Artist Spotlight: Meet Miles East
What was the creative process like for this particular 'Lucky To Be Here Tonight?’
Usually, my songwriting process is kind of like chiseling a big block of marble. I’ll start with either a riff, chord progression, short melody or lyrical phrase, then it’s just a lengthy process of chipping and shaping it into a song. ‘Lucky To Be Here Tonight’ however, started with a specific idea I had. It sounds a little strange even saying it. I just wrote the idea down and it became the lyrics for the first verse and chorus. The rest just fell into place after that.
Could you discuss the lyrical themes or messages conveyed in 'Lucky To Be Here Tonight?’
No matter what we’re dealing with, it’s so important to always try being open to fully recognizing and embracing the good in our lives—people, places, relationships, experiences, etc.—and how fortunate any one of those things makes us. I know that sounds cliche and self-help. Count your blessings blah blah and all that but these moments, these places, these relationships, they’re a talisman. The life affirming power they possess is potent and persistent but our egos are often too quick to negate them when we find ourselves in the grip of dark forces. These things are brimming with the very power to stand and thwart them. When these forces strike, we tend to treat it like out-of-the-blue one-offs, calling it getting “blindsided” or “derailed” or having a bomb dropped on us, but when is misfortune ever not that and who could ever escape it? We’re not supposed to see the bad stuff coming, what a horrible existence that would be. But when it does come (and it will), we have the greatest personal arsenal to meet it—our own lives up to that point. It’s imperative that we all keep that in the front of our minds.
Can you talk about any collaborations you had while making 'Lucky To Be Here Tonight?’
First and foremost I owe the success of this song, along with my previous single (and hopefully the success of the full record, out June 7th), to my collaboration with producer and ECR Music Group president Blake Morgan. He’s one of the last true producers. We spent a year working on this record before we ever booked time in the studio: working on song selection, arranging, fleshing out themes and sub-themes, and raising the stakes, all in service of actualizing an arching sonic vision that we arrived at together. Once we got into the studio we let our old shorthand—earned through decades of working together on countless records—work its magic. The other collaboration of note was having the incredible multi-instrumentalist Justin Goldner in to lay down all the special-sauce guitar work. His was a serious contribution to the lushness of this particular track, and the record as a whole.
What challenges have you faced as a singer-songwriter, and how have you overcome them?
In this over-saturated market, it’s harder than ever to resist doing whatever gets you noticed. Quite often this is at the expense of musical integrity, not to mention personal integrity. But it’s more important than ever to remember that good music made well is, and will always be, the key ingredient for any kind of lasting success. Not the only ingredient by any stretch, especially today, but if you let the music sit anywhere but the driver’s seat it’s ultimately never going to work out for you. Good music made well always stands out. Without it, anything you do on the promotion front is a waste of time. The way I overcome this is by surrounding myself with passionate people who feel the same way and who are not afraid to give it to me straight. I mentioned earlier how my producer Blake and I worked on this record for a year before we set foot in the studio. Some of the toughest moments for me during that period were times when he had to look me straight in the eye and in no uncertain terms tell me “I’m not buying it. Back to the drawing board.” Painful to say the least, but I am eternally grateful for it. And it’s no different once we get into the studio. When you spend an hour sound-testing a half-dozen different tambourines, you just might be with the right people.
Do you have any memorable on-stage moments or performances that stand out to you?
This is unrelated to my solo career but in the early aughts I had the pleasure of being the drummer for the late great Lesley Gore, in support of her critically acclaimed record Ever Since. After a show in Maryland, we were out front chatting with some friends of hers and they invited us to come to a big Make A Wish Foundation gala that was taking place nearby. So we all go, and the entertainment they have is a group comprised of members from David Letterman’s band, Billy Joel’s band, Styx, Night Ranger, and various other veteran cats like Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge. They’re playing all these hits from each respective group. It was unreal. I mean there’s Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger singing and drumming to “Sister Christian” with Will Lee on bass in a hotel banquet hall. We joked with each other that this is the single greatest wedding band of all time. So that was crazy enough, but then word got out that Lesley Gore and her band were in the house. All of a sudden we’re in a huddle with Billy Joel’s sax player Mark Rivera about getting us on stage. Before we knew it we were up there playing “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To” as part of this amazing Frankenstein band. When we first arrived we fairly assumed we were done being musicians for the night so we headed straight for the bar. By the time we got on stage, we were pretty lit up which made it all the more crazy and fun. It was a great night I’ll always remember.