HEART-TO-HEART: Mid Drift
“My best advice is to get amongst it, because you never know who you’re going to meet. Go to local gigs, get your head around the local scene, speak to local radio stations and talk to new people and other bands.”
Since dropping their debut EP, Lemon Lime and Tan Lines, indie-rock sweethearts, Mid Drift, are steadily climbing their way up to the top of the Australian music scene.
Published: 15/03/2025
FHR (Flaming Heart Records): I am so excited to be chatting with Mid Drift today! You guys are absolutely killing it lately. How has it been since your EP release? Have the recent promo shows been fun?
Daniel (Larsen, guitar): The reception to the EP has been great. It’s always really nice to hear when people tell us they’re loving the music. We’re actually on a little bit of a break from shows at the moment, but we’re about to ramp back up with 3 interstate headliners, which will be amazing. It’s still crazy to us that people on the other side of the country want to come see us.
Rowan (Bowyer, drums): Shows recently have been blowing my mind. Consistently having people up the front singing along to the songs off the EP is so fun to watch from up on stage, and has really been fuelling some of our best shows ever. I can’t wait to see what the rest of 2025 holds for us on stage!
FHR: What kind of promotion tools do you feel has contributed to your success? Your TikToks are always popping off! How important is social media in marketing your music?
Sarah (Engstrom, vocals): It’s pretty nuts the amount of people you are able to reach through social media and TikTok especially. Having people message us from the other side of the world in America saying they love our music or that we’re their favourite band is insane to us – we’re just a little band from Brisbane hahaha. It’s really funny (and also sometimes a bit daunting) because you don’t realise how many people are seeing your “content”. My sister messaged me the other day and said her colleague came up to her at work and said, “Hey, is this your sister? Her band came up on my TikTok and now I really like their music.” Then later that afternoon, dad messaged me and said a receptionist at his work said the same thing.
George (Swan, guitar): Although it can be a bit of a challenge and sometimes disheartening, Instagram and TikTok have both been a huge help for us, especially with our latest release. It’s also really helped us find our audience! If it connects us with one more person that likes our music, then it’s one hundred percent worth it!
FHR: As a band of five, what are both the challenges and the highlights? Is it difficult managing different lifestyles and routines? I’m guessing life on the road would be pretty fun, though!
John (Reid, bass): Tour life is pretty funny and we all get a bit delirious on those long drives – we definitely all have habits that annoy each other. Sarah will bring anything but a good working bag for her clothes/gear. On past tours, she has used: multiple Woolies bags, washing baskets, Coles baskets, and on the last road trip, she brought 6 overflowing tote bags and one large glass bowl of over-ripe lychees. There was little space in the car between the 5 of us, so this lychee bowl was nursed on my lap for the entirety of the 9 hour trip… and you can’t exactly throw a glass container out the window.
When he’s not doing a 7 hour leg of the drive, Rowan, without a doubt, falls asleep doom-scrolling TikTok. George gets bored easily, which results in outbursts of pinching or a rendition of “Buy U a Drank” by T-Pain. Dan has a bad habit of waiting until the 11th hour of a road trip to unleash metal songs on the car’s sound system. I have a bad habit of consuming unhealthy foods and alcohol the night before a long road trip, which results in multiple toilet stops. These toilet stops have almost made us miss a soundcheck in Sydney. I’ve started combatting this by consuming green shakes (known as The Green Goddess) before we leave.
Daniel: There’s definitely a mix of ups and downs! We’ve been lucky enough to open for Old Mervs a couple of times and I’m always jealous of how much easier it is to travel as a two-piece, but the tradeoff for us is worth it. It’s like getting four new siblings in your 20s. We’ve got people working in a bunch of different types of careers and schedules, so it can be really challenging to make everything line up, but that’s just part of being in a band. We all end up having our own little routines on tour that everyone needs to stay sane. John loves to go on solo adventures exploring whatever city we’re in and Rowan needs to wind down after a show by watching One Piece. Touring is tiring, but it’s also some of the best times as a band.
FHR: You’ve had the pleasure of sharing the stage with acts like Beddy Rays, Rum Jungle and Old Mervs. What advice can you give upcoming musicians who are aiming to get supporting slots on lineups?
Sarah: My best advice is to get amongst it, because you never know who you’re going to meet. Go to local gigs, get your head around the local scene, speak to local radio stations, talk to new people and other bands etc. I once went to a backyard gig and I didn’t know anyone and considered not going along because I was scared. I ended up going and accidentally meeting this lovely booking agent who gave us the opportunity to travel down to Wollongong and play a sick gig. You just never know.
Rowan: Sarah has really hit the nail on the head here. Put yourself out there in as many ways as possible, not just by performing and as musicians, but as a people too. Have an open mind, chat to anyone and everyone that you meet – it’s crazy some of the jobs and connections that the most random-seeming people might have that could get you going.
FHR: Tell us a little bit about the history of the band–what’s the story about how you guys met? (bonus points for a fun fact fans mightn’t know!)
