Meet American band Midland in person, and if you’re British, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d stepped onto a film set. Sure, in Dripping Springs, Texas - where Mark Wystrach, Jess Carson and Cameron Duddy first started to make a name for themselves as a country three-piece - stetsons, snake skin cowboy boots and chevron moustaches might be perfectly ordinary, but the only place GQ has seen outfits quite like these is on the Coach AW18 catwalk.

That's not to say that Midland aren't the real deal; Wystrach, Carson and Duddy, are always authentically themselves. The trio - who count Keith Richards and Robert Redford as major style influences - speak candidly about their full-throttle commitment to an aesthetic ("we're not accountants [and] it's not a costume"), their predilection for a proper drink ("in the States we pretty much survive on Tequila" but in Britain it's beer, or Guinness: "they call it the mother's milk, [it's] good for ya") and why country music might be having a revival right now.

We caught up with Midland the day after their performance at C2C: Country to Country - the country music festival held at the 02, where the band played to 18,000 people - to talk merchandise, music and, perhaps most importantly, their tips for investing in your first pair of cowboy boots. Just check this season's trend report.

**GQ: How would you describe Midland to the uninitiated GQ reader? **

Mark Wystrach: Midland is a soulful, honky tonk American rock and roll band. Our music is heavily influenced by Western, The Eagles, Gram Parsons, Bakersfield, Merle Haggard, Dwight Yoakam, George Strait, Alabama, Gary Stewart. It's soaked in booze: the content of the music and what the songs are about, [as well as] the places and the landscapes that we know. Our music is very picturesque; it really paints a picture for you. We write the music, we record the music and we play the music, so all these songs are written from the heart. They're either about an individual experience or a collective experience that we've been through. “On The Rocks”, the debut album, was really a snapshot of the last four years of our lives.

**You’ve known one another for years, but were all doing music separately before forming the band in 2014. What’s the background? **

**Jess Carson: **We are all from the West Coast of the United States. Mark grew-up on a cattle ranch in Arizona, I grew-up on a Christmas tree farm in Oregon and Cameron is from a small town in Northern California… We all pursued our own dreams to make it in music and we moved to LA, that's where we met about 15 years ago. We played in various iterations of bands together, [but] those bands didn't really go anywhere, we were more partying than playing music. We went separate directions and [then] Cameron got married in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and all three of us got together over there and decided to start Midland.

The country aesthetic is a big part of Midland - the band has a very specific look. Let’s talk style...

**Cameron Duddy: **We've always been individuals before this band and we've always dressed as an extension of ourselves, that's all it is. We're not accountants. JC: Can you imagine Keith Richards rocking out in sweatpants? CD: I can't either. You don't want to, nobody wants that. You want to express yourself, that's what it is. You want to be an individual. JC: As a musician, often times the side effect is having an outlandish personality [and] expressing that through garments. **MW: **If you're meeting me for a cup of coffee in Austin, I'd be wearing this. It's not a costume, we're not putting it on. It's how we dress.

**Is everything you’re wearing now vintage? **

CD: Every single thing except for the boots and the underwear. Literally everything. **JC: **There's a trick to it. It's about understanding design and aesthetic, it can't be a costume and it's got to exist in the modern landscape.

**As your show at C2C: Country to Country would suggest, country music has become more mainstream in Britain and is reaching a wider global audience than ever before. Why do you think that is? **

JC: Everyone tells us that country has been growing here. Unfortunately, I think - I don't know how controversial this is to say - we all love rock and roll and it feels like there's not a whole lot going on out there in the world of rock and roll. Country music is guitar music and I think maybe it's filling a bit of that void for some people. **MW: **I think there's an earnestness and soulfulness to country music that maybe isn't being serviced in other genres of music. Essentially it's the blues, you know. Again, the rock and roll...The Stones were covering that. Even The Beatles. There just hasn't been that [kind of band] in a long time… Also cowboys are pretty cool. Let's face it. The image of the West has always been something that's aspirational in a way. I was looking at your most recent GQ Style cover; the guy's [J Hus] wearing a cowboy hat!

© Manuel Mancilla

Your merchandise, especially the band T-shirts, has done really well. Our Fashion Director Luke Day is a fan. Would you say that the T-shirts are an important aspect of the Midland brand as a whole?

CD: Absolutely. You think of the great, not just music, but the most iconic images in the world and history. The Rolling Stones tongue - that's up there with Coca Cola. I think we're all aware of the importance and impact of thoughtful branding. And it begins with, "Would I want to wear this T-shirt or not?".

**Cowboy boots have emerged as a major menswear trend for 2018. What would your advice be for a man looking to invest in his first pair? **

**MW: **First off, you want to make sure they fit properly. Start there. Second: flashy is not a bad thing when it comes to cowboy boots, even if you're wearing a modest outfit. In fact, the culture of cowboy boots –– maybe more than anything in cowboy culture –– is that with them and with belt buckles, the louder they are, the better. **CD: **They're flamboyant [by nature]. Don't buy used boots. Get a brand-new pair of boots rather than vintage. **JC: **If you do, have them resoled, or they will really hurt your back. CD: What happens is, with any custom wood-soled shoe, is that you – from the pressure and the weight – you end up forming a unique signature to that sole. And so, if you're wearing somebody else's...that old saying "walking around in another man's shoes" that's fine, just never walk a mile in another man's boots.

Follow us on Vero to see Midland share their three key style tips and recall the best show they've ever played, as well as to find recommendations from the band covering music, fims, books and places, including their favourite drinking spot in Austin, Texas. Head to GQ's Vero channel for exclusive music content and commentary, all the latest music lifestyle news and insider access into the GQ world, from behind-the-scenes insight to recommendations from our Editors and high-profile talent.

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