Middle Kids Chat Performing On 'The Late Late Show With James Cordon' & International Fans

As Middle Kids sit ready to whip North American audiences into a blissful frenzy, kicking off in Connecticut this weekend, the reality of pulling off an international tour in 2021 was not without its own unique hurdles. 

Armed with their recent album Today We're The Greatest, a new lease on life amid the pandemic and a toddler in tow, the Sydney indie rockers are not just ecstatic to literally get this show back on the road; they're also keen to return to a significant happy place in their career amongst their beloved American fans, as Middle Kids vocalist Hannah Joy explained on last week's episode of The Green Room With Tiana Speter podcast.

"It's interesting 'cos we find the fans are all so different," Joy told host Tiana Speter. 

"You've got your 'American' Middle Kids fan, you've got your 'European' Middle Kids fan, and your 'Australian' fans...  they're actually quite different! And we love playing America. I mean, we love playing everywhere, but Americans, they're just so sweet and earnest. I think culturally, they're quite positive, extroverted.

"Australians are a little bit more... you know, we tease, or we're sarcastic," Joy laughed. "Which is super fun! And then you go to America and they're all just so nice to you. 

"We all kind of get a big pep in our step whenever we go and play in America, 'cos everyone's like: 'wow, that was so good!'... and it probably could've been really shit but they're just being really nice and encouraging," Joy smiled.

"Also something that's cool about a lot of the American fans is that heaps of fans will travel to see multiple shows... I mean, we don't have heaps and heaps. But, we have fans that we've gotten to know that will fly to different parts of America and sometimes come to, like, five or six shows.

"It's quite a common thing, obviously through rock and roll in America, where you just do that. But they also see it as a way to see a new state and go see America, and we end up getting to know them. 

"Some of them are really nice, and they'll give us gas money and make us cupcakes!"

And while the faces and locales may be, at times, eclectic when Middle Kids tour at home and abroad, the colourful experiences offer a sturdy reminder about the connective power of music - a fact that doesn't pass by unnoticed by Joy. 

"That's so much of what we love about music," Joy enthused.

"Just the absolute eclectic nature of it, and the fact that you can be partaking in something, and the person standing next to you is so different to you.

"All walks of life are welcome in music because it's just such a soul thing, it's such an energy. If you connect with it, you belong, that's your thing! And that's, for us, one of the things that feels most important and special is that we're creating spaces and being part of spaces where people from all walks of life are there."

While the American love-affair for Middle Kids is far from new, 2021 offered the group a chance to sharpen and expand on their already strong US fan contingency on their home turf, performing earlier in the year on The Late Late Show With James Cordon from Sydney. And while the trio undeniably knocked it out of the park back in March, performing the title track from their new album, the experience was certainly a shift from the group's earlier American late night TV appearances, including a knockout showing on Conan back in 2017.

"It was such a stark difference," Joy mused. "When we first started doing late night, our first one we did Conan, and it was our first tour to America, we were, like, babies! 

"We had no idea, and you'd just show up to these studios in LA where they filmed the show, and it's like: you plug in and you have one chance to do this show. So, it's really high pressure, but you just literally rock up and you play. 

"Now doing these ones at home, it was so different because we had to put so much creativity and thought into how to film it and make it interesting. On one hand it was kind of cool because we were 'curating' it, and could put our personality into it. 

"But on the other hand it was also a lot of work as opposed to just rocking up and someone painting your face and then you just get out there and play. 

"For this we were, like, taking weeks to do. But it was really cool, and it's really awesome that we can do those, even from Sydney 'cos that's obviously been a really hard thing, just not being able to be there. 

"It's good to have opportunities that we can do from here, for sure."

--------------

You can watch the full episode with Hannah Joy and host Tiana Speter below or here, or alternatively, you can also listen to full The Green Room podcast episodes below, as well as on Spotify, Apple Podcasts - or wherever you usually get your podcasts from.   

--------------

Need more music, film, TV and comedy in your life? Check out all previous episodes of The Green Room here - and did you know you can also watch episodes of The Green Room too? Head here to check out some of the recent videos, and if you're still hunting for content to feed your ears, be sure to check out some of the other exciting Handshake Agency podcasts below!

• That Sucks! - fortnightly musings about the worst of your favourite things
• The Take With Willie Mason - join ex-Australian and NSW rugby league Willie Mason talking all things sports
• Rewind With Steve Bell - looking back on the classic albums that shaped the careers of Australian and international acts