Chaos reigns, cowbells ring: We chat to Midnight Rodeo

It’s not often you stumble across a band that feels like a genuine gang – the kind you’d trust to soundtrack your life, crash your cousin’s wedding, and still make your nan a lovely cuppa the morning after. Midnight Rodeo are friends bound together by the prodigious chant of “crucially, having a bloody good time”, and somewhere between surf-drenched guitars and kaleidoscopic flourishes, you’ll find a tenacity born from a fierce will to make music that celebrates joy and collective weirdness.

Laced with a knowing wink and a deep love for the absurd, they’re comfortable in the chaos. The band – made up of vocalist Maddy Chamberlain, guitarist Jim McBride, bassist Harry Taylor, drummer Ferg Moran, and Sam Potts on keys – aren’t easy to pin down, and that’s very much the point. One minute their palette veers wildly into fuzzy, garage psychedelia, the next they’re pulling deep from a well of dusty soul romanticism, and the result is an album that feels like a love letter to joyful disorder.

“It started as a joke. We’d nicknamed him ‘Chaos Jim’, but then we realised we were all in it. The name stuck.”

Speaking with Maddy and Jim a few weeks out from release, it’s obvious that Chaos Era is more than a debut album. It’s a record that captures the band in motion, still evolving, still figuring it out; the result of years of artistic searching and personal turmoil, transmuted into music that feels wild, warm, and defiantly alive.

“We signed with FatCat about two years ago,” Jim explains the breakthrough of what they coin a period of ‘collective life turbulence’ for the band. “And they weren’t just after a few singles. They wanted a full-length. An album you could sit with, not just something built for playlists. That worked for us. We’ve always been into records that evolve as you listen, stuff with character, stuff that changes with your mood.”

“Our influences are all rooted in that long-form format. Sixties and seventies records, albums that take you somewhere,” Maddy adds. “We couldn’t have shown people who we are with just a few singles. There’s too much variety in what we do.”

That variety comes from the collaborative chaos that defines their writing process. With five members all throwing ideas into the mix, it can be intense.

“We’re not a backing band for anyone. Everyone contributes, and we all pull each song into different directions. It can be a bit Dadaist sometimes: we start with something traditional, then rip it apart, throw a cowbell on it, mess with the beat, and see what emerges.”

Some of the songs that made the final cut on Chaos Era – such as the eerie and cinematic Buggin’ Out or the long-time live staple Dixon – had been in the band’s arsenal for a while. Others came together in bursts during locked-away writing retreats and last-minute jam sessions. One of those early tracks, Strange Eyes, offers a seductive pulse that hints at the band’s taste for psychedelia but also for something darker, almost post-punk in tone.

“That one’s definitely among the oldest,” Jim says. “But it still feels alive.”

The result is a debut that flows like a fever dream. Heavy on rhythm and reverb; thick with atmosphere and whimsy. Fittingly, the writing process began in a converted Welsh mill, a half-haunted retreat that shaped the sound more than they expected.

“There’s definitely a surf influence on the record,” Jim says. “But it’s a haunted, slightly miserable British version. We didn’t even realise there was a pub nearby until the last day!” Recording later took place in a nearby village with a population “somewhere between thirty-eight and two,” Jim deadpans.

“The producer told us two of them were rumoured murderers,” Maddy laughs. “We stayed in this log cabin with no locks, in 30-degree heat. It felt like a Midsomer Murders episode directed by David Lynch.”

Despite the weirdness – or maybe because of it – something clicked.

“We had industrial fans going between takes. Everyone was melting on these sheepskins, but the energy we captured is right there in the album. It’s sweaty, euphoric, and a bit unhinged. That’s what we wanted.”

Lyrically, the album walks a line between catharsis and cheek.

“There’s social commentary in there,” Maddy says, “but nothing preachy. It’s more about work-life burnout and feeling lost, trying to stay sane, finding your power again when life wears you down.”

Some of the record’s most memorable hooks don’t even come from vocals or guitars – they come from Ferg, the drummer. 

