W & I : Amie Wood

Supporting Maggie Lindemann at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, Afterdrive didn’t feel like the support act.

They felt like the band everyone was suddenly talking about on the way out.

From the moment they walked onto the stage, the atmosphere inside Shepherd’s Bush shifted. The standing crowd at the front immediately surged with energy while people leaning over the upper-level balconies watched like they already knew they were witnessing a band on the edge of something bigger.

And honestly, Afterdrive know exactly how to play into that feeling.

Everything about them looked effortless in that very specific indie-rock-star way. Dark denim, leather jackets, rings catching the stage lights, styled curls, chains, deep red and blue lighting washing over the room, the whole set felt cinematic. Like the kind of gig people post about afterwards with captions like “you had to be there.”

Hours before the set, the band were squeezed into a red booth beside half-finished drinks, joking over each other and talking excitedly about new music. The chemistry between them felt immediate, chaotic in the way only close friendships are. There was no polished media training or overly rehearsed answers, just four boys genuinely excited about what’s happening to them right now.

When asked whether being four best friends makes the band easier or harder, Ed answers instantly.

“Definitely easier,” he says. “It’s been such a blessing that we all met as friends first. The chemistry when we’re making music or on stage is unmatched.”

And honestly, that chemistry becomes obvious within minutes.

By the end of the interview, the conversation had turned into a quick-fire game of “who’s the most chaotic?”, “who’s always late?” and “who causes the most drama?”, answers flying across the table between constant laughter and inside jokes. It felt less like interviewing a band and more like sitting in on four best friends winding each other up before a gig.

The second Ben Watts stepped onto the stage, it became impossible to look anywhere else.

He has that rare kind of presence where your eyes naturally follow him even when nothing dramatic is happening. There’s a confidence to him that feels bigger than a typical indie frontman, more like somebody balancing between rock band energy and full pop-star charisma.

But the rest of the band never fade into the background. Joe Watts drives the entire set with relentless energy behind the drums, while Luke Ellis and Edward Ruff constantly bounce off each other across the stage with the kind of natural chemistry you can’t fake. Afterdrive feel less like a polished industry band and more like four best friends living out the exact life they always wanted.

At one point during our conversation, Ben laughed while describing one of the weirdest
compliments he’d ever received.

“Someone said I was like a rock Justin Bieber.”

The rest of the band burst out laughing, but honestly, it weirdly makes perfect sense.

Because Afterdrive already have that intense fan energy building around them. Throughout the set, screams constantly cut through the room between songs. Phones stayed in the air almost the entire time. Every interaction on stage pulled another reaction from the crowd, especially from younger fans packed into the standing section singing lyrics straight back at them.

But despite the cool image forming around the band, what makes Afterdrive interesting is how genuine their passion still feels underneath it all.

That passion has already taken them from Ipswich gigs to BBC Radio 1 support, BBC Introducing recognition and even opening for Ed Sheeran at Portman Road Stadium in their hometown.

“You can’t really put that experience into words,” they admit. “It was literally around the corner from where we live.”

The advice from Sheeran stayed with them too.

“He told us to keep doing what we’re doing,” they say. “When someone like that says it, it gives you confidence that you must be doing something right.”

The Ipswich four-piece, brothers Ben and Joe Watts alongside Luke Ellis and Edward Ruff, speak about music with the kind of excitement that makes it obvious they’d still be doing this even without the growing hype surrounding them.

“We’re constantly writing,” they explain. “We love getting songs out live and hearing people sing them back.”

That obsession with creating seems to be pushing the band into a new era with upcoming EP Dress To Drive.

Their newest single Fashion introduces a darker and more mature side to Afterdrive. The track leans into hazy production and late-night indie-pop energy while still keeping the huge hooks that make their live shows hit so hard.

But according to the band, upcoming song Neon View might be the clearest glimpse yet into where they’re heading next.

“It’s a summer banger,” they grin instantly. “That’s the Afterdrive sound.”

The band describe the whole EP as cinematic and emotionally driven, inspired by the feeling behind the name Afterdrive itself.

“When you have a special experience; whether it’s good, bad, happy or sad,” they explain, “it’s that feeling afterwards. The drive home after a date, after a show, after something important.”

That idea naturally became Dress To Drive. Dressing up, piling into the tour bus after a show and reminiscing on the night while still running on adrenaline.

“We love to dress up and we love to drive,” they laugh.

And honestly, their music sounds exactly like that.

There’s something nostalgic about Afterdrive already, even while they’re still emerging. The kind of band that makes people want to throw on leather jackets, romanticise their lives and dramatically stare out of car windows at night.

Even Ben’s answer to what song describes where he’s at right now feels perfectly on-brand.

“Probably Sex on Fire, Kings of Leon”

Again, the entire band laughed. But again, it made total sense.

Because Afterdrive don’t just sound like an indie band. They embody the whole feeling attached to one; the chaos, confidence, emotion and adrenaline that makes people fall obsessively in love with live music in the first place.

And judging by the reaction inside Shepherd’s Bush, that’s already starting to happen.

Fashion and the rest of AFTERDRIVE’s music are available now on Spotify.: Afterdrive