MIDLAND RAILWAY Talk New Album, Single And More

Engaging Brit Geek rockers MIDLAND RAILWAY will unveil their super magnetic self-titled album on Friday 14th February 2025. With their single ‘Bedroom Analysis’ out now it seemed like the perfect time to chat to them:

Who is in Midland Railway, what do they play and how did you meet?

We have: Nick – vocals, guitar, written interviews
Sarah – bass, vocals
Billy – drums
Andy – guitar
Kat has also been standing in on bass quite regularly lately, as well as helping us with all things technical.
I met Sarah at uni, through our mutual love of Therapy?. Andy joined after seeing us play live in 3-piece form. I met Billy through a Weezer tribute band I also play in. I met Kat through playing Magic; the gathering, which I think bolsters our nerd-rock credibility.

When did you begin songwriting?

It was after my first band disbanded (so ages ago). I loved playing music to people and wanted to try to write the kind songs I’d have enjoyed listening to. I’m quite a harsh critic, so this is not easy to achieve.

What is your earliest musical memory?
Mozart’s 21st piano concerto, because that was what something my dad was listening to when I was very young. Nirvana were the band that first really got me in to rock music.

You have your new single ‘Bedroom Analysis’ out now. What was the inspiration/story behind the track?

Bedroom Analysis has been a popular part of our set for some time, so I’m really happy we finally have it properly recorded so people everywhere can hear it.
It’s essentially a song about gaslighting – however hard you work at trying to make sense of the situation you find yourself in, you can’t, and you feel like you’re going crazy and start second-guessing everything, and the song sort of describes what this feels like.

The single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind the video and who directed it?

Most of the credit has to go to Chris Hyde of Sounds of Spitfire, as he created this video that we are so proud of. We wanted it to fit the feel of the music – enhancing the song is more important than the video being something that would be a good watch all on its own.
As Bedroom Analysis is one of the older songs on the album, we thought it could be nice if the video pays some homage to our journey so far, featuring some of our former bandmates, including David, who played drums with us until his untimely passing in 2018. I think he’d have liked the idea of being in our video.

In addition, your self-titled album will be released on Friday 14th February 2025. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

This is our first album, and we’ve been working really hard on trying to get it just right. It’s kind of the biggest thing we’ll have to show for all of our efforts so far. Fortunately, it has quite a lot of really catchy songs on there, and they’re all quite different to one-another. Rather like our live sets, it takes the listener on something of an emotional journey. The latter portion of the album is a bit slower and more thoughtful, and it has been nice to be able to release some songs that we’re really proud of, but might not be as lively during our performances.

Where did you record the album and who produced it?

The recording process was a case of working on one song at a time, and trying to get each one sounding as good as we could get it. Then, we compiled them in to an album. I’m not sure we’d do it this way if we were to do it all again, but I think the end result has turned out well. The producers were:
Tayte Nichols (tracks 1 and 2)
Neil Treppas (tracks 3, 4, and 5)
Roy Selby (track 6)
Kyle Broadhurst (tracks 7, 8, and 10)
Robert Hayton (track 9)
The list of places we recorded is just as long. It has been a long and complicated process!

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the album recording sessions?

The most unusual recording was probably that of General Debility. We recorded this very soon after writing it, in a very DIY way, using whatever instruments we had access to. It has a bassoon on it, which is not something that can be said of many punk rock albums. Roy did an unbelievable job with the production, to achieve the end result we got.

Do you use any particular instruments, microphones, or recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for your music?

Other than the bassoon, the most interesting instrument was probably my extremely cheap 2nd hand Yamaha keyboard. We recorded The Pokémon Adventure during lockdown, and Rob, who was our lead guitarist back then, was stuck up in Scotland, where the rules were way more strict, so I played the lead part on the keyboard, which came out pretty well.
We used a fantastic range of guitars to layer up the sounds and get different tones from the pickups. Getting the right sounds is really important though.

