Why this Brisbane band kept their misspelt name

Welcome to CityChats, where Brisbane Times meets our city’s most interesting characters on our most iconic form of transport. This week, Mid Drift band members Sarah Engstrom, George Swan and Daniel Larsen tell us about turning female rage into fun, floaty, washy tunes, realising they’d spelt midriff wrong, and their dream venues to play.

We meet three of the five band members at North Quay ferry terminal, fresh from their 9-5 jobs. We’ve been fretting about how we’re going to fit six people into frame at peak hour on the ferry, but Rowan Bowyer can’t get a park in the CBD, and John Reid also can’t make it.

The CityCat is indeed busier than usual at 5pm, but not so busy that every seat is taken. Shout out to the woman who got up and moved, leaving a row open, after spotting our concerned scouting.

How did you guys meet?

George: Just through the music scene in Brisbane. It’s so small and tight. Everyone sort of knows everyone. You cross paths eventually.

All of these guys were in a different band, apart from me. And I sort of knew you guys through the grapevine, but hadn’t really met yet. And I just messaged Sarah and I was like, “I need someone to play guitar for. I’m bored. I’m scared and lonely out here”.

Oh, so you had a band before?

Sarah: Yeah. There was four of us in a band before and we kind of split up. And then it just so happened we needed a really good guitarist, and George is a very good guitarist, and it just worked out perfectly.

How did you come up with your band name?

Sarah: After one of the gigs we played, with that band that broke up, there was this girl, this woman, that came up to me in the crowd, and she said to me, “oh, you wear those little tops all the time, and you have your belly hanging out, and blah, blah, blah”. Anyway, then it just kind of stuck with me that I actually do wear like little tops all the time.

Then we went through like a billion band names and landed on Mid Drift. Which, apparently, is the actual word for your belly being out after a shirt is ...

Daniel: Midriff. But by the time you have a band name that’s not taken, you’re just so stoked that there’s one name left. You don’t change it.

I actually did go back through your Instagram posts trying to see how many midriffs there were. I was like, “Is this a play on midriff?” I’m glad I was right.

Sarah: I’ve grown out of it a little bit.

Daniel: You have more variety now.

Sarah: I do.

I thought it seems like it’s more boy midriff now.

Sarah: Yeah, it is. The boys have been rocking it. They’ve been chopping their shirts. It’s our like pre-show ritual now. All the boys will chop their shirts together.

George: Every time we get a new shirt, we’ll be like, “Who’s got the scissors?”

What is the coolest venue you’ve ever played?

George: The beach in Adelaide was incredible. I’ll be longing for that forever.

Sarah: Yeah, we played at Glenelg Beach in Adelaide. I think our whole band will say that’s the most amazing. It was right on the beach, the biggest blue sky you’ve ever seen. The crowd was all in the sand. It was really cool.

George: Forum’s cool.

Sarah: Forum in Melbourne.

Do you have a dream venue you’d want to play at?

George: Mine’s Riverstage. Definitely Riverstage for Brisbane. That’s a bucket-list goal. Like ‘we’ve done it, we’re here’.

Daniel: I think probably Riverstage as well.

Sarah: What’s that Red Rocks place?

Daniel: Oh yeah, Red Rocks in the US. Yeah, that’s beautiful. Weirdly, the Triffid was probably a venue for me that I had [on my list]. You’re in the green room and there are posters of gigs I attended up decorating it. That’s cool.

That was my Brisbane venue. That was the one that I wanted to headline.

What’s the best concert that you’ve seen in Brisbane?

Daniel: Karnivool. They did an anniversary tour for Themata. There’s a bunch of songs there that they have never played, or they’ve played live a handful of times. And to be in the room with like 700 people that, ‘oh, they’re playing this song that’s special’, and everyone kind of knows that. That was a really, really cool show. That is no surprise to these guys at all.

George: Not even a little bit.

Mine would probably be Yussef Dayes at the Princess Theatre. That was awesome. Beautiful venue. Doesn’t matter where you’re standing, it just sounds unreal. That was cool. What about you, bro?

Sarah: I’m going to say Full Flower Moon Band at the Princess, which was just ... I love her as a frontwoman. She’s so cool, and her performance is amazing.

Speaking of amazing frontwomen, I was going to ask you about your lyrics and how you decide what to write about. One of your songs in particular, for me, it’s very full of female rage.

Sarah: Washed. That one is female rage. I feel like I write these songs and I make them very honest. And I don’t like making up scenarios, which is unfortunate for me because everything that I write about is mostly true. But the good thing is, I write these angry, sad girl songs and I bring them to the boys, and they make them fun and floaty and washy. That’s what the boys are really good at doing; they’re good at turning my terrible sad hardship emotions into something that sounds cool.

I love the difference between the sound and the lyrics. I think the first time I heard it on social media, I thought, “this is just perfect beach music”, and then I listened to the lyrics and was like, “oh, she’s been through it”.

Sarah: I’m so glad. Thank you.

Are there any particular artists you guys draw inspiration from?

George: I think we all pull inspiration from so many different people. Definitely in Australia, it would be Ocean Alley and probably Spacey Jane as well.

Sarah: Tom Misch.

George: Definitely Tom Misch for me.

Dan: Parcels, that would be one. Peach Fur were a nice local band that we saw and played with a lot before Mid Drift was around.

It’s a very Aussie sound. It’s a beach sound, which is funny because we’re on a river like an hour from the beach. What do you think it is that inspires that kind of sound in Australia?

Sarah: What I always say – and the boys have heard me say this a million times – is that feeling where you’re driving back from the beach, you’re like a little bit sunburnt, the windows are down, you got an hour back from the Gold Coast to Brisbane, and it’s just that feeling. And I feel like the reason we connect with so much of the indie rock kind of music is because it ties in so nicely with saltwater and sun, and nice, flowy, kind of free days, is my take on it.

You basically just described the playlist that I have you guys in: driving back from the beach with the windows down.

Sarah: I love that. That makes me so happy.

Daniel: We can see playlists on Spotify. It’s always just beachy days and driving in a convertible with wind in your hair.

George: Emojis of the sun and waves.

You’re consistent.

Sarah: I love when they’re a bit rogue, though. It’s like, “I just broke up with my boyfriend”, and it’s like so many songs, and I’m like ... oop.

George: There are some good ones.

I always forget people can see that.

Sarah: I also forget. I should look into the playlists again.

Mine are sometimes very honest, so I should stop doing that.

Sarah: No, don’t, don’t stop. We like it.

We say goodbye to the band at Felons, staying on until Teneriffe. It normally takes Neesha 20 minutes to get into work from the ’riffe. We get there in 45. Dominique concedes maybe this is why people aren’t commuting on the ferry every day. She maintains the view outweighs the lack of convenience. She’ll probably move to Teneriffe soon and eat her words.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.