North Shields four-piece The Middens hope their success continues with their forthcoming new materia
The Middens a new mod four-piece who hail from North Shields, have had a phenomenal few months after their cover of Red Red Robin was adopted by North Shields FC as their official Wembley song.
The band recorded their own, updated version of the 1926 Al Jolson classic ‘When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin’ Along)’ to mark the club’s first Wembley appearance since winning the FA Amateur Cup against Sutton United in 1969. And were over the moon when North Shields FC beat Glossop North End back in May to collect the FA Vase trophy.
The young band have been together since school, initially getting together at lunch times and after school to practice, an they fondly remember their first gig at North Shields Rugby Club when they were aged around thirteen.
But fast forward five years and things are looking up for the fledgling band, as they were recently coined by Vive Le Rock magazine as part of the ‘New Mod’ generation with their track Reverent Son being part of a special compilation on the ‘print only’ magazine’s cover CD.
The Middens’ sound is influenced by bands and artists spanning five decades and has been described as ‘Libertines meets The Clash with a hint of The Who.’ Whereas drummer Jack Coe said: “Some of our tunes are punky and energetic and others are quite psychedelic and that’s how we like it.”
Singer and guitarist Aaron Duff added: “I think when we really got started with our own material we probably all had different ideas as to what the band should sound like, which isn’t a bad thing. We’ve really developed our sound, particularly over the past few months I feel, and I think we’re really starting to sound like The Middens. I feel like my writing has changed a lot and I’m really trying to stretch myself to take it somewhere else. We’ve been labelled in Vive Le Rock magazine as a “New Mod” band, that’s probably correct, not just because of the way we dress but because of the way we try to move the music forwards. We’re doing our own thing, we take our influences from all sorts of places, and it becomes our sound, The Middens.”
The band write and play way beyond their teenage years, and are now being recognised for their vibrant and energetic live shows. They also have a growing fan base nationally after playing sell out shows and festivals across the UK.
Alongside Jack and Aaron in The Middens are Paul Ellis (guitar) and Jamie Thompson (bass) and the quartet are keen to support other local acts. Over the last few months they have played alongside bands such as The Face, Champagne Charlies, Keep Breathing and singer Olivia Devine.
The Middens were also chosen to support The Stone Foundation at The Cluny and The Spitfires at Think Tank last month and have several other gigs lined up in the next couple of months.
Aaron said: “On 16th October we’re at the Whitley Bay Playhouse supporting Penetration, we did some recording with Rob the bass player last year, he produced a few tracks for us, we’re really honoured to have been asked to support them.
“The next local one after that will be Head of Steam on 17th October with Three Kings High, then the o2 Academy again on 28th November with The Whodlums and friends for Teenage Cancer Trust. We played this last year and we were really happy to be asked back again this year.
All ticket profits go to Teenage Cancer Trust, last year the event raised £3650 and we’re all hoping to raise more this year. Then we play our first gig in London on Dec 11th at ‘229 The Venue’ once again supporting The Spitfires.”
As well as gigging, The Middens are hoping to get into the studio to start working on their new material. Bassist Jamie said: “We’ll be going into the studio to record new material at the earliest opportunity. We have an album’s worth of material there, but will only probably get a few songs down to begin with.”
To find out more about the band go to www.facebook.com/themiddens, follow them on Twitter @themiddens and listen to them at www.soundcloud.com/themiddens.
