Emerging as a vibrant force in the modern rock scene, Midnite Radio is a euphoric, theatrical band that seamlessly fuses soulful melodies with dynamic, larger-than-life productions. Founded by longtime friends and creative collaborators Lee Coram (guitar) and Beak Wing (drums) from Lebanon, Tennessee, the roots of the band run deep in camaraderie and a shared passion for storytelling through music.
The lineup was shaped through serendipitous collaborations: Beak recruited LA-based vocalist and keyboardist Ken Christianson, bassist Miles Martin, while Lee invited fellow Lebanon native Jon Shearer on lead guitar—each musician contributing their unique energy and artistry. In 2025, this eclectic ensemble converged in Nashville to craft their debut EP. Over months of remote collaboration, they experimented with sounds and ideas, carving out their signature rock aesthetic.
Recording at Nashville’s renowned Forty One Fifteen studio with engineer Charlie Chamberlain, Midnite Radio is poised to captivate audiences with their soaring vocals, intricate instrumentation, and theatrical flair. Their music offers an immersive experience—inviting listeners into a luminous, sonic universe where passion and creativity collide.
With their debut EP, Auntie, out now, we took some time to hear from Midnite Radio. Read below to learn more about Midnite Radio, the story behind Auntie, and what’s to come.
Hi! Let’s start with how did the band’s name come about?
The name has actually been floating about as a representation of an idea that began in the early 2000s. Nashville once had a wonderful, burgeoning native rock and indy-rock scene that spanned dozens of small venues and really empowered the local artists to have fun and play music that meant more to them than anything else (the pay to play model brought to us by our friends at large agencies that we shall not name, destroyed this scene unfortunately – shame on them).
The name started as “Midnight Radio Sessions” and was ideated to be a collective of friends from across multiple local groups collaborating to write together, more for fun than anything else. We worked closely with Michael St Leon, who runs Switchyard Studios in Antioch TN., cut tunes in session style, and worked in the evenings around our other musical and non-musical lives. Midnite Radio is really an homage to those friends and the idea of collaborating in the true spirit of artistic enjoyment.
What city are you all from, and where are you all based now?
Beak (drums), Jon Shearer (guitar), and Lee (guitar/keys) are all originally from Lebanon, Tennessee. We grew up in the same circles of friends playing music and just being kids.
Ken and Miles were brought into the project by Beak who moved to LA to pursue music. Jon very wisely cashed out of Nashville and moved to live a life of peace on the beach in Puerto Rico, Beak and the rest of the crew reside in LA.
Lee still lives just outside of Nashville.
How and when did the band form?
Beak and Lee always kept in touch even though they lived on (basically) opposite sides of the country. On one of his trips through Nashville Beak pressed a rather wine soaked Lee into sharing sketches of music he had stashed away on his hard drive.
Both immediately got into the idea of creating together again so the ideas were floated to the rest of the crew and they injected incredible inspiration, taking basic ideas to full blown magic with their own flavor and contributions to the writing.
How would you all describe your band’s sound?
Theatrical, melody driven, broadly inspired – organic rock. We all pull from incredibly different influences that range from multiple decades and tastes.
Who are some of your band’s main musical influences?
Oof, that’s tough to pin down. I don’t think that we listen to any of our ideas, be they sketches or mature compositions, and think “we need a little more of ‘X’” in there. Radiohead and ELO, The Beatles and Buckley, Ken Andrews and Tom Petty, they’re all in there…but so are HUM, Queen (of both the Freddie Mercury and Josh Homme variety), and a peppering from pure genius like Ennio Morricone.
What’s one of the proudest moments of your group’s music career so far?
With this iteration of the “namesake” being pretty recent, I’d think we’d have to reflect on our individual triumphs to answer this fully. For Midnite right now, it’s just the incredible response that we’ve been getting from this first collection of songs. With a second coming in the next few months.
What would you all say are the greatest lessons that you’ve all learned so far?
Don’t lose yourself at the expense of overthinking about what something should or shouldn’t be. If the ride is meant for others to join you on, they will. Pretty general, but it’s just true heart that you need concentrate on.
Now onto Auntie. What inspired this EP?
The inspiration really came from each other, I think. The songs began as instrumental sketches on one guy’s hard drive and were shared. We all got together and instantly had chemistry it normally takes years to garner – so growth started immediately and the rest just happened.
What is the overall theme of Auntie?
We honestly just made an EP of tunes that we wanted to hear. Music has become saturated with a lot of the same output, and we were missing something more akin to the roots of the music we all enjoy in our personal lives. For me personally (Lee), my children were the sanity check on if something was “right” or not. If they walk around the house singing it, it’s “right.”
What was the creative process like when making Auntie?
A la “Postal Service,” the songs were sent back and forth digitally for months with each musician adding flavor, moving things here and there. The formation of bigger and bolder picture began coming to light with each phase of work. We kind of drew a line in the sand and set a date to hit the “record” button and just went for it from there. The really cool thing was that the songs were, for the 80/20, recorded live at 4115 in Nashville with Charlie Chamberlain behind the board. Even though most of the music was written remotely, somehow a group of guys who had never really played together walked into a room and PLAYED the songs front to back.
How long did it take to complete Auntie?
We collaborated for 2-3 months and had plenty of talking and ideation sessions, but we did the bulk of recording in one week after everyone had their arms wrapped around the concepts.
Is there a specific song on Auntie that speaks to you all the most? If so, why?
I’m sure it’s not the same for each of us. For me (Lee), it’s “Breath.” I don’t know if it’s everyone’s favorite or necessarily the most accessible, but the culmination of the guitar and orchestration hinting at classic rock vibes complimented by Ken’s theatrical and soulful vocal melodies just hit me strongest of the batch. It’s dark, but it’s redeeming, heavy but uplifting.
What message or messages do you all hope fans take away from Auntie and your band’s music in general?
We’re just real guys making music for the love of making music. I would hope the songs make anyone who listens to them feel the warmth and ease that we felt while writing and recording them. The theme here is akin to sitting around a warm fire on a cool evening in a dusky desert or on a breezy beach with a thick palm shading you overhead from the unforgiving sun, or at your favorite local spot with friends – be at ease and enjoy life.
What’s next for you all? Are you all working on any upcoming projects, or do you all have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?
We’ve already got a second little batch of tunes making their way between us that I anticipate should see the light of day in late summer. Our hope is to not try and be overly grand in our outputs, but to continue to throw 5-6 song EP releases out every year and let the catalogue grow naturally. I’m sure some select shows will follow as we navigate the wonderful reception our friends and families have had to this project.
Thank you all for the great interview; wish you all much continued success!
