Midnite Pharmacy: Finding Connection Between the Dancefloor and the Song

With their new EP We Try, Leeds-based duo Midnite Pharmacy continue to blur the lines between indie songwriting and electronic production. Formed by longtime friends Liam Jones and Si Martin, the project has steadily evolved from a shared love of melody, atmosphere and club culture into one of the UK's most intriguing emerging electronic-indie acts.

Following their debut EP Becoming, We Try arrives as another important chapter ahead of the band's forthcoming debut album. Across three tracks, the release showcases the duo's ability to move between introspective songwriting, textured production and dancefloor energy, while maintaining a distinctive sonic identity that is entirely their own.

We caught up with Liam and Si to discuss the evolution of their sound, the decision to roll out the EP track-by-track, and how We Try fits into the bigger picture of what's next for Midnite Pharmacy.

1. We Try feels like a clear step forward from your debut, Becoming. What has changed most in your sound or mindset between the two releases?

(Si:) So of the three tracks on this EP ‘We Try’ was actually written around the same time as most of the tracks on the becoming EP with ‘All Should End’ and ‘Resonator’ being much later in the process. Overall, I’d say it’s the approach to the production and keeping a cohesive Use of sonic elements and instrumentation that has changed most in terms of mindset.

But taking the songs out in the road has really played into the sound, as it’s allowed us to get a feel for what works and what needs to be removed to allow them space to breath or develop in the set. We’ve then found ourselves going back to the recordings and often adding in some of the live ad Lib elements.

(Liam:) The initial ideas for ‘We Try’ and ‘Becoming’ were written around the same time, the main difference being ‘We Try’ was shaped by our live shows. The first version was around 10-12 minutes long, with a beautiful subtle arpeggiated intro but that would never work for a short live set with 3-5 tracks. Perhaps the mindset was the same but the formulation of the songs took different directions. The core concepts of ‘Resonator’ and ‘All Should End’ were primarily written individually.

I wrote the drums, bass, chord and arrangement for ‘Resonator’ a few years ago, after which I passed the track to Si to add vocals and potentially guitar layers. Si wrote the chords, bass, piano and vocals for ‘All Should End’ on this own before passing over to me, I mainly added our sound to the track and beefed up the instrumentation but fundamentally its same as the original version.

2. You’ve rolled this EP out track-by-track — how important was that gradual release in shaping how listeners experience the project?

(Si:) Personally, without being too cynical, it boils down to People’s attention if I’m honest, everybody is vying for scraps of anyone’s attention Online so by releasing gradually the idea and hope is that we can not expect too much from new listeners.

We know the music is good and we believe in it, but it’s far easier for someone to listen in bite-size form, that’s the theory at least. It also allows for a sense of anticipation, to keep people wanting more and to deliver the tracks in a developing story format as we intended.

(Liam:) We wanted to give each track space to breath, by releasing one at a time we give each one more focus when we release it. Posting on socials always better if you’re not trying to promote three songs at the same time, plus gives fans something to look forward too. We’re still fans of EP’s and albums, the singles will consolidate into EP and an album which is coming soon-ish!

3. You both come from different musical backgrounds — how does that contrast play into the balance between indie songwriting and electronic production in your music?

(Liam:) The contrast gives us a challenge. I firmly believe in collaboration in the arts, music, film, unless you’re single minded enough to go this what it is. We prefer to collaborate, some tracks are more from one, and others from the other. We set out to make something different, not to follow the same traits or genre’s. Perhaps that makes it more unique or harder to understand? Haha but thats what we want, we want you to feel something not feel its the same again.

(Si:) I really think it works. At the end of the day we write for ourselves, which is always the most important way. That’s not to say that we don’t still consider how it all comes together. We’ll both start songs from our own perspective as well as together, but the key thing is that we always focus on sounding like us without overly compromising on the finished product. I often have to Remind myself that a slightly different approach will lend itself better to the greater good of Midnite pharmacy, but that’s mainly because I come from a traditional songwriting background, so belting out verse, bridge, chorus, verse, Bridge, middle 8, won’t work as I need to think about the project overall. And that’s great for me as a songwriter as it gives me the opportunity to work within a new world of creative constraints. But it’s not always easy to pull off.

4. Tracks like All Should End, Resonator, and We Try each show different sides of your sound — was that intentional, and how do they connect as a complete body of work?

(Si:) Completely yes. Because we allow ourselves to utilise any or all influences, all bets are off in terms of where the tracks could end up during the process. We’re fully unafraid of skirting multiple genres as it allows us to build dynamic and interesting sets, or taylor an EP as part of a journey. As before the biggest conscious consideration for me is to not go completely off piste and over egg the lyric, melody or songwriting side.

Liam's great at utilising the pallet of sounds we’ve built up, and that always keeps our sound anchored.

The connection lies within those sounds and the complete story that’s unfolding as we continue to make new music alongside the previous tracks.

(Liam:) It wasn’t necessarily intentional, we often write in different styles and bring our sound to tracks during the production phase. The initial musical ideas were written from different instruments, for example Resonator was primarily written from the chords and baseline, All Should End came from a piano chord progression, and We Try was written from the vocal melodies. The tracks have a cohesive sound in our opinion, we spend a lot of time ensuring they have the same sonic features, often by keeping to a certain selection of instruments.

5. With your debut album on the horizon, where does We Try sit in the bigger picture of what you’re building as Midnite Pharmacy?

(Liam:) ‘We Try’ sits highly in our repertoire, it shaped our early live performances and developed into a key track on the album. As part of the bigger picture, it defines the more dance floor focused side to our sound, we don’t like to attach genre’s on our sound but it certainly works in a club setting.

(Si:) We Try for me has always been a staple of our sound, it often opens our shows too. It’s wholly unique for me vocally as I sing falsetto a lot on it, again, I think this adds to the experience and shows another side of the many faces we have.

The EP as a whole hits many peaks of our influences, It’s only now as we’re able to look at a growing body of work we’re able to see how it’s all coming together. It’s not been premeditated, but it’s really building into something dynamic quite well, but with a cohesion to it all.