If the names Clayton Stroope (Vocals), Drew Cribley (Guitar) and Paul Niedermier (Drums) sound familiar, it’s because you’ve heard them before. The Bay Area band Midnight Cinema is a reincarnation of sorts of the Gold-selling band, Thriving Ivory. Their self-titled Wind-up Records debut album in June 2008, reached #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart on the strength of certified Gold single "Angels on the Moon", selling over 500,000 copies. They were also chosen by VH1 as a “You Oughta Know” artist, and their second studio album, Through Yourself & Back Again was released in September 2010. After having huge success with Thriving Ivory, their relentless touring schedule took a toll on the band. Shortly into their tour of the second album, they parted ways with piano player/ songwriter, Scott Jason.

While on the road in support of Through Yourself & Back Again, Clayton, Paul and Drew stopped off in New York to write with Gregg Wattenberg and Derek Fuhrmann. ‘“Holding my Breath” was the first song we wrote together,” said Drew Cribley. On subsequent trips throughout 2011, Clayton, Drew, Gregg and Derek wrote four more songs. “When we were deciding whether or not these songs would be the next Thriving Ivory album, we realized the group was moving in a new direction,” said Cribley.

In this new burst of adrenaline and creativity, Midnight Cinema was born. During this time they continued to write and produce songs at Drew's home studio in Oakland. Again not knowing what the songs would be used for but following the wave of creativity they compiled Midnight Demos 2013 and shortly thereafter followed with the single "Love Your Lights Out". These songs along with "Counting Down", a song about capturing the fleeting moments in relationships and trying to hold them as long as possible; "Lightning in a Bottle", which talks about the creative spark that inspires us to make music and art and follow our dreams; and "Slow Motion", which describes the feeling that comes in the wake of losing someone you love, make up Midnight Cinema's first full length album Lightning in a Bottle.

“One of the hardest parts of the transition process was coming up with a band name,” said Cribley. When they were Thriving Ivory their music was mostly piano driven. Now with Midnight Cinema they wanted something different to match their evolution as both a band and as songwriters: "Midnight Cinema is a term that comes from the non-mainstream films shown at midnight in cinemas that developed cult audiences around the 1970's. Many times it encouraged audience participation and repeat viewing . . . kinda like we do". 

"We're too far out/We're in too deep/And we've got miles to go before we can sleep...And if it takes us all night long/We're going back where we belong."
~Where We Belong

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