Hailing from Ipswich, four-piece band AFTERDRIVE are starting to garner attention in the music industry with their fresh blend of melodically crafted pop, backed with strong indie-tinged musicianship.
Having recently caught the group’s energetic set in support of Stanleys at their recent Norwich gig, we caught up with bassist Ed and drummer Joe.
The Indiependent: Are you enjoying the sunshine?
Joe: Because we’ve got our new single ‘Valet’ coming out tomorrow, we’ve been inside doing a lot of administration. We just got our first draft of the music video back from our videographers, so we’ve been watching that and reviewing it.
The Indiependent: ‘Valet’ really showcases a distinctive sound—layered indie riffs, breezy vocals, and a kind of nostalgic polish that feels like late One Direction, in the best possible way. Is this a taster of where you are headed musically?
Joe: We take that in a good way because that’s the sort of approach we’re going for. Obviously, we are a band with rock roots but what we’ve created is a mainstream sort of pop-indie sound, which we think comes across as quite commercial.
We have a sound that differentiates us from other bands because it has that boy band vibe but with instruments and a little bit more of a harder punch than other pop bands. We think it’s a really good mix and a good track to show where we are heading and what we are made of, really.
The Indiependent: So what inspired ‘Valet’? What made you go down this path?
Joe: One of our singles, ‘Cars’, was sort of hinting towards this direction. We worked with the same studio and we really liked the approach on that track.
We got some brilliant feedback—airplay on BBC Radio 1, and the track was also covered by a highly regarded music magazine called Notion. The reaction we got with that sort of sound made us think: “this is great, this is what we want.”
We make this style quite naturally, and we realised that this has real potential because it isn’t that standard indie fare—it has a pop finish to it.
The Indiependent: What’s interesting about ‘Cars’ and ‘99’ is that they sound familiar but don’t feel like an imitation. There’s a bit of The 1975 in there, mixed with Sam Fender or the heavier sound of Gaslight Anthem—but with a freshness. Who shaped AFTERDRIVE’s musical identity?
Joe: Yes, I think we probably do get compared to The 1975 the most, but I don’t think we really copied them in our overall style. The comparisons are because they were one of the first bands to break through with the pop/guitar sound.
I would say our choruses are probably bigger and, as you’ll hear on ‘Valet’, there are some great layers in there. We love making that sort of sound.
The Indiependent: For those readers who’ve never heard AFTERDRIVE—how would you describe your sound?
Ed: We’ve got the grooviness and catchiness of pop records that you might hear on the radio, and we mix that with live instruments and elements of rock just to amp things up and make it harder hitting. There’s something for everyone.
The Indiependent: The focus on the instruments does stand out, like the guitar riffs on your earlier track, ‘Stick Around’. Is there a specific guitar you use?
Ed: Our guitarist Luke uses a Squier,—which is the first guitar he ever owned. But for that track, we were at a different studio and he used a few different guitars to achieve the sound. If he was here, he’d tell you the exact name and serial numbers!
Joe: ‘Stick Around’ was our debut track and it’s both a fan favourite and a good standard to set the bar. It holds a special place for us as it was the first song we ever wrote together.
The Indiependent: So how did you get together?
Ed: I’m Ed, the bassist, and I met Ben, the singer, and Luke, the guitarist, at Suffolk One College. We used to jam music together. Ben used to be on the drums at that point but he’s always had a passion for singing and writing lyrics. We changed things around about three years ago. Joe, Ben’s younger brother, is amazing on drums, so Ben got a chance to sing and Joe replaced him.
After some live mic nights, we suddenly ended up in the deep end—we had a support slot at a venue in Ipswich called The Smokehouse, but the headliner pulled out, so we became the headliner!
Joe: It went really well, we had a great reaction, and from that we never looked back. Then we recorded ‘Stick Around’.
The Indiependent: Having recently seen you live in support of Stanleys in Norwich, you have great energy on stage. How do you approach live performances?
Joe: With every new song we write, we’re now starting to look at how we can soundscape the live set. We’re adding synth intros and building around the instruments that are in the song. For example, on ‘Valet’, there are quite a few layers, so we’ve taken some synths from that and really built some cool little atmospheric intros.
What we do depends on the gig and the time, but now that we have more experience of gigging, we’re looking to see how we can build the set so the final songs hit hard. We want everyone to leave mesmerised, remembering us.
The Indiependent: Now we are entering the summer festival season, what do you have lined up?
Joe: We recently headlined the Brighten The Corners Festival, which is in our hometown of Ipswich in the town centre. We had around 300 fans down there; that was a really good vibe. Because we were headlining it, we had all the energy that you saw in Norwich, but everyone knew the songs.
