Middle Kids are an

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band from Sydney, Australia. The band consists of Hannah Joy (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Tim Fitz (bass, backing vocals, production) and Harry Day (drums, backing vocals). Since forming in 2016, the band has released their eponymous debut EP (2017), the album '' Lost Friends'' (2018), the '' New Songs for Old Problems'' EP (2019), and their second studio album '' Today We're the Greatest'' (2021).

Career

2016–2017: Formation and debut EP

Middle Kids originally formed after Fitz offered to produce some songs for Joy's solo project after attending a show she played. Prior to Middle Kids, Fitz was also a solo artist; he released five EPs between 2011 and 2014 under his own name. They enlisted local jazz drummer Harry Day (who went to school with Joy) for a recording session, in which they recorded their debut single, "Edge of Town". The song's radio premiere on

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

in May 2016 was followed by a feature in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

Australia''. Shortly after the video clip's premiere on Stereogum, the song was added to Elton John's Beats 1 show. The trio won

FBi Radio FBi (call sign: 2FBI) station is an independent, not-for-profit community radio in Sydney, Australia. FBi places a heavy emphasis on local emerging music: it has a policy that at least 50 per cent of its music content is to be Australian, of wh ...

's Northern Lights competition (which sent them to perform in Reykjavik,

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

at the

Iceland Airwaves Iceland Airwaves is a music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), n ...

music festival). The band recorded and released their debut self-titled EP in February 2017. They also toured with Paul Kelly and Steve Earle in November of that year.

2018–2019: ''Lost Friends''

In May 2018, the band released their debut album, '' Lost Friends''. It was primarily recorded in their Sydney home, produced by bandmember Tim Fitz, and mixed by

Peter Katis Peter Katis is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, audio engineer, mixer, and musician. Katis is best known for working with alternative and indie rock bands. He works primarily out of his own residential studio, Tarquin Studios, ...

. It debuted at Number 10 on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offic ...

. A Pitchfork review described the sound as "radiant, anthemic indie rock, balancing doubt-ridden lyrics with clear-eyed execution". ''Lost Friends'' was nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Rock Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2016. It won the prestigious

J Award The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...

for Australian Album of the Year. The lead single "Mistake" was voted into the 2018

Triple J Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the y ...

. They played their USA TV debut on '' Conan''. Additionally they have performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!,

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28a ...

and

Busy Tonight ''Busy Tonight'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Busy Philipps that aired from October 28, 2018 to May 16, 2019 on E!. Premise ''Busy Tonight'' features "everyone's favorite unfiltered Hollywood best friend giving her hilarious a ...

. They have played live sessions for

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...

KEXP KEXP-FM (90.3 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in alternative and indie rock programmed by its disc jockeys for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by the no ...

KTBG KTBG (90.9 FM, 90.9 The Bridge) is a listener-supported, non-commercial NPR Music member radio station serving the Kansas City, Missouri market, broadcast from Warrensburg, Missouri, United States. It is currently owned by Public Television 19 ...

WFUV WFUV (90.7 FM) is a non–commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York. The station is owned by Fordham University, with studios on its Bronx campus and its antenna atop nearby Montefiore Medical Center. WFUV first went on the air i ...

, and

(in which they performed a cover of "Don't Dream it's Over" by Crowded House). The band have toured extensively in the US, performing at South by Southwest, Lollapalooza, Governors Ball Music Festival, LouFest,

Firefly Music Festival Firefly Music Festival is a music festival produced by AEG Presents that was first held on July 20–22, 2012, in Dover, Delaware. Firefly takes place in The Woodlands of Dover Motor Speedway, a festival ground, over the span of three days. Ma ...

, Austin City Limits Fest among others. They also opened on tours for

The War on Drugs (band) The War on Drugs is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 2005. The band consists of Adam Granduciel (vocals, guitar), David Hartley (bass guitar), Robbie Bennett (keyboards), Charlie Hall (drums), Jon Natchez (saxop ...

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams lef ...

Cold War Kids Cold War Kids is an American alternative rock band from Long Beach, California. Band members are Nathan Willett (vocals, piano, guitar), Matt Maust (bass guitar), David Quon (guitar, backing vocals), Matthew Schwartz (keyboards, backing vocals, ...

Local Natives Local Natives is an American indie rock band based in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, Silver Lake, Los Angeles. The band consists of Taylor Rice (vocals, guitar), Kelcey Ayer (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ryan Hahn (guitar, backing vocals), ...

. The band supported

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English rock band, composed of Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, sampler), Russell Lissack (lead guitar, keyboards), Justin Harris (bass guitar, keyboards, saxophones, backing vocals) and Louise Bartle ( ...

on a European tour in 2018 and played a live session in the UK at the BBC

Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1 ...

. The band released the EP '' New Songs for Old Problems'' in May 2019. These were released by Domino Records in the US,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

Records in Australia, and Lucky Number in the UK.

2020–present: ''Today We're the Greatest''

In January 2021, Middle Kids announced the release of their second studio album, alongside its second single "Questions". '' Today We're the Greatest'' was released on 19 March 2021.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. ! , - ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, ''Lost Friends'' , ARIA Award for Best Rock Album , , , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, ''Today We're the Greatest'' , Best Rock Album , ,

J Awards

The

J Awards The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...

are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station

. ! , - ,

, ''Lost Friends'' , Australian Album of the Year , , , - ,

, ''Today We're the Greatest'' , Australian Album of the Year , ,

National Live Music Awards

The

National Live Music Awards The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse and successful live industry, celebrating the diversity and success of the Australian live scene – recognising the best vocal talents and musicians alongside ...

(NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. , - ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, Middle Kids , International Live Achievement (Group) , , - ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, Middle Kids , Live Indie / Rock Act of the Year , , -

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control ARIA Award winners Australian indie rock groups Domino Recording Company artists Musical groups from Sydney