ACL Preview: Chicano Soul Artist Midnight Navy Steps Into the Light

Photo by Justin Heron

Two things you typically don’t expect at a festival set – fruit and saxophones – will make an appearance at local Chicano soul artist Midnight Navy’s first ACL show. Multi-instrumentalist Francisco Jose Rosales, the man behind the moniker, is a one-man band in the studio, but live cuts from his 2023 EP De Melón have gotten a full-band treatment, adding dimension and jammy moments to lo-fi bedroom pop that can adopt elements of R&B and cumbia. 

Austin Chronicle: In the studio you’re kind of doing everything. What’s it like to translate that into having a band live?

Midnight Navy: A lot of my earlier work, and even the project that I put out most recently, was very intimate, and it had elements of oldies and a lot of this Chicano soul that I think when I started getting a live band really became elevated and kinda transformed into something new. There’s a lot more moments of jamming and going with the feeling of what the crowd is giving us. So it’s a little bit more loose in that sense.

AC: What’s your history with saxophone, and what do you think it can bring to a live performance?

MN: That was actually my first instrument that I picked up. I started playing in middle school. I originally wanted to be a drummer, and I failed the rhythm test. So I was like, alright, I’ll try saxophone. I always loved jazz music, I think also because of my upbringing and my parents and my household – not only jazz but a lot of Mexican regional music, then classic rock with great jazz saxophone solos.

AC: This is your first time playing ACL. I’m curious what your relationship was with the festival before playing it.

MN: Ever since I moved to Austin, I would say, I started going almost every year. It’s funny because my brother [Daniel Rosales] – who is seven years older than me, also a musician, and also is gonna play with me at ACL this year – he’s an incredible guitarist. I had moved to Austin, and he had moved to L.A. So we did this thing where we would go to ACL every year and meet up and just catch up. That was our bonding moment throughout the year, and we did that for a good amount of years before COVID. So it’s exciting to go back to ACL because we haven’t really been back since. Now it’s like, “Hey, we’re not only just gonna go to the festival, we’ll be playing the festival,” which is pretty incredible. He’s someone I look up to a lot. He’s featured on this upcoming single that I have coming out later this month that I’ll be premiering live for the first time at ACL.

AC: Speaking of ACL as a marker in time and significance for you and your family, how do you feel like local artists are represented at ACL this year and in general, and what does it mean to have that representation alongside these massive national acts?

MN: It means a lot, I think, for the community to see familiar faces. ... I’ve seen bands that I’ve looked up to play ACL or even friends that have played ACL in the past and just been like, “Damn, that’s really inspiring.” I’m glad that there’s room for that in ACL.

It’s good to see more Latino representation. Myself being Mexican American, I love seeing that. It’s great to see that ACL is doing its job to an extent. I feel like we could always be better, or it could always be better, but it’s still a pretty solid turnout.

AC: You mentioned that you were going to debut a single during your set. Are there any other particular moments that you’re excited for the crowds to see?

MN: A little backstory: The EP that I released called De Melón was a modern take on love in the digital age with these nostalgic undertones. I’ll be releasing a deluxe EP of that project Nov. 15. The idea is to continue this narrative of the melon. In Spanish, it’s melón, obviously, but it comes from the phrase “corazón de melón,” which in English would be “sweetheart,” essentially. But this term of endearment kind of coincides with this idea of the fruits of our labor, meaning love and that sort of thing. So a lot of the aesthetic and the look is about produce and fruits and veggies. The idea is to have a fruit cart or a food vendor type of cart that joins me onstage. I’ll be essentially maneuvering this thing as I enter, with this undertone of paying homage to fruit vendors locally. I guess in a way it’s kinda playing off of these analogies.

Friday 4, 1:15pm, Tito’s Stage