Which of your new album tracks hear you at your

a) happiest – She Loves Ted Bundy. It’s quite an insane kind of happy song, but I think that one leaves people feeling really good.

b) angriest – An Attempt to Write A Song. This one is about being really pissed off with everything and everyone, especially myself, and I think it’s quite an emotive way to end the album.

and c) most reflective? There are a few contenders for this title, but I’d pick out our new single, Bedroom Analysis. It’s all about trying to make sense of being put in an impossibly confusing situation that brings out all your insecurities and makes you question your sanity.

Who created/designed the album artwork?

The art was by Kate Mia-white, with additional editing by Kat Donohue. I asked for the locomotive hauling the miniature train to be a Coronation Class.

Was it a difficult album to write?

Absolutely. I’m not one of those song writers who can just churn new songs out really fast. I tend to think about everything really thoroughly, and sometimes kind of overthink details maybe more than in need to. I try to put a lot of myself in to the lyrics, but then it can be even harder to cope with people’s reactions if they don’t like what I’ve written. Sometimes I find myself writing in bursts, where I have a period of time where everything seems to be coming together, but then I go months without coming up with anything I don’t hate.

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

I want to feel like I’ve given it my best. If I can create music that makes people’s lives better in some way, that would be a very worthwhile achievement. I want to be able to listen to music we’ve created and feel proud of it.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

My go-to guitar has generally been my Fender JA-90 thinline telecaster, which is Jim Adkins (Jimmy Eat World)‘s signature design. It’s a guitar perfectly designed for the kind of music we’re making (though I do like to vary it sometimes to keep things interesting).
My amp is a Fender Junior Pro, which I love the sound of. It’s very mid-heavy, so you have to choose the right pedals to compliment it. Tubescreamer style overdrives push the mids too much and it sounds boxy, so I generally like a crunchy overdrive for some of the more punk songs, like a Boss BD-2, though I also have the Soundland Scran, which works really nicely in this role. I also like a beefy distortion effect on the board, such as a Boss DS-2 or my Demiurge Mindflayer (which is similar to the Proco Rat, but it’s fun using boutique pedals). I also like a really nice transparent overdrive. My favourite is the Earthquaker Special Cranker, which is a more subtle effect than is compatible with full chords. I also always have a chorus pedal on the board to offer a tone contrast. My favourite cables are by Mojo, and they’re purple.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

Manchester.
It’s mostly not too bad.

How do you look after your voice?

I don’t smoke, which probably helps. I tend to get through a lot of water during rehearsals, and I tend to warm my voice up by singing along to something in the car on the way there. I’m not sure many vocal coaches would endorse that as a great way to warm up, but I’m getting by so far.

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

One of my favourite authors was Milan Kundera, but he made a point of making it ridiculously hard to turn his books in to movies.
I think I’d have a go at Lord of the Rings. I know Peter Jackson did it relatively recently, but his films severely set off my cheeseometer, and I think there are aspects that deviate from the book and make the story worse as a result.

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

I love Weezer – they’re one of my biggest musical influences. My favourite lyricists are Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), due to his ability to convey emotions so powerfully, and Stephin Merritt (The Magnetic Fields), who has such a way with words, combined with some brilliantly dark humour.
Recently, I have been listening to Manchester Orchestra a lot. I’m not sure I can ever write music like theirs, but it’s spectacularly beautiful when they get it right.

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2024/2025?

We do! We’re off to Salford on 11th January, then back in Manchester on 22nd and 23rd February. I expect we’ll soon be booking some dates a little further afield.

What makes Midland Railway happy and what makes you unhappy?

When we’ve played to people singing along to our songs, with a bit of a mosh pit going, there’s really nothing quite like it! It’s a really wonderful feeling, and it makes all the work feel worthwhile at those moments.

On the flip side, navigating the music industry can be incredibly frustrating at times. It’s easier than ever to record music well, but it’s harder than ever to get it noticed, and the market does not seem friendly to bands making original music that are not particularly famous, while bands who are already well-known, and tribute acts and covers bands seem more popular than ever.
When you’re desperately trying to get people to notice what you’re doing, one of the most demoralising things is when your friends who are going to gigs most weeks claim they didn’t have the time to even listen to your 3 minute song (which they don’t even need to hear to all of to see what it’s like). It’s not like there’s any malicious intent there, but all your efforts being of so little interest to the people you’re around can be really difficult to take.