“He’s probably the best musician in the band,” Maddy admits. “Like the cowbell in Dixon – that’s the hook. Not the guitar, not the vocal. The cowbell.” For a band that wears its chaos on its sleeve, it’s fitting that percussion often leads the charge.

That sense of playful defiance bleeds into their visuals too. The video for recent single Daisy is a pastel dreamscape of surreal kitsch and DIY drag aesthetics, inspired by Poor Things and a taste for the theatrical. When asked what film soundtrack their own discography would feature in, the pair are instantly debating: “Oh! There are so many. We’ve got influences from Wes Anderson, Tarantino--”

“--Perhaps Tarantino to use one of our tracks in a retro bowling alley dance scene, but I think we’re a bit weirder than that--”

“--A spaghetti western scored by Fleetwood Mac covering Black Sabbath--” 

“--Maybe something like The Lobster,” Jim muses. “Something dark, yet funny. Or a French film from fifty years ago--”

“--In my head, it would be something sexy, but it’s just not at all,” Maddy chuckles. “Actually, you’re always putting our songs over scenes in Mean Streets--”

“--Yes! Specifically, when Robert De Niro is walking into the bar for the first time. When you first meet his character, I always liked the idea of trying to write a song that would fit that.”

Midnight Rodeo certainly lean into the revivalism of the sixties and seventies, and while they’re all-things vintage obsessed, they’re far from a throwback band.

“We never sat down and planned the look. It’s just who we are. Like we fell out of a 1970s LP sleeve.” Jim nods. “We’re maximalists. We’re not trying to look cool. We’re just being ourselves.”

Even with a label deal and tour lined up, the band are authentically honest, even down to the mundanities of life, still juggling jobs and making it work however they can.

“We’ve recorded vocals on lunch breaks. Done demos in shared houses. Some of us work in the music industry, so our bosses get it. They’re supportive, but you run out of holidays pretty fast.”

The dream is to go full-time, but for now, they’re embracing the mayhem of just being in the moment. That slow-burn approach also helps remove the pressure of trying to make a splash too quickly, as Maddy points out: “That gives us room to grow. We’ve stopped trying to control everything. We don’t have to blow up straight away.”

Jim agrees.

“After lockdown, it felt like a lot of artists used that downtime to really hone their sound. When people did start gigging again, they came back stronger. Nottingham’s forgiving, too – you can be a bit rough around the edges when you’re starting out. People don’t judge you for it. I’ve been here ten years now. It’s where I became a musician. It’s where this band became real.

“Nottingham is a retaliation against London in some ways. There’s more space here, more freedom. You don’t have to fit a mould.”

Maddy continues, lamenting the fact that ego is few and far between artists in the city. 

“Nottingham doesn’t necessarily have a scene in terms of sound, it’s more community. We’ve gigged with a lot of people and we never fit it on the bill. I’m not saying that in terms of competition: you see soul bands playing on the same stages as post-punk bands and indie kids. Everyone is really good at lifting everyone up in this city, and that what makes it such a beautiful scene.”

Circling back to the ‘sound’ of Midnight Rodeo, the band are adamant that they have found it... and just as adamant that they haven’t.

“You could say we’re post anything at this point, but what does that even mean? Why have we got so many dashes and new names when describing a genre nowadays.” As Jim runs through the impracticalities of narrowing themselves down to one niche, he comes to his own epiphany. “I would rather we be known for being good at one certain thing or being known for a musical movement that you started
– I'd rather be known for being really good at being weird and freaky, than a buzzword.”

Their upcoming headline tour this autumn will take them across the UK (with a hometown gig at the much beloved Bodega!) and into France. Despite their rising profile, Midnight Rodeo remain committed to the values that got them started: joyful weirdness, DIY spirit, and brutal honesty. They know they’re not for everyone, and they’re fine with that.

“There’s no point trying to be trendy,” Jim says. “You just end up chasing shadows.” Maddy nods: “We’re in the chaos era. Might as well make something beautiful out of it.”

Midnight Rodeo’s debut album Chaos Era is out now on Fat Cat Records. Catch them live at The Bodega on 20th September. Bring flowers, bring friends – and get weird.

@midnightrodeoband