(Interview) Midnight Til Morning: “ I don't think there's any shame in being a boy band. I do think we’d rather fall somewhere between a band and a boy band.”
- Kirsty Bright
- Jul 4
- 7 min read
The last 12 months have undoubtedly been a non-stop whirlwind for Midnight Til Morning, since launching in August 2024, the stats speak for themselves. Going on tour to build their brand through global touring, a steady stream of new music that has gained them fans across the world. Their latest London headline show saw pre-sales sell out so fast, leading to venues being upgraded. Their breakthrough soared more with debut single “Bye,” co-written with Benson Boone. The track landed on Spotify's Viral Charts across the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and Brazil while amassing more than 150 million video views across social platforms.
But for Midnight til Morning they have taken it all in their stride, soaking it all in as they continue their successful journey. As I spoke to them shortly after making their BST Hyde Park debut, Conor described the day as "one for the books, and it was incredibly special.” Although the four members first came together during Netflix's Building the Band. They’ve been able to avoid being confined by the reality TV label or put into a box that perhaps past artists may have found themselves in in the past. Instead, they write, produce, and make their own music. What's even more refreshing is the way they involved their fans. Their fanbase, known as Midnighters, was given a hand in the next creative step.
Trusting their fans with what they want to hear next, the band asked them to vote on which song should be released next. The result revealed they wanted “Math” released, and indeed they did. The latest track is co-written with Neil Ormandy and Michael Matosic, and while it may, of course, trigger going back to school and disliking the subject, the boys are making maths cool, with it going down a storm on the Great Oak stage on Sunday.
With back-to-back touring, it's the UK's and Europe's turn to watch the boys perform and do what they do best. I caught up with the members after their set, which saw fans packed in, ready to sing along with the group.
Today marked your first UK festival appearance. How does it compare to your own tours? It’s a good way to get more people watching that perhaps are unfamiliar, right?
Conor: Oh man, it was so fun, and this was actually our first festival ever, and what an amazing place to do it at Hyde Park and to see such a massive crowd it was definitely one for the books and incredibly special.
Mason: For sure, and to be on the main stage and for them to know what we’re about.
Shane: I think it was a different experience for all of us, but we all loved it, and to be able to have the opportunity to perform in front of that many people was surreal. Just looking out and seeing everybody interact with our music was great. Hopefully we’ve managed to gain a couple new fans today.
Zach: The best thing was getting new people that perhaps haven’t heard our music.
Your fanbase, Midnighters, plays a key role towards their support for you. How important are fandoms in today’s world?
Conor: Yeah, they’re important for sure, and they're just super dedicated, and they're so supportive of us. We really couldn't ask for a better fanbase, as they'll go to war for us.
Zach: We have a small army at our disposal. (Laughs)
Shane: Yeah, my favourite part is when I see a hateful comment and then there are like 100 replies, and they're like, 'How could you say that about them?' (Laughs)
On days today where the audience is primarily your fanbase, how do you put together a set list that has their favourites but also gains new people walking by?
Zach: I mean, I think we just kind of kept it high energy for the most part, but still we managed to get a few numbers that brought that down. The hardest part was just fitting in all the tracks. As with a small time frame of a half-hour slot, it went so quick, and we just wanted to make the most of it. We packed in a lot of songs for everyone.
Your new single Math got its live debut today. What made you choose that title? How’s the reaction been since the release?
Conor: We chose the title based on the fact that we do a lot of counting in it (laughs).
Mason: (laughs) Yeah, to be fair, we're all actually really bad. I think we all failed math at school.
Same here, but I think we've all done well since school (laughing).
Shane: Exactly, and it’s why the song only goes up to five (laughs).
Zach: (laughing) That's the maximum we count up to, but it’s had a great reaction. It's been crazy.
Conor: We actually started playing the song on tour before it was even released, and so we got the overall reaction to it in real time.
Oh, so you decided to venture out and kind of test the waters before releasing it?
Shane: Yeah, we just really wanted to see how it goes in terms of crowd reaction.
Mason: We actually threw in some new ones during the tour to see which one was liked the most. And by far “Math” was by far the most loved, and we actually put out a poll asking the fans which song should be released next, and that one ranked the highest.
This October sees your first UK/EU headline tour. What can first timers expect to see from your show? Have you learnt over the last year what works for you and what doesn't, etc.?
Conor: I think we've just learned to kind of live in this moment as much as we can because it's over so quickly. Even with this show, you know, it's been a couple weeks of planning along with the nerves and anxiety, and then suddenly it's just done. It's a really weird feeling afterwards. I think, with these last tours and this tour coming up, we're just going to learn to take it in. I wish we had been doing that a lot lately and remembering to just have fun and enjoy it.
When touring different countries, do you see a change in the culture from fans at all?
Zach: Yeah, I think everywhere's got their own quirks which we enjoy getting to see. Plus we just have such an amazing fan base across the globe, so for us it's just really cool to be able to visit all of these places and meet all of these people that are out here to see us live.
Having formed through a Netflix reality show, do you find there is an added layer of presumption that you need to prove to people?
Conor: Oh, for sure, but I think it was a really amazing introduction to the world for us, and it gave us a huge opportunity and platform. Since then, I think we've just been kind of letting people know who we are a bit more. We can get to know people and share more of our personalities online and just deepen that connection with our fans.
I think the term 'boy band' is a bit outdated. As a group, do you find yourself having to distance yourself from a specific stereotype from the get-go?
Shane: I don't think there's any shame in being a boy band. I do think we’d rather fall somewhere between a band and a boy band. As we play our own instruments, we like to mix the two together instead of it being just pure vocals and dancing. The vibe we’re going for is just being seen as a band overall.
Zach: I like to think of us more as a ‘man’ band than a boy band (laughs).
Music trends move so quickly in today’s world, especially when it comes to social media. Do you feel pressure to create and post content alongside the music?
Shane: I think there's always a little bit of pressure, as there's just so much competition out there. Plus, there are a lot of people that are very motivated and we want to make this big, so I think that motivates all of us to keep pushing super hard on social media.
And, you know, social media has given me all the opportunities I've had today. So I think it's very important for us to keep posting on social media. We have a great team that helps us with ideas when we can't think of things. Also, Zach and I are pretty good at coming up with some creative ideas. They might be stupid sometimes, but we do our best (laughs).
Zach: Not to like to put the direct phrase in my mouth, but I think us also being less intelligent than, like, the real world sounds. (Laughing) Not that we’re less intelligent, but we love to come up with really stupid ideas that work very well on social media. (Laughs)
Not at all; if anything, you’re going outside the box with ideas?
Shane: Exactly, like we're maybe a little more creative, but those two (Conor and Mason) have got more book smarts (laughs).
It comes across like a big brother dynamic of embarrassing the younger ones (laughs). Working together a lot and touring, you’d have to be quite solid with work ethics, etc.
Conor: Absolutely, we’ve been together for two years and have been together pretty much every day since.
Mason: I agree that we’re literally like brothers as we see each other so much more than most people.
So you have the tour at the tail end of 2026. What else is next, and what would be the next big dream/goal?
Zach: Well, ah man, I think about just selling out even bigger shows. And you know, headlining this festival someday would be a massive dream. But I think about just working on bigger shows and continuing to build an even larger fan base. Being able to give back to more people and focusing on just having so much fun and just keeping doing what we're doing because we're just loving it so much.
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