“When we write, it’s not about separating those influences, it is about expressing them in our own way, in our own sound” - Afterdrive - Interview - By The Fans Magazine

AFTERDRIVE Interview - By The Fans Magazine.

Words & Interview: Grace Wearn

Photography Credit to Owner.

“Hi Afterdrive! Thank you so much for your time today. Please can you give a short introduction to who you are, for any of our readers who are not yet aware of yourselves?”

We’re AFTERDRIVE, a four-piece pop rock band built around big melodic songwriting and the energy of a live band at full power. We focus on writing songs that are instantly catchy and addictive but still carry weight when you strip them back. The aim is to create something you can sing back in a room full of people, while still holding real meaning underneath it. Everything comes from blending our influences and pushing them through a full band setup, so it always feels alive and bigger than just a track on a playlist.

“We’d love to know, who were all of your music influences growing up and how do you think each of your individual influences has impacted the way you write your own music?”

We’ve all grown up on a lot of 90s and 2000s bands, that era of big, confident songwriting and anthemic choruses that stick with you. At the same time, we’re all really into pop, R&B and electronic music, especially when it comes to melody, rhythm and production. I think that combination is a big part of what shapes our songs. There’s always that energy and directness from the band side, but also a real focus on making things feel melodic, addictive and modern in the way they’re built. When we write, it’s not about separating those influences, it is about expressing them in our own way, in our own sound.

“Your band’ sound has that blurred, cinematic feeling — here at By The Fans Magazine, we’d love to know.. Do your songs in the songwriting process start as either visuals, emotions, or some element of chaos?”

It usually starts with a feeling more than anything else. Sometimes it’s a lyric or a melody, sometimes it’s just a mood in the room when I’m writing, or when we’re writing collectively, but it always comes from an emotion that sparks a reaction in the room. The “visual” side tends to come later, once the song starts to build and you can start to see the world around it more clearly. There’s always an element of chaos in the early stages as well, in a good way. Ideas get thrown around quickly, things develop and things change, so we don’t really overthink anything at the start. It’s only once the song starts to take shape that we pull it into something more focused and that’s probably the most exciting part of songwriting.

“Let’s talk your last single ‘Fashion’, can you talk a bit about this? What was the songwriting & production process like?”

With Fashion, I wrote it from mixed emotions of attraction and uncertainty, that push and pull between knowing something isn’t really built on anything solid but still being drawn to it anyway. When you first hear it, it’s big and energetic and you just want to move to it, but if you listen to the lyrics, it holds a deeper meaning underneath, and that’s what I love about the track.

It still comes from that four-piece base at its core, but we built on that with synths, samples and electronic details on top. It just makes everything feel bigger and more current and opens the sound up in a way that still feels like us.

“You’ve had comparisons drawn previously to both Oasis and The 1975 — do those band’ parallels feel more like an honour, a weight of expectation, or something you’re actively trying to break away from to make your own path? Or perhaps a combination of all 3?”

“What do you think those comparisons miss about who Afterdrive really are?”

It’s always flattering when people hear something in what you’re doing that reminds them of huge bands like that. They’re both massive in their own different ways and have obviously shaped a lot of music around us, so we never take that lightly. But at the same time, we’re not really focused on fitting into comparisons or chasing them. Ultimately, the goal is to be as big as those bands, in our own way and within our own lane.

We do get compared to The 1975 quite a bit, mainly because they’ve obviously been a big name when it comes to blending pop, electronic and British indie influences in a really successful way. And don’t get us wrong, we are huge fans, and if you’re a fan of them, there’s a good chance you’ll connect with what we do too. But at the same time, I think those comparisons miss the wider picture of where we’re heading. Especially with the new EP we’ve got coming, it feels like we’re stepping even further into our own identity with it. So those links make sense on the surface, but they don’t really cover the full scope of our music anymore.

“Who usually brings the first spark of an idea for songwriting, to the table?”

I’m always writing songs daily, so I’m constantly coming up with lyrics and topline ideas. For us, it’s usually me that brings in the lyrics and overall idea into the room. It can start as a line, a melody, or just something I’ve been thinking about or feeling at the time, and then we build it out together as a band. From there it becomes really collaborative, and everyone shapes it into what the final song ends up being. That said, we’ve also written loads of songs completely collaboratively in the room as well. There’s never really a set way of doing it, sometimes it comes from me bringing something in, and other times it just appears out of nowhere when we’re all playing together and something clicks.

“Where do you draw songwriting inspiration from, outside of music?”

Most of it comes from real life experience and emotion. Things I’ve been through myself, or situations I’ve seen people go through tend to stick with me and end up feeding into songs in some way. I think songwriting is a personal journey for me as well, it’s one of the main ways I express what I’m feeling at the time. Even when it’s not a direct story, it’s still rooted in something real emotionally. And hopefully that’s what makes it connect with people, because even if the exact situation isn’t the same, the feelings behind it are usually universal.

“Have you got any other exciting projects or single releases coming up in the near future?”

We’ve been really busy in the studio recently and it feels amazing to be announcing new music. Our new single Neon View drops on 3rd July. It’s a proper feel-good summer track, it’s really upbeat and catchy but still with that AFTERDRIVE energy running through it. It feels like a big step forward in where we’re heading. It’s also leading into a wider EP announcement, which we’re really excited about. Coming off momentum of our UK and European support tour, it feels like the perfect time to start showing our fans the new chapter of AFTERDRIVE.

“Thank you so much. And lastly, can you give any advice to upcoming young creatives in the industry, with the same drive and passion as you?”

For us, the main thing is, just start. Don’t wait until everything feels ready or perfect, because it never really will. Write as much as you can, play in front of as many people as you can and figure it out as you go. The early stuff is meant to be messy, that’s how you find your sound and your identity.

 And don’t overthink what you think you “should” sound like. The more honest you are with it, the more it ends up sounding like you anyway. The bands and artists you end up looking up to all started from the same place, just putting ideas out and building from there.

Most importantly, enjoy the journey.