For many musicians, the dream of making music has to coexist with the realities of everyday life, and Yorkshire indie outfit Mini Disc wear that balancing act as a badge of honour. Describing themselves as a "quarter-life crisis indie rock band", they combine heartfelt songwriting, sharp humour and a healthy dose of workplace satire to create something both relatable and refreshingly honest. Ahead of the release of their new single Whale Song, we caught up with frontman Charles to discuss the band's origins, musical influences, corporate culture, dream festival line-ups and how a discontinued 1990s audio format became one of indie music's most charming new names.
Every band starts somewhere… What were the early days of Mini Disc like, and at what point did you realise this might be more than just a few mates making a racket in a rehearsal room?
Like all great modern love stories, ours started on the internet. Our drummer Aaron and guitarist James met on what can only be described as Tinder for musicians a couple of years ago. Thankfully, they both swiped right on making music together. They started putting a few ideas together and eventually advertised for a singer and bassist. Fran and I turned up, auditioned and passed the interview process. It's been quite a natural progression really. We started out as four people who barely knew each other, just enjoying playing music together, and gradually realised we had something we were all really excited about. There's something quite special about hearing a song go from a rough idea in a rehearsal room to something people are actually singing along to at a gig.We're still very much four mates making a racket in a rehearsal room, just with slightly better equipment and a social media department now.
Your social media describes you as a "quarter-life crisis indie rock band". How much truth is there in that description, and what experiences have helped shape the band's identity and sound?
There's probably an uncomfortable amount of truth in it. We're all at relatively similar stages in life. We've got fairly normal jobs, responsibilities, bills to pay, and calendars full of Teams meetings. Our days are filled with phrases like "just circling back", "kind regards" and "could you summarise this in a quick email?". I think Mini Disc is our collective escape from all that. It's an opportunity to do something creative, make a bit of noise and not take ourselves too seriously. What's the point of being in a band if you're not enjoying it? I think there's something quite relatable about that for people our age. We're part of a generation that's constantly encouraged to pursue their passions, but the reality is that making a living in the creative industries is incredibly difficult unless you're fortunate enough to reach the very top. So we're doing what thousands of other people are doing: working our normal jobs during the day and squeezing in the things we actually love around them. Mini Disc is really for those people. The ones who finish a nine-hour shift and head straight to a rehearsal room, a studio or wherever it is they feel most like themselves.
Let's talk influences. Which artists, albums or scenes have had the biggest impact on Mini Disc, and what can listeners expect to hear in your music because of them?
There's a real mixture of influences across the four of us, which I think is one of our strengths. For me personally, my love affair with guitar-driven music started with the alternative bands of the 90s and 2000s. Bands like Interpol, Smashing Pumpkins and Placebo really shaped what I love about music. There's something about that era of alternative rock that really resonates with me. Big, atmospheric guitars, interesting basslines and music that isn't afraid to be a little melancholic. James, our guitarist, is a massive Radiohead fan, and I think you can definitely hear that in some of his more creative playing. He's particularly good at making noises with a guitar that don't necessarily sound like they should be coming out of a guitar, which is always entertaining in rehearsals. That said, we're not all brooding alternative rock purists. We also have a collective soft spot for some truly magnificent 2000s pop music. Enrique Iglesias and Ne-Yo deserve a special mention. Ultimately, we like music that makes you feel something.
The name Mini Disc immediately takes me back to the 1990s and Sony's famously ambitious audio format. How did the name come about, and have you ever had to explain that you're a band rather than a portable music player?
There's no particularly profound story behind it, unfortunately. We sometimes describe ourselves as nostalgia-driven indie rock, so I think our collective love of all things retro probably played a part. It's also just a cool name, isn't it? There's something quite charming about the MiniDisc as a format. It feels like a relic of a time when technology was a bit more exciting and slightly less concerned with harvesting your personal data.As part of our currently very modest live production, we've also got a light-up disco ball which I've affectionately named "Mini Disco". It's arguably our most expensive employee and certainly the least troublesome.We're hoping to gradually expand the production budget, although Mini Disco has already requested a pay rise.
Be honest, has anyone from Sony's legal department been in touch yet, or are you still flying safely under the copyright radar?
Not yet, thankfully. I did consult a friend who's a lawyer, and his professional assessment was essentially that a small indie band from Yorkshire probably isn't going to be mistaken for a discontinued portable music player. That was reassuring, although I'm not sure it constitutes a watertight legal defence. We're hoping Sony might see the commercial potential and offer us some sort of collaboration before sending anyone round to kick the door in. If anyone from Sony is reading this, we'd like to make it clear that we're very open to discussions. Our management team is available during normal business hours, excluding rehearsals and our actual jobs.
Your new single 'Whale Song' arrives on 30 October, almost perfectly timed for Halloween. What's the story behind the track, and do you have any suitably spooky plans to celebrate its release?
The music for Whale Song originally came from James, who brought the initial idea into a rehearsal. It was one of those lovely moments where everyone seemed to immediately understand what the song needed, and it all started falling into place quite naturally. We knew quite early on that the real strength of the track was in its emotion. Fran has an incredible ability to bring that out through her vocals, and we wanted to make sure the recording really did that justice. That's partly why it's taken us a little longer to get it out into the world. We were quite protective of this one and wanted to get it right. We're playing The Lending Room in Leeds on 29 October, the night before the release, so we're treating that as our unofficial launch party. It's going to be a really special night for us, and we can't wait to share the song with everyone. We haven't planned anything particularly spooky, although four people in their late twenties trying to balance full-time employment, a band and a social life is arguably frightening enough.
