Formed in 2015 in Mexico, Midnight Generation has built a reputation for its dynamic blend of funk, disco, and modern electronic pop.
Chicago during Lollapalooza weekend can be hard to put into words. A nonstop buzz of enthusiastic festival crowds and an endless hum of music spills throughout the windy city. In the middle of it all, Paste Studios, in collaboration with Lettuce Entertain You Restaurant Group, rambled on to record a series of intimate sessions with our favorite festival artists.
For our session with Mexico’s Midnight Generation, we found ourselves in the Omakase Room at Sushi-san River North. Normally an intimate lounge designed for a traditional Japanese dining experience, it became an unlikely, and ultimately most fitting stage for our session with an eclectic band. Formed in 2015 in Mexico, the group has built a reputation for its dynamic blend of funk, disco, and modern electronic pop. While their studio tracks shine with a sleek, futuristic sound, the current iteration of the group, Fernando “Frank” Mares , Luis Carlos “Bica” Valderrama , Carlos Amaya , Samuel Marquez , and Diego Bustillos , brought a very human, raw energy into the Omakase Room.The Midnight Generation session was far and away the most complex production we staged in Chicago. The setup alone raised a large amount of curiosity and excitement amongst our small audience: multiple synths, layered percussion, a full drum kit, a guitar, and a talk box that commanded attention. The expectations were set high, and the band delivered. They opened with “Energy,” a dynamic tune that showed the band’s talent. At moments, it felt jammy, and the band masterfully played off of each other; at others, the tune was reminiscent of a high-energy ’80s ballad, à la Journey or The Police. Mares’ talkbox added a playful, theatrical edge. Next up in the set came “Don’t Wait Up,” a song that, in my opinion, landed somewhere between electronic disco music and jam-band exploration. It was like the magic of Daft Punk infused with the smoothness of a ’70s yacht rock tune, with the live dynamic range of a Grateful Dead jam. The strength of Midnight Generation in this session was shown in their ability to weave songs through vastly different dynamic sections, even while leaning heavily on non-traditional instrumentation. What impressed me most in this session was how these songs, which on record sound like they could soundtrack a futuristic film franchise, transformed into something else entirely in the live setting. In the small confines of the lounge, Midnight Generation didn’t simply replicate their studio sound; they expanded it, turning produced electronic tracks into organic, groovy jams. The percussive talkbox layered over thick synth beds and funky drums created a sound that’s hard to replicate, and it’s not a sound that I can say that I’ve heard frequently before. On paper, the pairing of groovy disco jams and a high-end sushi lounge might have seemed odd, but in practice, it worked beautifully. The intimacy of the Omakase Room magnified every detail, from the memorable synth lines to the infectious rhythms. It was a performance that defied expectation, and I doubt I’ll be able to witness such contemporary disco music in a live setting like that again anytime soon. Huge thanks to Lettuce Entertain You for partnering with Paste Studio and giving us beautiful, ornate spaces like Sushi-San to capture these moments. With Midnight Generation, the result was something truly memorable: a genre-bending session that turned a quiet Chicago lounge into one of the funkiest rooms in town. Keep your eyes peeled for more Paste Studio “On the Road” sessions coming soon!
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