Libbie Linton and Spencer J. Harrison, the pair who make up Mideau, actually formed the band in 2012. When they met, Libbie was a solo artist and Spencer was part of the band Fictionist; the undeniable chemistry they had from working together prompted not just a musical project, but a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to record their debut album. Mideau raised $10,000 and finished the album in late 2013—but as it happens, life had other plans. After releasing the brilliant Way with Words EP in January 2014, Libbie found out she was pregnant with her first child and Spencer moved to North Carolina with his wife. Life’s calmed down a bit since; thanks to technology and a commitment to making Mideau work across time zones and numerous states, their eponymous debut is slated for release in April.

Hometown: We both grew up in Utah.

Current residence: Libbie lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Spencer lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

How did you two meet?

One of Spencer’s old bandmates produced Libbie's solo record. She'd be waiting around the house for him to show up, which gave us time to commiserate on his lovable absent-mindedness/lack of punctuality and more importantly, musicophilia. Years later, we happened to cross paths, found ourselves lamenting over our current states of musical inspiration, and quickly remembered how much we liked singing together.

Why did you decide to form Mideau?

A big part of why we came together is because, although our brains operate very differently, we could understand each other musically. We could both feel the same three little wrenching notes in an Elliott Smith song. We both knew why listening to “Carry Me Ohio” at 6 a.m. every morning for an entire dead winter made sense. We would both get excited about the cadence in a song and how the words fall together. We come at things from different directions — Libbie a bit more analytical, with a background in science and engineering, and Spencer as a more true-to-form creative.  Ultimately, Mideau works well because we meet in the middle.

Is there a big creative scene in Utah?

Utah is home to otherworldly geography and some brilliant creative talent. There’s an exceptionally strong scene in Provo. The last few years Utah have seen the launch of Imagine Dragons, Neon Trees, Joshua James, Mindy Gledhill, The Moth & The Flame, Fictionist, Sego, to name very few, with many of those acts getting a start playing at a great venue in Provo, called Velour. Producers/sound engineers like Nate Pyfer, Finn Bjarnston, Scott Wiley, Mike Roskelley are all Utah folks. And lets not forget about the Osmonds!

The best part about the scene is that despite the level of talent, it’s small and interconnected enough that everyone can support and build off of one another.

You raised $10k for your debut via Kickstarter a few years ago. How do you now feel about that whole process?

Kickstarter is tough. There’s a lot of people that want to have theirs dreams funded via Kickstarter. We started Kickstarter as a brand new, totally unheard band with very few resources. The thing that really stands out was how many musicians in Utah contributed—maybe it was that they could relate so well to what we were trying to do, but that was a big deal for us.

Really, in general, it’s unlikely people understand how reassuring and grateful we were every time we saw a donation, regardless of the value. We shipped many hand-written notes and recorded special request cover songs. We did our very best to spend the time to thank those who made the recording process possible.

What was the inspiration behind your full-length?

We’re typically not a band that writes songs about a singular events. Our songs are specific, and drawn from real experiences, but tend to be more of a composite that represents a time period, or an overarching feeling. We write about everyday occurrences. We write about life experiences the way we dream, cutting out everything except for a few key details, and focusing on those details hard. We’re both inspired by finding beauty in the unremarkable, finding meaning in the mundane. Ultimately, we’re trying to write relatable songs but from a unique perspective.

Where does your name come from?

Mideau (pronounced mid-oh) is a composite of two words, and it loosely translates to “Middle of the Water.” We saw the word as our foundation that had the right raw materials—it offers a blank canvas that can paint however we see fit.

Who are your biggest musical inspirations?

There are so many! Let’s just keep things simple with early inspirations: Mama Cass, Blondie, Paul Simon.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

Dangermouse, Katy Perry, Steve Reich, Bon Iver, Dev Hynes (Blood Orange), Jon Hopkins, Andrew Bird, Jon Brion.

Is there anyone you hate being compared to?

We’re actually always very interested to hear what people think we sound like. … We had someone tell us that they thought we sounded great, but didn’t like that we were totally ripping off a folk singer named Libbie Linton … which led to way over-thinking the concept of ripping off of yourself.

How do you describe your music to people who haven't heard it before?

Think Fleetwood Mac and Beach House having a sleepover.

You both put the band on hold while you both concentrated on your families. What did you take away from that experience of taking a break from Mideau?

We felt that it was important this last year to pay proper attention to the other aspects of life, so we shifted focus from shows, building, etc., and where writing authentically leads to better results, it’s been very good for our creative process. That’s not to say that every song that we write now is about Libbie as a mother, or Spencer supporting his wife in her pursuit of a Ph.D., but with new experience comes new perspective. We can evaluate our thoughts, our stories, the new shape of our day to day existence—and see it all with different coloring.

Libbie, do you sing Mideau's music to your baby?

Absolutely. When he was brand new, I found that I could play one of our songs, “Opelika”, to calm his crying. With that, he’s become well-versed in Mideau. He loves music in general — I have a recording of him at about 2 months old making his first attempt at singing noises as I played a cover of Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita.” It’s insanely adorable.