We also have Festival Too in King’s Lynn on 4 July, which is a free-entry festival they do, and we are playing the main stage, which will bring us a new audience. After that, we have Ipswich Music Day on 6 July, and we are playing on behalf of BBC Introducing. On Sunday 27 July, we are playing Latitude Festival, again representing BBC Introducing, which is a real accomplishment to be playing such a renowned festival.
Ed: We also have Rock n Roll Circus on 16 August in Norwich, when we’re playing the main stage in support of acts like Scouting for Girls and Olly Murs. We are finalising plans to ensure we keep busy coming out of the summer and into 2026.
The Indiependent: With so much happening, are you planning strategically or are you just doing your thing and seeing what happens?
Ed: At the beginning, we were sort of gigging as much as possible. Now, we really are trying to get to the next level, so we are thinking strategically—with our releases, our social media, our music video, and the places we’re now playing—to make sure that we’re getting some really good exposure.
The Indiependent: What felt like the turning point?
Ed: A really good question. There have been a few. From being thrown in the deep end at the gig we mentioned, to getting played on BBC Radio 1, and having our track ‘Often’ used in an end-of-season montage for Ipswich Town Football Club.
Joe: We’ve also had very big support from Angelle Joseph, a DJ at BBC Radio Suffolk, who has given us a few Tracks of the Week and got us the slot at Latitude Festival.
The Indiependent: What usually comes first when you’re writing—melody, lyrics, mood?
Ed: Our writing can take a few different forms. It will either be that things come together while we’re jamming, or a song could start from something really small—like a lyric, a bassline, a guitar riff, or a drum groove.
It may be that we strip it back and build from our individual instruments, or we may be in a practice room and build things live. In the early days, writing songs came easily as it’s a strong talent of ours, but the longer you go on it’s not always going to come naturally. So we also look at constructing in-depth demos and building on that.
Just to give an example: ‘Gold Dust’ started with myself on bass and Ben on vocals; ‘Cars’ started with Luke on guitar and Ben on vocals; ‘99’ we all wrote jamming in about fifteen minutes! ‘Valet’ started from Ben’s vocals.
The Indiependent: Talk us through how the video for ‘Valet’ came about?
Joe: Even though the audio for ‘Valet’ is really good, we thought that putting a face to the band in our natural environment was something we wanted to do. We’ve got shots in Ipswich where we’re driving about, and then we also took it to London and got some brilliant shots there—plus sequences of us playing.
We got the first draft back today and we’re really happy with it. The project of seeing ‘Valet’ brought to life visually is so important. The idea is to release the video in a few weeks.
The Indiependent: What’s next for AFTERDRIVE?
Joe: The next project is likely to be an EP. We’ve got enough songs out now to prove that we can write consistently, and I think we’d like to build a project together for a five or six-track EP.
Alongside that, our next big thing is that we want to be getting in front of labels. To be honest, there’s so much you can do by yourself as a band—but as interest and gigs grow, getting a label is the next step.
The Indiependent: Do you find it more challenging because you are from East Anglia in terms of progression in the industry?
Ed: It’s different because it’s not the most active place for live music—but at the same time, you’d be surprised by the contacts that are in East Anglia and the individuals that we’ve met. There’s a company in Ipswich, Brighten The Corners, who’ve done a great job at putting on more shows and things around the town.
It’s been challenging in some ways, and breaking into London has always been a bit difficult. But if you’re in the heart of London doing the same thing, you might find it oversaturated.
Joe: There are some names that have come from here—the obvious ones being Ed Sheeran, Charlie Simpson, or The Darkness. A dream of ours would be to support Ed. We’ve met him briefly, but to be able to support him would be amazing because we know how much he loves music and his hometown.
The Indiependent: Someone’s brought a date back, wants to impress, and puts on an AFTERDRIVE track. Which one should they pick—and what’s the ideal ambience to go with it?
Ed: ‘Valet’ or ‘Cars’—but ‘What She Needs’ is the slowest one.
Joe: Oh yeah! ‘What She Needs’ is a good romantic one, with a very seductive hook, so we’ll go with that one.
Catch AFTERDRIVE live at their upcoming run of UK tour dates:
FRI 4 JULY – FESTIVAL TOO, KING’S LYNN
SUN 6 JULY – IPSWICH MUSIC DAY, CHRISTCHURCH PARK, IPSWICH
SUN 27 JULY – BBC INTRODUCING STAGE – LATITUDE FESTIVAL, SOUTHWOLD
SAT 16 AUG – ROCK N ROLL CIRCUS FESTIVAL 2025, NORWICH
Words and Photos by Andrew Butcher
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