On Wednesday afternoon I spoke to singer songwriter Miles Graham (who was sitting having a cuppa in sunny Sligo) about his new single ‘Don’t Change’ and upcoming EP. Originally from Dublin, Miles Graham is a musician & Indie Soul Singer/Songwriter that has been described as a talent rarely found, possessing a warm, magnetic voice and songwriting talent reminiscent of early Van Morrison. What sets Graham apart is that he marries this with the commercial appeal of James Morrison and Ray LaMontagne.
Miles has been establishing his reputation relentlessly since first hitting BBC Radio 2’s playlist in 2015 with ‘I Can’t Love You Again’ and then with high profile Billboard Dance hits with Don Diablo and L’Tric. His new release ‘Don’t Change’ is quite the step away from the dance tracks. I wondered if he approached the writing process differently
“I think it’s definitely evolved to a certain extent. The dance music was totally out of the blue. I didn’t expect to do that at all. If you listen to the record that we put out ‘I Can’t Love You Again’ it was just a ballad-y love song and I got a call from Neon Records in Australia when the record was doing the rounds in the UK and they wanted to do a dance version of the song and they wanted to use the vocals. So I sent over the vocals and they asked me to re-record it in a different tempo, which I did but it just wasn’t really working for that particular song.So they ended up sending me some other music and asked me to write for that music. So I ended up doing that and I came up with a record called ‘1994’ for L’Tric and they released that.It was like number 2 in the UK club charts and number 3 in Australia and it was all very much a surprise. It was a side track to what I do but it obviously led me on to recording with Don Diablo and other DJ’s . It was fun and exciting. House music and dance music is such an interesting genre of music with so many different genres within it. It opened my eyes I think. The melodies that they use sort of changed my thought of melody.. Maybe because I knew I was writing for a young audience who are into pop melodies and just listened to the house and dance music that was going at the time, but it was a very fun experience but I’m not sure whether it has affected my own music that much, maybe a little bit, yeah.”
It can be daunting for an artist to release music to the public especially as a singer songwriter, (as it’s just you there is no band or other band members to share the load with).With the success of previous tracks Graham feels pressure with this new release
“Yeah absolutely. I always knew that with the likes of Don Diablo they have huge fan bases so there is less worrying about how well the track is going to do initially. You are just kind of putting yourself out there and because I’ve been doing the dance records I’ve come away from my own material quite a bit. But I do feel the pressure, I’m terrified, I’ll be honest with you I am nervous because it’s the most personal record that I’ve put out.Even like back with ‘I Can’t Love You Again’ and other songs I would have released and written back then, my writing would come from stories I might have heard of other relationships and put them into a fictional narrative, but this time around it’s definitely more personal.”
‘Don’t Change’ has a retro soul vibe and sleek presence, the funky groove in the track is extremely infectious
“It’s just something that came up in the studio. I started the song in Dublin with a guy called Greg Malocca who I worked with for many years now and we just got the groove together and we thought yeah lets do something a bit different and we got this Niall Rogers type of guitar line that we really liked and I had the rhythm guitar over it and then the melodies start coming and it just stemmed from that really. Lyrically it’s a bit more close to the bone but I wasn’t even thinking of the lyrics starting off, it just all comes out in melody initally.You don’t really know what you’re writing about until it’s done but it wasn’t a conscious decision, it just kind of came about.”
One stand out aspect about ‘Don’t Change’ is how Graham puts an upbeat and colourful perspective on the melancholic theme of a break up. It gives the track the ability to cheer up a possible saddened listener?
“Thats nice. That’s lovely to hear. It’s my one goal as a songwriter you know, because that’s what I get from music. If I listen to a song and it lifts me or inspires me or makes me want to dance or if you have that hair standing on the back of your neck – it’s those moments within songs that I’d aspire to have as a songwriter.So it’s great hearing that. This song in the chorus is basically saying don’t change who you are. Obviously the verses are about heartbreak and relationships and they are toing and froing between that but as it gets to the chorus it’s like look, whatever happened happened and I hope that you don’t change and that I don’t change in the process of the turmoil that comes with it, It’s that kind of positive feel. There is one lyric at the start of the song, “kept the colours of the moment” it means you can focus on the bad stuff in a heart break or in a relationship but you can also focus on the colourful things and I think that helps.It helped me through a breakup situation and I hope it helps other people.
When writing songs sometimes the initial idea an artist has in their head can be difficult to achieve in the recording process. Graham tries to keep things simple when approaching the producer etc with his ideas to get them just how he imagines them
“ It can be difficult, yeah. That’s probably the first thing that comes to mind when you have this vision in your head and nobody else knows what it is. The producer doesn’t know what it is, if your writing with someone else they don’t know what it is, so you have to get your point across.I think the best way of doing that is just strip everything right down to just sitting at the piano or with your guitar or whatever and just have the root notes. You might have a bass line or a guitar lick or just some chords and just be honest with the melody and with your idea. The production can go around full 360 with whatever way you want to produce it.But it can be difficult to get your imagery or idea across.”