George: Well, I didn’t know a single one of these guys until I was in the band, haha. We were all in previous bands (that’s how the rest of the guys knew each other), but our bands broke up. After a year off music, I was desperate to start playing live again. I started reaching out to musicians that I liked, and I was lucky enough to get a chance to jam with these guys… and here we are, two years later! They’re stuck with me now!
John: Adding George into the band was like taking in a stray dog. He would bark and try to bite us, but we house-trained him and gave him the nickname, G-SWAH. Now we spend most of our time together sitting in a car on the highway.
FHR: Are there any local gigs you’ve been to that you absolutely loved? Do you often go out together to watch music and mingle with other musos in the industry?
Daniel: There’s definitely a mix between different members for how often we’re out and about at gigs. Sarah seems to go to just about every gig in Brisbane. If you ever get a chance to see Kurilpa Reach, they’re always great. Always love to see a big band absolutely locked in for a whole set.
Sarah: I adore going out and getting to see as much local music as possible. I also love chit-chatting, so this goes hand in hand with mingling with other musos. The people I’ve met through music are some of the best people I know, so I’m just so grateful to be able to be in this industry.
It’s SO hard to narrow it down, but some of my absolute favourite sets I’ve seen is: Bella Amor (the most genuine, funny person with the most insane pipes you’ll ever hear. She’s a real pocket-rocket and her energy is so amazing), Full Flower Moon Band (you are missing out if you aren’t around this band – I really look up to the lead singer, she’s an absolute weapon), Ra Ra Viper (mates of ours from WA – the most humble, lovely bunch of guys with the most beautiful sound) and I have been obsessed with Mr Finn after watching their set at Flaming Heart Fest.
FHR: Which track from Lemon Lime and Tan Lines means the most to you and why? And how did you contribute to that song?
Daniel: Play Pretend is definitely the song that means the most to me. It started out with this slidey guitar riff I wrote and was really proud of, and ends with this massive bridge that I love. Everything came together in the recording really well.
George: I really love Falling (the wrong kind of way). I think our producer Jack really helped us nail the feeling of that song. We really wanted that track to be true to how we play it live, almost as if you were in the room with us. We originally thought about having that song as just Sarah and I on guitar and vocals, but when we started playing it live as a band, we loved that it slowly built bigger and bigger with all of us, then eventually returning back to guitar and vocals! Super stoked with that one!
Rowan: Someone has to say Nicotine, and I guess that’s going to be me! Obviously the reception and the opportunities that Nicotine has created for us has been awesome. Seeing the listeners tick up and hearing from people all over the world who really love this song that we’ve put together is an awesome feeling. But on a deeper level, I really feel like Nicotine is an example of what can happen when we all really come together collaboratively as a band in the songwriting process – really creating something that sticks with people. Plus, I got to write a little drum solo, so it scores points for me there 😉
FHR: You guys played such an energetic closing set at Flaming Heart Fest in February! Can you describe to us what it’s like to play your songs live on stage? What’s the vibe like amongst the five of you during performing?
Daniel: One of my favourite parts of being in a band is to take the songs that you’ve worked so hard on in the studio, perform your music in front of people and then see them affected by it. It’s a pretty magical feeling that you can’t get any other other way.
Sarah: Seeing people scream the lyrics to our songs – you just can’t describe the feeling. The last 6 months have been the first proper times this has happened to us, where it’s not just our best mates, but people we’ve never met in places we’ve never been, singing my lyrics. It’s always a bit daunting writing such honest lyrics and sharing them so publicly, but it’s really beautiful seeing people relating to my experiences or finding their own meanings within the songs – makes you feel connected on such a deep level and is pretty special.
The vibe between us five on stage is always fun – we have each other’s backs, and we have our inside jokes where we always look at each other and laugh when we mess up or I say the wrong thing. I once said, “Thank you so much for having us, Sunny Coast” when we were in the Gold Coast. The boys thought that was pretty funny. I love to run around the stage and the boys try real hard to avoid accidentally whacking into me with their guitars.
John: I like to really feel what I’m playing. That means dancing and letting the song come through me, trying not to hit whoever is next to me with my bass. I’ll also go about closing my eyes, channeling a person, time or moment. Flaming Heart Fest this year was in Burringbar. I’ve spent a bit of time in the area when I was younger with friends, so when I was on stage with my eyes closed I was thinking about those times.
FHR: You’re soon embarking on an interstate EP tour, including stops at Sydney, Melbourne and Perth! What else can Mid Drift fans expect over the next few months or even the rest of 2025?
Daniel: We’re playing headliners in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth for the first time. It’ll actually be our first time in WA, which is really exciting. We’re also gearing up for a massive hometown show in Brisbane later this year.
Sarah: We were in the studio for a week in January recording our new EP that will be coming out later in the year. So you can definitely be expecting new music from us soon and maybe a festival appearance or two! Our goal this year is to play in as many places around Australia as we can – (R)adelaide and Tassie – we haven’t forgotten about you, we promise!
