A Dirty Dozen with ROSS MORGAN from LONG AFTER MIDNIGHT – September 2025

According to a recent press release: “Long After Midnight is an industrial rock, pop, and metal band hailing from Grand Rapids and Lansing, Michigan. The group is driven by producers and multi-instrumentalists Ross Morgan (Holloway, Abandoners, Redline Horizon) and Mike Nolen (Metzfire, Hitchcock Guillotine), alongside guitarist Chas Millican (Deveraux, Bloodletting, Echoes of Pink Floyd), with a rotating lineup of frequent collaborators adding to their expansive sound. Since forming in 2020, Long After Midnight has steadily built a catalog that includes three EPs, two singles, and several striking music videos, complemented by select live performances. Now, the band is preparing to release their most ambitious work yet: the full-length album Rage Toward The Light, due out October 3, 2025.” We get Ross to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release. What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through? Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Our new record is called Rage Toward the Light, which is a phrase I came up with that essentially means, when you’re feeling at your lowest, the best thing to do it get mad about. Don’t let the darkness win. Fight to be better. I tried to write some songs are have a positive nature, which is not super easy to do in the industrial metal space, where most songs have super depressing lyrics. So I thought, let’s try something that’s the opposite of that, at least for a few songs.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

I was interested in music form a young age, although neither of my parents were particularly musically inclined. My brother was a drummer before me so I think I decided to try the guitar instead, and started taking lessons in the 6th grade on guitar and then entered the band program on drums.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Seeing TOOL live in 1997 at Lollapalooza when I was 13 years old was a real pivotal moment for me. Snoop Dogg performed right before them, with Tool’s gear set up behind him. Surreal. To this day Snoop and TOOL are two of my favorite artists.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

That is a hard one there are so many, but I would choose Trent Reznor because he’s such a prolific producer.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour? What do you like to do to unwind?

I read a lot, tinker around with some classic cars, and hang out with my wife and cats. I do a lot of other art related projects with photography, video and graphic design. Being in the studio is really what I like to do for fun so I try to be there as much as time allows.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I usually just open with Nine Inch Nails, because more or less everyone knows who they are and generally what they sound like. We connected quickly over the band Stabbing Westward who had a string of huge hits in the late 90’s, that are a little more rock. That’s probably closer to our sound, and a lot of Peter Gabriel too.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Mike makes the world’s greatest Old Fashioned.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

No idea. Never met anyone SUPER famous like Brad Pitt or something.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

I’ve always loved writing songs, and I think as long as I can keep doing that I’ll be happy. It feels like I’m getting away with something. We’ve all built careers outside of music to pay the bills. I do graphic design, video and marketing. So it’s kind of best of all worlds.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

Same answer to both: Where do your song ideas come from? I try explaining to people that songwriting is a skill that you can develop, it’s not some magic handed to you by the gods. Singers and artists that try and make it look like that are full of shit and doing it for show. Same is true for all art.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I did a record with my old prog band that took way too long, and still turned out like shit. There are some good songs and some banger riffs but it was executed poorly. I find it unlistenable now.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. It’s such a seminal record and also still in a time period where recording techniques were still being created and perfected. I’d love to know how much is true and how much is just lore.

LONG AFTER MIDNIGHT LINKS:

FACEBOOK

Category: Interviews