mid city hits the gong
THE INDIE ROCKERS SET TO TURN UP THE VOLUME AT LA LA LA’S THIS VALENTINE’S DAY
Words Emma Smith
Melbourne four-piece Mid City are an indie guitar pop band best known for their energetic tunes about love and loss, late nights and poor choices. Since emerging onto the music scene in 2018, they’ve earnt themselves an impressive reputation, getting crowds up and dancing all around the world. Their music gained serious international attention in 2019 after their track Old Habits hit the viral top 50 chart on Spotify in Germany. They’ve since toured there, in London and have played at popular music festivals in Oz, such as Bigsound, Reeperbahn and NYE on the Hill.
We spoke to the band’s vocalist, Joel Griffith, ahead of their upcoming gig right here in the Gong at La La La’s this Valentine’s Day, about their new EP Wishing for the Best, pre-performance rituals and how the band remains a united force.
How did the band’s name come about?
Our guitarist Ben, I call him the strider – he just walks really fast everywhere. He doesn’t own a bike, because he can walk faster than people can ride. He walks to work through Melbourne, and he walks past this arcade in the city in Chinatown. It’s this old thing called the Mid City arcade. He walks past it every day because he also walks the same route every day, which is pretty hilarious. I couldn’t do it. I’d have to do a different route – but that’s another story. Anyway… so the name Mid City means everything and nothing all at once.
Was there a defining moment when you realised the band had potential to really take off? Can you tell us about that?
I think we have always taken it seriously in a way. We have always wanted to write good songs. I think the moment we knew it had really taken off though was when some people in Germany started talking about us. We had all these messages coming in from India too, which was crazy. We thought about Australia, but could have never imagined people over there listening to us. When people start hearing you in places you’ve never been it’s like, ‘Oh wow this is it – we are a band and people really like us.’
Mid City was supposed to tour the UK and Europe in May and Oz in June last year, but unfortunately, due to COVID-19, these shows were cancelled. How did you guys cope with not being able to perform?
Not well. It was pretty heartbreaking. We had been over in Europe the year before, which was incredible, and had three tours planned overseas and they just all disappeared. I think we all went into our shells for a little while and felt like music just didn’t exist anymore. We were a little bit shocked, but then we went, ‘OK, let’s write some songs then!’
Did that period of isolation push you to create music you otherwise wouldn’t have had time for, or did it bring the bands producing to a halt?
I think it halted it to start with. But when something bad happens to you, and you sook about it for a while, you eventually pick yourself up and think, ‘C’mon what else are we gonna do?’ It’s hard because it was so uncertain, and we didn’t know how long it was going to go on for – I suppose we still don’t know. We just got to a point where we thought it’s time to start writing, and we had heaps of time to do that once we could get together again.
Mid City released a new EP Wishing for the Best on December 3rd of last year – How would you describe it?
I would describe it as a little world unto itself. We generally write pretty upbeat, smashing songs, but we also started writing some quieter things as well. Even though it’s an EP and is only five tracks, we wanted it to be a little journey. No one listens to whole albums anymore, or very few people do. Many people listen to five tracks in a row, so we like to make it a little balanced meal in itself.
Mid City is performing right here in the Gong on Feb 14th at La La La’s! What can fans expect at this gig?
Love songs and dedications. It’s Valentine’s Day, right?
What do you expect from the Wollongong fans since it’ll be Valentine’s Day? Do you think there’ll be some roses thrown on stage?
I’m hoping so! I think I’m the only single one in the band so the other guys will be calling their girlfriends and partners, and I’ll be sadly sitting in the corner. You never know your luck in a big city, though!
Does the band have any interesting pre-performance rituals?
We have a stare off. It starts with the four of us staring at each other like, ‘Can we do this?! I don’t think I can do this?!’. And then gradually grows into a psychotic kind of ‘I’m doing this! Are you doing this?!’ type of vibe. And that happened organically, too. It’s pretty hilarious.
What are your rehearsals like? Are there structured times you get together, or are your practices more spontaneous?
It’s endless and it’s very structured. It’s as structured as Ben’s walk to work. Every week we do at least two rehearsals, so about 12 hours a week – and a lot of that is talking, arguing and roundabout rhetorical conversation.
What would you say has been Mid City’s ultimate career highlight?
Our first festival. We played our first festival at the end of 2019 – it was NYE on the Hill. It was our first time playing outside and to several thousand people. We always made our music for a big party. It was never supposed to be introspective bedroom music. It was always supposed to be jump around and shout in your friend’s face type of music. This festival was the first time we could really open up and play those songs in front of that many people and see the songs really work on that level. Planning to do that again as soon as we can, without four square metres separating everyone!
If the band could open a show for any artist who would it be?
At the moment the democratic response would be Idols. We have a real hard time deciding on any bands that we all like. So that would be the closest thing to something we all really like.
What artists are in your Spotify playlist at the moment?
Total pop. Jessie Ware, Rammstein, Lady Gaga’s new album, the entire Radiohead back catalogue is in there, too. Oh, and a whole bunch of meditation noise that I use to switch off from music.
What is something you all do outside of music that gives the band inspiration?
We go through a lot of torrid relationships. I also like to do a lot of extreme, silly things. Like I ran 30km from my house the other day and I don’t run. I think we like our music to be fairly extreme and very ‘take life by the balls’, so to speak. We are often like, “OK, let’s do something stupid and outlandish and see where it lands”.
What is the secret recipe for achieving success as a band?
Wish for the best. It’s not expecting too much for one. In music, I think that’s a recipe for disaster. I think with the amount of time we spend rehearsing and the amount of time we spend together and on messenger chat working out all the bits and pieces of the band… it’s really about being able to listen to other people. I know it sounds soft and mushy, but you’ve got to put your ego aside, know what you think is good but also be able to listen to what other people are thinking without feeling like you’re going to lose the idea or what you want. It’s compromise that is really the main thing.
What is the best piece of advice the band has ever been given?
Off the back of us stressing about everything, our producer told us the classic line “It’s just rock and roll.” It really is just music and I think that’s the best bit of advice because people take shit so seriously. It’s got to be fun. Nobody knows what’s going to happen with any of this, where it’ll go or how long we’ll do it for. You want to look back on the good things not about the stress you had over whether to cut that middle 8 in half or not.