Miles East On the Making Of “Better Than Here”
Is there a person/event that stimulated the creation of "Better Than Here?”
Rather than from a single event or person, “Better Than Here” was born out of an eight year period when dark forces always seemed to be about to gain the upper hand over me and my family. I’ll spare you the details but it was a constant vigil. I often think of John Lennon’s poignant observation “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”. But even in our darkest moments, our love for (and faith in) one another proved to be the few unbreakable threads that kept us focused on the journey and on a time in the not too distant future when this will be behind us and we’ll be stronger for it.
How did you work with the producer or engineers to bring your vision for "Better Than Here" to life?
You’ve no doubt heard the expression “measure twice, cut once”. My producer Blake Morgan likes to multiply the measuring part by about a thousand and I’m eternally grateful for that. 75% of the work on this record was done before we ever entered the studio. It starts with determining or discovering the vision for the record as a whole. If you’re like Blake and me, you see a record as a sonic story and each song is a scene, a chapter, or possibly a character in that story. Once you have the story’s sonic arc—something all the songs share—you can start focusing on each song and how that song wants to tell its part of the story. “Better Than Here” is unique among the record’s other songs in its wistfulness. Though it’s rooted in a place of struggle, it yearns with hope for places of peace, safety, and resolution and it was important for us to convey that. The etherial special-sauce guitar work, performed so brilliantly by Blake and the great Justin Goldner, really accomplishes that.
What do you like the best about "Better Than Here?”
I just love the simplicity of its message: Things are really rough right now but let’s hang on. It’ll be worth it. I don’t know how or when but I promise it will. And I really love how the atmospheric quality of the production helps to convey that.
What has been the most memorable experience or achievement in your music career so far?
This is going to sound canned but it’s the honest truth. It’s this record. Eight years have passed since Ghosts of Hope and in strictly material terms Blake and I could have made three or four records in that time. When I’m not drumming for various bands and artists on the road or in the studio, I’m constantly writing so not making a record was never for a lack of record-worthy songs. Blake and I even met a few times over the course of those eight years to consider the possibility of a next record but each time we agreed that, at those points in my career, a follow up to Ghosts of Hope would have been more or less a lateral move. As Blake so eloquently puts it “elegance is refusal”. As critically acclaimed as Ghosts of Hope was I didn’t want to simply make that record over again with different songs. Each record should represent in no uncertain terms a step in the evolution of an artist. Granted I probably could have gotten there sooner had I not been so busy as a drummer but I’m not about to apologize for that and neither would the artists I play for. I’m here now and I couldn’t be happier with the result.
Are there any upcoming projects or releases that you're particularly excited about?
Quite a few! The rollout of Between Lightning and Thunder tops the list, of course. Then there are several records in the works that I played drums on which include the next solo record from Chris Barron of Spin Doctors, the remaster of the critically acclaimed 2005 record Ever Since by the late great Lesley Gore, the next record from my amazing label mate Janita, and soon I’ll be heading back in the studio with Blake to start work on the follow up to his highly successful 2022 release Violent Delights.
