Miles Kane

Mon 7th Nov, 2011 in Features

Many know him as ‘the other guy’ in The Last Shadow Puppets, but Miles Kane is certainly out to make a name for himself. Kane’s debut album Colour of the Trap was well loved in the UK and Europe, and he now has his sights set on winning over Australia with his classy rock and roll tunes. Kane has an admirable love for his craft, and is clearly having the time of his life as he talks to FL about going solo, stepping out of Alex Turner’s shadow, and what’s next for The Last Shadow Puppets.

Colour Of The Trap, your first solo album, some very suave rock and roll, I love it. How does it feel to finally have it out there in the world? Out of all your work, is this the effort you’re most proud of?
A definite you know, I think so, and it’s been such a journey on making the recording before getting it out there, and sort of doing it and that, it’s been amazing. You learn a lot about yourself not only musically, but also personally. It’s been the best thing I’ve ever done. When you give that record to your label, you know and it has its cover on it, you knew that you couldn’t of tried any harder to make each song the best it can be, to sing and play guitar to the best of your ability at that time, it’s been a great year. We’ve had great feedback here and in Europe, and to get to the opportunity to come to Australia and sort of try and build an army of fans there, it’s very exciting; we can’t wait to come over.

Tell me a little a bit about your inspirations for this album, did you have a clear vision for it? Or was it something that kind of just came together?
I wanted to make a real sort of… I’ve got a lot of influences stemming from sort of Duane Eddy and Link Wray and sort of surf guitarists. Obviously I love rock and roll as well, like Lennon, and I love T-Rex, and Bowie. But also I got into Serge Gainsbourg and Jacques Dutronc and all these French singers and they combine that very sort of suave thing with great pop, and rock and roll music. That had a massive effect on me. I just wanted to make a great record where the songs weren’t more than three/three and a half minutes. You know all of it whether it’s fast or slow, it just grooves along, with each song it won’t be chopping and changing, and being fast and slow. Even if it’s slow I just want you to be tapping your foot. Just keeping it simple and letting the melodies sort of lead it.

How did doing your own thing compare to being within a band? Do you prefer it?
I think I love it really, I like the attention, I not going to lie, I love it, I love the whole thing that goes with it. I think the thing is you laid it on the line with this record, and you opened up, and to do that it feels so good. It’s hard to explain, because I have a great band for live, I think that defines my music and what I do, and how it trumps it. I’m not a singer-songwriter sitting on my acoustic guitar singing sad songs, even though some of them are sad and emotional, it’s sort of done in way that’s more classic and more grand if you know what I mean? That’s the thing that I like because I want it to be big, and uplifting as well. I want you to come to the gig and I want to rock out and I want to swagger, and I want to play the guitar, and the fans to just enjoy it, and be sort of a great night out when you come to a gig.

A lot of people might not be familiar with you down here; can you convey to us what you’re all about? What song do you think portrays that the best?
I’d just say you’re a young lad from Liverpool, and you just love playing rock and roll, and love playing gigs and touring, and sort of living the dream really, and doing want you love to do, it’s the best thing in the world. Playing a gig is sort of like a drug, when I don’t do it for a day or two, I’m itching man, you know I just can’t live without it. A great song is Come Closer, off the record, if no ones heard a song I’d say go and listen to that one, because it’s got that great rock and roll/pop thing going on.

Do you think the album has taken the ‘Alex Turner’s friend’ tag away from you yet, or do you think it’s still slightly lingering about?
Yeah I’m not going to lie, there was a lot of that going on by the end of the Puppets, obviously because you were this new kid on the block, that’s why you just sort of took a step back, and you took time out. You took time to make this record because you knew that was going on, and that people were going to compare it. On this record you prove so many people wrong, and it feels so great. They can’t get enough of the record; it’s been amazing over here and in Europe as well. I think that’s definitely turned around. Tough thing to do, but it’s because you believe in what I do so much, and that’s what people want.

I imagine it can be a bit of overshadowing at times but is it something you embrace because that connection might get you more exposure in places like Australia?
Well I guess so, you know we’re coming over there because we got invited, and we’re going to have a great time, it’s a great chance to sort of catch a bigger audience. It’s a chance for people to hear your rock and roll music, and I hope you dig it, and I think they will, it’s great, I’m not being arrogant, it just is.

You went almost two years without doing a gig, during this period how did you feel about your place in music? Were there times where you just felt like calling it a day or were you just focused on the album?
Well yeah, just on the album, but there are times when you focus too much and your head just goes fucking crazy. It was sort of like ‘oh come on I want this now’, but looking back I wouldn’t change a thing, because you learnt so much, and I needed that to sort of regroup, and get my head back.

Noel Gallagher has a minimal involvement on the album, but I know Oasis are a big influence on you, and it wasn’t really a planned involvement. Can you tell me the story about how you get one of the biggest names in rock to just go ‘hey let me do those harmonies for you’, and what it was like as an experience?
It was just quite surreal, the reason I’m singing and playing guitar is mainly because of Oasis and The Beatles. We had met a few weeks earlier and I was in the studio in London, not far from where he lives and he just came down to hang out one afternoon, and have a cup of coffee and that was it really. I was going into the booth to do some vocals and he ended up going in, recording and writing out your lyrics, and just going in to do some harmonies, it was a nice afternoon.