The Middle East is not from the Middle East at all. In fact, they don’t even make Middle Eastern sounding music! They are a musical collective from Australia and have had lots of success in the indie music scene there. It wasn’t until last year that they gained popularity in the US (thanks to the blogsphere) and pretty soon they were opening for big acts like Grizzly Bear and now Frightened Rabbit.

Hit their MySpace page to get a feel of their music. You can also get a free song download on their official website.

The Blue Indian photographer William Haun was at The Masquerade in Atlanta, GA on April 24, 2010 and took these photos of The Middle East’s set.