The dog days of summer found Midnight Generation making their way across the American Midwest, sharing stages with Empire of the Sun and Polo & Pan on a North American tour. Somewhere near Chicago, Fernando Mares, the Mexican disco-funk band’s frontman, stumbled upon a vocoder, an instrument that can give the human voice a robotic, synthesizer-like sound, for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
At the time, touring was only part of the band’s workload. Between shows, the Chihuahua-born quintet had also been busy recording Rooted, their new album. Rather than spending weeks in a studio, they were making music wherever they could, turning temporary accommodations into makeshift recording spaces and finding inspiration in the experiences they accumulated along the way.
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So when Mares came across the vocoder, he decided to give it a try. The band was approaching the deadline to deliver “Premium Delivery,” a track they were working on for the album, and the instrument sounded so good that they incorporated it into the song as a last-minute solo.
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“The challenge was to make the most of what we had at that moment,” Mares tells Consequence Latino. The circumstances left little room for second-guessing. “Sometimes we write too much, sometimes we overthink things,” he says, reflecting on how the band learned to trust its instincts after five albums under their belt. Without unlimited time or equipment, the band had to find creative solutions.
Those constraints, however, may become increasingly unfamiliar to Midnight Generation as their international profile grows, bringing with it greater opportunities and resources. Alongside Rooted, the band has announced an extensive 2027 world tour, with stops across the Americas and Europe, including appearances at Lollapalooza’s Latin American editions and Festival Estéreo Picnic in Bogotá.
“The important thing is not to lose that hunger to create something beautiful,” Mares says when asked whether having more resources could compromise the band’s creativity. He points to the artists he admires, whose ability to create something compelling doesn’t necessarily depend on having the most sophisticated equipment or elaborate production. For Mares, what matters is preserving the excitement of making music, regardless of how much a band has at its disposal.
But if life on the road shaped how Rooted was recorded, it also influenced what the band wanted to say. After two years spent touring, the Chihuahua-born musicians found themselves thinking more deeply about the people and places that had shaped them.
“At the end of the day, we’re everywhere, but who are we? What do we want to communicate? What do we want to express?” says bassist and synth player Carlos Amaya, who believes that constantly moving between cities opened the band up to ideas they might not have explored otherwise.
For a band whose music draws heavily from disco, funk, and electronic pop, and whose songs are predominantly in English, the connection to their hometown isn’t necessarily obvious. Their influences often come from well beyond Mexico’s borders. Mares casually mentions musical touchstones throughout the interview including Nile Rodgers, Jamiroquai, and Daft Punk, artists whose influence can be heard in the band’s grooves, funky basslines, and synthesizers.
But as Mares sees it, being proud of where you come from doesn’t necessarily mean making traditional Mexican music. “Our music wouldn’t make sense if we didn’t recognize where we come from, who we are, where we grew up, and the people who watched us grow,” he says.
That connection is particularly evident on “Rumba!,” which mixes English and Spanish with references to the desert landscapes of Chihuahua, and the playful “El Rap De Piter Pan,” with bilingual lyrics that name-drop everything from mazapán to Estadio Azteca. These aren’t the band’s first experiments with their native language, and they may not be the last: Mares doesn’t rule out recording an entire album in Spanish someday.
Elsewhere, Rooted explores the fleeting connections and romantic uncertainties that come with a life spent on the move. “Norway,” for example, turns an unfinished love story into a shimmering disco track, while “Almost My Own” explores a relationship that never quite materialized through funk and synth-pop.
But perhaps the album’s most revealing track comes by way of “To Be Someone,” a song with a message that feels particularly fitting for the current moment the band is experiencing. Its lyrics question the value of material possessions and suggest that having more doesn’t necessarily mean gaining more, a sentiment that echoes Mares’s reflections on success, creativity, and the importance of not losing sight of what matters.
“It’s about being someone to the people you love,” Mares explains, referring to family, partners, and those who have accompanied the band along the way. Rather than seeking recognition from the world, he says, “To Be Someone” is ultimately a song of gratitude and celebration.
With Rooted finally out, Midnight Generation will take it to more than 40 cities around the world. Among them is Chihuahua, where the band is scheduled to perform on May 29, returning to the place that shaped them and inspired so much of the album. After years spent finding their place on stages around the world, they’ll be heading home. If only for a night.
Editor’s note: Midnight Generation is supporting their Rooted with a 2027 world tour. Tickets will be available through various presales beginning November 10th, ahead of the general on-sale on Friday, November 13th, at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster. Fans in North America can sign up for artist presale access from November 6th at 10:00 a.m. ET through November 8th at 12:00 p.m. ET, while fans in Europe and the UK can register separately beginning November 6th at 3:00 p.m. GMT.
Midnight Generation 2026–2027 Tour Dates:
2026
11/06–11/08 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil @ Rock the Mountain
2027
02/04–02/10 – Miami, FL / Ocho Rios, Jamaica / Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands / Cozumel, Mexico @ Jam Cruise
02/18 – San Luis Potosí, Mexico @ Conteiner The Park 7B
02/19 – Querétaro, Mexico @ Foro Arpa
02/20 – Guadalajara, Mexico @ Teatro Estudio Cavaret
02/21 – León, Mexico @ Teatro Manuel Doblado
03/04 – Panama City, Panama @ Aurora at Soho
03/06 – Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic @ Isle of Light
03/12 – Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Lollapalooza Argentina
03/14 – Santiago, Chile @ Lollapalooza Chile
03/19–03/21 – Bogotá, Colombia @ Festival Estéreo Picnic
03/20 – São Paulo, Brazil @ Lollapalooza Brasil
04/20 – Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
04/23 – Dallas, TX @ The Echo Lounge & Music Hall
04/24 – Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn
04/25 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
04/27 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade – Hell
04/29 – Washington, DC @ The Howard Theatre
04/30 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
05/03 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
05/04 – Montreal, QC @ Le Studio TD
05/06 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
05/08 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
05/12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Grand at The Complex
05/14 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
05/15 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
05/16 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
05/19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
05/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Belasco
05/22 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory SD
05/23 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
05/27 – Monterrey, Mexico @ Escenario GNP
05/28 – Torreón, Mexico @ Primelive Showcenter
05/29 – Chihuahua, Mexico @ Arena Corner Sport
05/30 – Ciudad Juárez, Mexico @ Centepatio
06/09 – Mexico City, Mexico @ Auditorio Nacional
06/11 – Puebla, Mexico @ Auditorio Explanada
06/12 – Xalapa, Mexico @ Salon Onix
08/31 – London, UK @ Village Underground
09/02 – Düsseldorf, Germany @ zakk
09/03 – Paris, France @ Alhambra
09/04 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg OZ
09/06 – Berlin, Germany @ Metropol
09/08 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Dynamo
09/09 – Milan, Italy @ Magnolia
09/11 – Barcelona, Spain @ Razzmatazz
09/12 – Madrid, Spain @ La Riviera
09/14 – Lisbon, Portugal @ LAV 2
09/16 – Istanbul, Turkey