Miles Graham
Miles Graham is about to release his new single All So Innocent as he revs up to release his album at the beginning of next year.
We caught up with the singer/songwriter to chat about the new track, how the album is coming along and what lies ahead.
- You are about to release your new single All So Innocent so what can fans expect from this new track?
You can probably expect a retro feel. Something very organic and something that was really just captured in a room with a band; there is a very live sound to this record.
That is going to be the way that I approach the making of the album. I just wanted to capture the performance rather than just editing it dynamically.
- You have touched on my next question really because, as you say, there is a very live and raw sound to the single and you have not heavily edited it or produced. So I was wondering why you decided to go for this kind of sound?
It comes down to influence really and many of my influences come from back in the sixties and the seventies and Motown stuff; that is really the way to do it. They have really good musicians in a room and they didn’t use click tracks or anything like that.
It is something that is in me as an artist to just be organic with everything. I was never really into the electronic side of things, you know? So it was just fitting for me as an artist.
- There are a couple of weeks until the single is released so how have you found the response to the track so far?
It has been amazing. It has been really really good. I have been really busy at the moment with all of the attention that it is getting, so I am doing a lot of interviews and so on.
It looks like I will be doing some live sessions at the end of September as well as a couple of gigs.
- How are you enjoying all of the attention that has been coming your way recently? Has this been a long time coming?
Well it something that has been in works for while as we recorded the tracks back in January; of course when you write a song I might be a year or two years before it comes out.
You whittle down the songs into which are the best and you put so much energy into the creation of it - but that is actually the bit that I enjoy most. So just getting the feedback - especially when it is positive feedback - makes you feel good.
- And is there an album on the horizon? And if so when are we likely to see that drop?
The album is expected early next year. So we have a good number of the tracks recorded already. But I am looking to possibly do a little bit of collaborating for the latter part of the album.
So all of the PR stuff going on at the moment is to build a little bit of buzz and let people know who I am. I just want to get the music out there and people, like your good self, talking about it.
- There is a live feel to this track as we have already discussed but there are also some soul elements and pop influences so are we going to see the album continue this sound? Or are we going to see you mix it up a little?
I would love to do a big ballad. It would still be very stripped back as it would perhaps just have a guitar in the background. So maybe I will collaborate with someone on that.
- Are you looking at anyone in particular that you would like to work with?
I wouldn’t like to name anybody (laughs). There are a couple in the pipeline but there is nothing confirmed just yet.
- You were spotted by Richard Causon so has he had a hand in the producing of the single/album?
Richard has produced all of the stuff so far. We have had some really good musicians on it; Matt White, who plays guitar with James Morrison. We had a lot of Matt’s actually; the bass player was Matt and the engineer was Matt as well.
Richard and I were on the same page right from the beginning. He has just produced Tom Jones’ last album and that was that real in the room kind of stuff with an instrument and it was all about capturing that performance.
That was the way that we really wanted to make this album. We also looked at other artists who were doing a similar thing such as Michael Kiwanuka. So we took all different bits from those and tried to make something that was Miles Graham, if you like.
- You have mentioned working with live artists a couple of times so what was it like being in the studio with such great musicians? And how collaborative a process was it between you all?
I have done a lot of co-writes - song writing has been my thing for a long time - so I have done some co-writes wit different writers who have worked with the likes of Craig David and Ryan Adams. So their influence and the experience of co-writing with them do come into play.
Myself and Richard co-wrote the song The Only One. That is really how things took off as I went over and did a co-write with him and then he was interested in producing the album.
I took a whole heap of songs over with me and we just got the band in and it just happened. It was all really cool and organic in the way that it came about.
- The quality of your voice has been compared to a young Van Morrison so what do you feel when you hear comments like that?
Straight away it does give you credibility when people think that you match up with someone who has had such a vast career as Van Morrison.
But at the same time you want to find your own signature and your own feet. But it is an honour being compared to someone like that.
- Where did you love of music start? And who were you listening to as you were growing up?
My older brothers would have been into The Jam, The Who and Paul Weller; Paul Weller’s influences came back from that sixties Motown and soul stuff.
I remember the very fist time that I heard Bill Withers and Ain’t No Sunshine and that just really caught me and captured me.
Ever since then I have just delved into thousands of records from Motown and Atlantic from vinyl stuff right up to the digital stuff that is happening now.
- I was reading that you started writing music/songs from quite an early age so was this the career that you always envisioned for yourself?
Well it is only in the last four years that I decided that I was ready to have a career and go out and have something to say and something to sing about.
A lot of my songs will be based on lyrics and storytelling - I like to tell a good story and keep the audience interested from the start to the finish.
- Have you been playing some live shows recently?
I have just got back from the Dublin City Soul Festival - where we actually shot some of video footage for the next single. It was really enjoyable and there were eight thousand people at it and there were a real vibrant, happy feel to it. It was a free festival so it was very family orientated.
We have the track blaring out over the system while I was walking through the crowds and people were coming up and shaking hands. So it was really nice just to be able to get that feedback for my music.
I hopped up on stage and did a live set. I suppose that that was the first time that I had had that physical feedback from a live audience.
- Finally what's next for you?
I am really busy at the moment with all the promo stuff for this release. I have been over in London quite a bit doing some co-writes and I will be back over at the end of the month.
We are going to do some radio stuff in Ireland and in the UK. We will then be really gearing up for the second single I Will Never Let You Down; it’s an old school double A-side