit of time off in August and then we make our big return to the Rocklahoma Festival. It is massively huge and I think we have done it four times. We have not done it the past couple of years and this will be our big return. Then we join back up with Pretty Boy Floyd for a few dates. Then in October we pick back up with Enuff Z’Nuff and Pretty Boy Floyd for the second leg of the Glam Slam Metal Jam. The plan is to go to Europe in November and the plan after that is to start a new record.
Wow you guys are really staying active!
I think you have to capitalize on the momentum. Nobody is going to give it to you for free so you just have to go for it. You have to keep going no matter what, playing every night and touring no matter how many people are there. We follow by Chip’s example. We see him every night going out there and talking to people and cracking jokes.
You have one hell of a guy to learn from right there. It’s been a blast talking with you today, but I know we need to wrap this up. We like to end this with something we call Three for the Road. It’s three fun questions throw at you that hopefully you don’t normally get. Who was your first celebrity crush?
It was a weird time in the 90s. I wish I had something cooler to say because your question’s right on the spot. Britney and Cristina were on MTV all the time and Gwen Stefani too. I’m not the biggest fan of their kind of music but I like what they had going on.
If you could have anybody be your inner voice, who would it be?
This is a running joke with us. It would have to be Arnold Swartzenegger. (In a great Arnold voice) ‘What time is practice? What time do we go on?’ We even put a picture of him on one of our shirts. He’s holding a sword with three hotdogs on it because we’re always eating hotdogs.
Last one: if music was over tomorrow and you had to go into the world of professional wrestling, what would your wrestler name be?
We’re huge professional wrestling fans. Jimmy has a really good one; he has a whole back story worked out moves and everything. I think I would be a Luchador with a mask. I think I would be a masked man a bandit if you will. Hold on; let me go ask Jimmy real fast. Hey Jimmy, if music was over and you became a wrestler, what would your wrestler name be?’
Jimmy: Jumbo Jim Thrash one half of The Thrash Brothers. My partner is The Real Bad Buddy Thrash.
Sam: He’s even as a catchphrase and everything. I believe the finishing move is the thrash punch. He’s put a ton of thought into it.
You guys could be this generation’s version of The Freebirds, but with a glam slam twist!
I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price
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