After the release of their self-titled EP last year, Sydney's Middle Kids have been skyrocketing into the limelight.
Last week their debut album, 'Lost Friends', was released. “I'd say we retained a lot of the spirit with which we made the EP, because the EP was fairly DIY, so we recorded a lot of it ourselves,” drummer Harry Day says.
“In terms of the writing process, it sort of always begins with Hannah. She really writes the bones of the songs and then Tim will often flesh those out and then I'll come in and play drums. Then we all start to give feedback on how the song is going. It's quite organic.”
Harry says the band started working on 'Lost Friends' right after the release of their 'Middle Kids' EP. “We began the recording process in the middle of the year [last year], around May or June.
"So that was wrapped up by late July, then we finished the record off when we were in America. We mixed it with a mix engineer called Peter Katis who's done a lot of work with bands like The National and Interpol. He really brought a character out of the music that we couldn’t have heard without him.
“I think Hannah's lyrics are based around her experiences of life, a lot of them are quite observational in that regard. I think that makes them quite inviting to listen to because she's just sharing her experiences.
"For me even the title of the album, 'Lost Friends', is quite a universal experience. Everyone has an experience of losing a friend.” Middle Kids will tour Australia in May.
“We spend a lot of time touring overseas, so I feel like we haven't actually toured Australia that much. I'm excited to go to places we haven't been before like Fremantle and Ballarat.
“I'm also really excited for our show at the Opera House as part of Vivid. It's a festival that I've loved for years and a lot of great bands and artists have played it. So for us to launch our album at the festival is going to be really special.”
Middle Kids visited the US last year, where they played SXSW and made their US television debut on 'Conan'. The band are heading back in June. “It is very different, because we're foreigners when we go there. Already we can't relate to Americans as well as we relate to Australians. But we love going there. You can play so many shows, because it's a much bigger country than Australia,” Harry says.
“I love playing live because it's when you can really connect with people over the music. It's different than listening to a record at home by yourself. I like to think of live music and gigs as little gatherings of people who share this common interest and everyone's kind of there together to have a good time.”
For the second year in a row, Middle Kids will perform at Splendour In The Grass. “Splendour is probably the biggest music festival in the country. It sort of feels like a rite of passage for an Australian band, so it's awesome to be invited back and the line-up this year is incredible, so it's going to be a fun time.
“I'm psyched to see some of the bands I grew up listening to, like Franz Ferdinand and The Wombats. It reminds me a lot of American festivals we've played at, where there's a great combination of current bands and then sort of older, more nostalgic bands.”
'Lost Friends' is available now.
Middle Kids Tour Dates
Wed 9 May - Rosemount Hotel (Perth)Thu 10 May - Mojos Bar (Fremantle) - SOLD OUT
Fri 11 May - Fat Controller (Adelaide)
Fri 18 May - Woolly Mammoth (Brisbane) - SOLD OUT
Sat 19 May - Woolly Mammoth (Brisbane)
Wed 23 May - Corner Hotel (Melbourne) - SOLD OUT
Fri 25 May - Karova Lounge (Ballarat)
Sat 26 May - Corner Hotel (Melbourne) - SOLD OUT
Sun 27 May - Sydney Opera House @ Vivid Live (Sydney)
Sun 22 Jul - Splendour In The Grass (Byron Bay) - SOLD OUT
