The Middle East (band)
| The Middle East | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Townsville, Queensland, Australia |
| Genres | Indie folk, post-rock, ambient |
| Years active | 2005–2008, 2009–2011 |
| Labels | Spunk |
| Associated acts | Joseph Liddy & The Skeleton Horse, The Starry Field, Jaws, The Forest, Sounds Like Chicken, Thelma Plum, R.L. Jones, Survivals, Tigertown |
| Website | themiddleeastmusic |
| Past members | Jordan Ireland Rohin Jones Bree Tranter Joseph Ireland Mark Myers Jack Saltmiras Mike Haydon Tim Barwise Javed Sterritt Jarrad Jones |
The Middle East was a band based in Townsville in Queensland, Australia. Forming in 2005, the group played locally and completed several East Coast tours of mainly festivals throughout Australia. The band's name has no particular significance - it was coined for a show poster of the then temporary project, after co-frontman Rohin Jones watched a documentary on Yasser Arafat.
In early 2008 the band released an album called The Recordings of The Middle East before splitting up. Eight months after this decision was made, band members reconvened and later re-released an abridged version of the debut album, The Recordings of the Middle East as an EP in May 2009 through Spunk Records in Australia. This EP was released in North America on 27 October 2009.
The Middle East's first full album, I Want That You Are Always Happy was released in Australia and New Zealand on 8 April 2011. The band played its last show on 31 July 2011, at the Splendour in the Grass festival in Woodford, Queensland.
The Middle East has received national radio airplay on Triple J and slots on several major Australian festivals such as Splendour in the Grass, the Big Day Out, Big Sound,Homebake, and the Woodford Folk Festival. As well as this, the band has toured with international bands such as British group Doves and has also achieved minor, developing interest in the United States, where The Recordings of The Middle East was released on 27 October. Much of the interest surrounding the band can be related back to the blogosphere, with indie blog I Guess I'm Floating introducing the band stateside in May 2009. Thereafter, The Middle East had over one hundred blog entries from around the world writing about the band. With the release of The Recordings of the Middle East, Pitchfork offered a free download of the song "The Darkest Side" as a part of its weekly "forkcast". The Middle East was also nominated and won the Triple J 2009 ‘Unearthed’ Award.
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