Why 'Whale Song'? Can it be used as a birthing aid to expectant mothers?
Like a submerged whale, this one's a bit deep! Whale Song is ultimately about finding someone you want to spend your life with, but it also explores the fear of what life might look like without them. A lot of us in the band have reached that stage in our lives where we've found the people we want to spend the rest of our lives with. We drew on those personal experiences, the excitement of meeting someone for the first time, the emotional connection that grows over time, and that feeling of realising just how important another person has become to you. That said, we're a fairly melancholic bunch, and apparently we're incapable of writing a straightforwardly happy love song. There's always got to be a little existential dread thrown in for good measure.We've felt quite strongly about this track ever since it first came together, and Fran's vocal performance captures that mixture of love, vulnerability and sadness beautifully. We really hope people can connect with that when they hear it. As for its potential use during childbirth, we're yet to conduct any clinical trials. However, we're always looking to diversify our revenue streams, so we'll certainly pass the suggestion on to the business development team.
Your social posts have a wonderfully awkward corporate energy that occasionally reminds me of David Brent, mixed with every well-meaning manager I've ever worked for. Is that deliberate, and who's responsible for the band's unique approach to workplace-inspired nonsense?
First of all, being compared to David Brent is probably the highest praise we've ever received. We're big believers in his management philosophy, particularly the importance of having a laugh while achieving absolutely nothing of measurable commercial value. It's definitely deliberate. I think we've created this slightly ridiculous corporate universe around Mini Disc because it's something we can all relate to. We spend so much of our lives in meetings, replying to emails and pretending to understand what "leveraging synergies" means that it seemed only natural to bring that same energy into the band. There's something inherently funny about treating four people playing indie rock in small venues like a multinational corporation. Our listeners are shareholders, our gigs are quarterly performance reviews, and every new single is a major strategic milestone.
I think a lot of people our age understand that strange disconnect between the very serious professional personas we're expected to maintain during the day and the people we actually are outside of work. It's also a nice way of not taking ourselves too seriously. We absolutely love making music, and we're incredibly proud of what we're doing, but I don't think that means we need to stand around looking miserable in black and white photographs all the time. As for who's responsible, I suppose I probably have to take a fair amount of the blame. Although, in true corporate fashion, any particularly unsuccessful ideas will be attributed to the wider team.
Festival season is all about dream line-ups. If Mini Disc could curate its own one-day festival with any artists from any era, who would be on the bill and where would you place yourselves?
This is a difficult one because I think we'd end up creating the most musically confused festival in history. I'd absolutely love to have seen Elvis in his prime. Partly because he's one of the greatest performers of all time, but also because one of my mates got married in Las Vegas by an Elvis impersonator, and I've been fascinated by the man's ability to remain gainfully employed decades after his death ever since. I'd also have LCD Soundsystem on the bill, because I can't think of many better ways to finish a festival than having thousands of people dancing to All My Friends.Then, just to keep everyone on their toes, I'd put Slayer on in the afternoon. Nothing quite prepares you for an evening of indie disco like forty-five minutes of aggressive thrash metal.The Village People would obviously need a slot too. I think the sight of a Slayer crowd transitioning straight into the YMCA would be worth the ticket price alone. So let's go with Elvis, Slayer, The Village People, LCD Soundsystem and, of course, Mini Disc. We'd headline the smallest tent on site, naturally. Ideally at about 3pm, so we can get changed and enjoy the rest of the festival.
Finally, you're hosting the ultimate Mini Disc dinner party. What's on the menu, which three guests (living or dead) are getting an invite, and what's playing quietly in the background while everyone argues over dessert?
We're big fans of Mexican food, and we've actually got a song dedicated to our seemingly unquenchable thirst for margaritas, so I think the menu pretty much writes itself. Tacos, nachos, quesadillas and a frankly irresponsible quantity of tequila.I'd also insist on having a few bowls of Scampi Fries dotted around the table. Not particularly Mexican, but an essential part of any sophisticated dining experience.
As for guests, Elvis is already on my mind, so he's getting an invite. I reckon he'd be good company after a couple of margaritas, although we'd probably need to reinforce the dining chairs.Next up would be Marcelo Bielsa.
As a Leeds and, I don't think I could pass up the opportunity to have dinner with the man. He'd probably spend most of the evening analysing the positioning of the cutlery and explaining why our kitchen isn't pressing aggressively enough. And finally, Marcelo Bielsa's interpreter. Partly because I'd quite like to understand what Marcelo was saying, but mainly because I think it would be hilarious to invite one of the greatest footballing minds of our generation to dinner and then make him share his plus-one allocation with his own translator.
For the soundtrack, it's got to be the Cantina Band music from Star Wars. Just quietly looping in the background for the entire evening, gradually driving everyone insane.A perfectly normal Tuesday evening.
In an era where many bands feel pressured to project an image of effortless cool, Mini Disc's greatest strength may be their willingness to laugh at themselves while still taking their music seriously. Behind the jokes, margaritas, management meetings and "quarterly performance reviews" is a group of friends creating music because they genuinely love doing it. As Whale Song arrives and the band's journey continues to gather momentum, Mini Disc look set to resonate with anyone who's ever spent their day at work while dreaming about being somewhere else entirely.
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