‘Don’t Change’ was recorded in London with producer Paul Herman (Emeli Sandé, Dido, Corinne Bailey Rae) someone Graham has alway been a fan of and someone who shares his love for soul music
“ I’ve always been a big fan of Pauls.I know he did the Dido record and co writes but what really drew me to him as a producer was his work with Corinne Bailey Rae. It had that more soulful side and then I discovered the Dido music as well.I’ve always been a fan and I actually met him about 5 years ago. He was over doing an IMRO talk and I was heading to London the week after so he invited me down to the studio and very kindly gave me some good advice and I went on my journey and funny enough 9 years later I ended up working with him. Fortunately, since I’ve been working with peermusic London he was introduced to my music again in the form of a few demos and he said he wanted to work with me. He has definitely brought something to the table. In his work that he has done he focuses a lot on backing vocals and harmonies and he is really good at that. In the studio he was really pushing me to get a performance out of me.We were on the same page from the start because we both have a lot of soul music influences so I think those influences have become part of the EP as a whole.”
Graham has a velvety soulful tone to his vocals however at the start he wasn’t particularly happy with how his voice sounded
“I think melodies come naturally to me because I’ve been listening to soul music from a young age. The only singing lessons I’ve ever had was from a famous jazz singer Honor Heffernan, that was way back maybe 15 years ago. I was singing a little bit not like myself before that.I think everybody is starting to kind of sing the music that they like.Whether it be Ed Sheeran or whatever. You know people who are just starting and in their teens they just sing like who they listen to. I didn’t have a deep voice, I had a mid tone, a kind of high register and I didn’t like that about my vocal. I wanted to be a more low tone soul singer. She brought that out of me a bit and I began to use my natural tone and natural voice.I didn’t like it at first but it wasn’t until I put out some music and I was getting some good feedback and that, so it seems to be going ok. I was in no way confident at all to start.I had a lot of confidence in the song writing.I knew I could tell a story, write a lyric and I was pretty good rhythmically with lyrics and making them flow and I got a lot of fun out of that. I had a lot of belief in myself as a songwriter but as a singer that’s another thing and as an artist and putting yourself out there.It was a bit more personal. It’s not something that I really wanted to do from the start.I was just looking for publishing or whatever but it was when the publishing companies, record companies and just general audience gave positive feedback about my voice that I started to pursue a career as an artist.”
The connection an artist gets at a live show is incomparable and for Graham it is an important experience. So to achieve this everyone has to adapt with the current lockdown times.
“I love the connection with people and live is the best way to play the music and experience the music.Even if you listen to records of live performances they are the ones that really get you.I do miss the live connection, obviously with the lockdown and everything. I have been doing some personal gigs on zoom and instagram live for fans that have connected with me and are in their homes in Germany, Scotland and America from back a few years ago and have stuck with me. I just go on and play a few songs and whatever. It’s been a bit of fun actually.I did one with Hot Press last friday. It’s amazing how quickly the industry has adapted. Everyone is on live stream now.The internet where I am isn’t that great. Actually just before lockdown I went to get new broadband. The one I had wasn’t great but I’m still waiting on it so I’m just using the hotspot on the phone at the moment.”
Graham’s advice to budding young artists displays both the dreamer perspective and reality of the occupation as uses his experience in the industry so far to conjure some wise words
“Get ready for a really hard road.Believe in yourself. I know it sounds very cheesy but I think be as true to yourself as possible and try to connect with your audience. There are so many different genres of music and music is like food. You either like salt and pepper or you don’t, you know?. It’s important to channel into the right audience.Which is not easy to do but if you can manage to do that from the start hopefully you can build a fan base.Just be true to your music and don’t try to be anyone else.”
Miles Graham is gearing up to release his EP in the coming months with tracks that “are all very different”.
“ Choosing the songs for the EP was very hard.I have written so many songs but to get them all on an EP and to give people an idea of myself as an artist. There is one, kind of R&B soul tune, the melodies are quite R&B and then there is a ballad where I’ve got some lovely strings orchestrated by Sally Herbert in the UK who has won an award for orchestrating strings for the Plan B record The Defamation of Strickland Banks and shes amazing.I’m very lucky to have her talent on the record .There is another track called ‘All The Right Things’ which is the title track of the EP. I’m really excited about that track.It tells a story of my musical journey.It’s kind of funky and upbeat but it’s very different to anything else that’s out there at the moment I think.It will be interesting to see what people think of it.”
Sounds like Graham has something special planned for his upcoming EP. I can’t wait to check it out.
You can follow Miles Graham on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/MilesGrahammusic/
Stream his recent single ‘Don’t Change’ below
Author : Danu
