Following Netflix’s Building the Band, Chugg Music taps Mude to produce a suite of stripped-back acoustic live recordings for Midnight Til Morning, ahead of their debut singles, “Bye” and “Ghost of Us.” Filmed in a Sydney rehearsal room while the band’s two U.S. members were in Australia for writing sessions and video shoots, the performances  were staged in a jam-circle, face-to-face setup with guitar,keys and occasional cello – capturing the band’s very first live renditions since the Netflix production.

The acoustic sessions feel like a natural extension of the band’s origin story. Midnight Til Morning formed on Building the Band, a blind-booth experiment that paired voices before faces and asked a simple question: can chemistry be built on a deadline? Guided by a panel including Kelly Rowland, Nicole Scherzinger and the late Liam Payne, the series reached Netflix’s Global Top 10.

For Payne, his appearances had been filmed months before the premiere; by the time the season aired, he had passed away at just 31. Midway through, four singers stumbled into each other and decided not to stumble out: Conor Smith (NSW Central Coast), Mason Watts (Toowoomba), Shane Appell (upstate New York), Zach Newbould (Boston). It wasn’t instant fireworks — spare us the myth — but something raw, scrappy and resilient enough to survive the show’s run. 

The band that started as a casting experiment, quickly landed global management with Australian company Chugg Music (Lime Cordiale, Sheppard, Go-Jo). Chugg had a front-row seat to the Netflix production, having worked previously with MTM’s Mason Watts.

“Once they got into the studio and started recording and writing together, we were totally blown away,” says Chugg Music’s, CEO Andrew Stone “They’re the hardest-working band I’ve met, and being so young with such time ahead of them. They’ve barely had a week to themselves in 9 months, preparing for the launch of the show and getting the live show, video, and music ready for launch. We believe the future is very bright for MTM

Since the Netflix premiere, the band has released two singles. “Bye” credits global superstar Benson Boone, Amy Allen, Scott Harris and Elie Rizk alongside the band, with Rizk co-producing with JT Daly. “Ghost of Us” taps Benny Morrell and longtime Mude collaborator Robby De Sá, who also co-wrote and produced the track. For the past five years De Sá, has mixed our Mood on the Roof shows and for this project, he mixed the band’s live acoustic recordings. 

In collaboration with Chugg, Mude produced a run of acoustic live performance videos while the band was together in Australia. With no live performances since the Netflix run, Mude decided to strip it back to necessities – guitar, keys and cello on select songs – jam-circle style: everyone facing in, to highlight connection between the band members and allow for versatile shooting angles. Music director Joel Farland shaped the arrangements and coached the takes, while engineer Julia Goyen — a regular on our  Mood on the Roof recordings — ran audio. The performances were filmed by Ben Develin, with 1st AC Benni Ling, carrying over the familiar Mood on the Roof crew setup.

With a roughly 40-date U.S. tour ahead and more music in the pipeline, the group is quickly amassing fans and momentum. “Bye” and “Ghost of Us” are available now on all major platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music), and you can watch our live acoustic sessions on the band’s YouTube channel.