Raine Hilai of Midnight Eternal

by Christophe Pauly
– Sr. Photojournalist —

Midnight Eternal is a Symphonic Metal band from New York City. Formed in 2014 by Boris Zaks, who asked Fischer, Prestup and Mike LePond of Symphony X to record a demo. The group then recruited Raine Hilai as the led vocalist. The project quickly evolved into a band and signed on with Inner Wound Recordings.

Hardrock Haven recently had the opportunity to talk with Raine Hilai about the band, the debut album, album artwork, the recording process and her lyrical inspirations.

Hardrock Haven: How did the band start?

Raine Hilai: The band started in 2014 when Boris Zaks asked Richard Fischer, Dan Prestup, and Mike LePond to join him in recording a two-song demo.They reached out to me about a month later when all the instruments were recorded, and I was very happy to join. We recorded the two songs and released them, and got a great response. At that point, it was obvious to us all that we wanted to make this project a full-time band. We started booking some shows almost immediately, and Greg Manning came on board as the permanent bass player.

Hardrock Haven: Where does the name of the band comes from?

Raine Hilai: We thought it was a powerful combination of words that really encompassed the feel of the music and what the band is all about. Midnight Eternal is a state of mind. It is deep and mysterious, yet also vulnerable to the danger of venturing to the dark side.

Hardrock Haven: How do you compose your music?

Raine Hilai: There are a few songwriters in the band. Boris is, of course, the main composer, and Rich also contributes to writing the music. Both Boris and I write lyrics.

Hardrock Haven: Do you work together or is there a particular person who does that?

Raine Hilai: Most of the time, Boris will compose the song and will send us the keyboard tracks. Then next come guitar, drums, bass and finally vocals. Most of the time, he will send me a melody line and I will write the lyrics based on that. Sometimes he writes lyrics. And sometimes the song starts with a guitar riff and Boris will write around that. But the process is pretty much the same in all cases.

Hardrock Haven: Where did you find your inspirations for the lyrics?

Raine Hilai: My inspirations come from many places. Some of the songs are based on my life experiences, and some are based on history, mythology or literature.

Hardrock Haven: How long have you worked on this album?

Raine Hilai: We have pretty much been working on it for the two years the band has been active. First, the songwriting, in between while doing gigs. We began working on the album demo at the end of 2014 and had the pre-production completed by the fall of 2015. By late summer, we started preparing for the recording of the album and went into the studio in November of 2015.

Hardrock Haven: Is there a song that required more from you to complete?

Raine Hilai: First, “Time Thrill” took a day to record vocals for. I was singing 3 songs a day in the studio, but that one took a full day there are so many parts and layers.

Hardrock Haven: Could you tell me more about the artwork of your album?

Raine Hilai: The artwork was created for us by Jan Yrlund, he is an amazing artist, and we really let him do his own thing here. The only guidelines we sent were the lyrics to the song “Midnight Eternal,” and we also mentioned that we liked the idea of a clock with the hands pointing to midnight. The rest was all him, and I think it looks amazing!

Hardrock Haven: You’ve already toured with some great bands. What’s your favorite memory on stage?

Raine Hilai: My favorite was performing with Kamelot and Dragonforce. Kamelot is one of my all-time favorite bands, so it was really exciting for me! The crowd was unbelievable too, it was the biggest crowd we’ve played for, so far.

Hardrock Haven: What are your plans for next months?

Raine Hilai: We are hoping to be able to announce some touring plans, we are also already working on the second album.

Hardrock Haven: Do you plan a European tour?

Raine Hilai: We hope so!