Given that the world was virtually on pause, it’s quite a feat that singer-songwriter Miles Graham signed a record deal during lockdown.
It’s somewhere on the spectrum between ironic and apt too, that it was the reason that Miles gave up music in 2018 that ultimately led to him writing the songs that landed him the record deal.
The tracks on his new EP, All the Right Things, deal with the turmoil associated with heartbreak and the freedom that comes with getting over it. The Dublin-born, Sligo-based singer-songwriter says the EP is made up of both light and dark.
Going through a difficult breakup, Miles was having a tough time. In the midst of this, he got the coveted call to ask would he perform on the
Late Late Show.
“I had worked really hard to get those kind of opportunities. But when I got the call, I was in no fit state to do it, to be honest,” recalls Miles. “My family and my manager said: ‘You’ve got to do it’. So I pulled myself together and knocked out a performance.
“I sang a song called Let it Shine. I was just holding myself together to get through it, because of what was happening in my own circumstance. After the show I was like: ‘I don’t think I can do this’. I had a lot of stuff going on and it came to a boiling point.”
What many often regard as a high point, actually turned out to be a breaking point (although a temporary one) for Miles, and he decided to give up music.
However, being a creative person and with a lifetime of song-writing behind him, after nine months Miles started writing songs again. It wasn’t long until full tracks began to form.
Signing the deal
A friend of Miles’ sent these songs to some record labels and hence we have All The Right Things. Signing the record deal during lockdown was strange, Miles reflects. He thought it would be in a boardroom with platinum records hanging on the wall, but in the end he was happy that the dotted line was signed while he was at home with his kids.
Thinking back, Miles says a breakup is in its own way a bereavement and writing songs was the way he knew to process it.
“The songs on the EP are like that transition of getting over a breakup. Even the song Give it Up Now, it’s not necessarily how I feel now, it’s how I felt at the time. Creating music has been a therapy to get me through that transition. 
“It’s always been a therapy for me, to be honest. Any difficulty or hurdles I’ve had in my life, it’s been a huge benefit to have music. I teach my kids music and hopefully they’ll benefit from it as well.”
Just as he is teaching music to his own kids, Miles’s own journey started at a young age. The singer was very young when he started to become captivated by melodies, listening to the old classic soul records his brothers had.
“I’ve a very vivid memory, so I remember walking to school and creating melodies in my head. I was quite a dreamer, I suppose. Maybe in my teens I was a bit of a recluse, I used to listen to records and vinyl. But I didn’t quite know what to do with it then. I was in a couple of bands in my late teens, early 20s, but I was more into creating music than playing covers.”
Miles initially went working in IT, before he had a lightbulb moment and decided to pursue a career in music instead.
Dublin to Sligo
Although he grew up in Neilstown in west Dublin, Miles is now based in Co Sligo, and loves living in the countryside.
He admits there were challenging times growing up, but says the people around him were great.
I’m not going to lie to you, it wasn’t an easy place to grow up
“I think living in the countryside, it suits my personality. I like going to Dublin, I love my people in Dublin. Where I grew up in Neilstown, I’ve lots of fond memories. I’m not going to lie to you, it wasn’t an easy place to grow up. But in the community there were so many lovely people and families, who are just gorgeous people and helped everybody through those tough times,” says Miles.
Miles feels there’s great community spirit in Sligo too. He’s gotten very involved in the community, including coaching soccer
Bar a few Dublin jokes, which he took in good spirit, Miles says country people were very welcoming. Just before Irish Country Living sat down with Miles, he was asked to take part in a very important country ritual.
“Someone was asking me there to go up and cut a bit of turf, I didn’t know what they were on about at all,” he laughs. We declined to enlighten him any further.
Read more
Living Life: the Longford lads
Living Life: the hot press studio
Given that the world was virtually on pause, it’s quite a feat that singer-songwriter Miles Graham signed a record deal during lockdown.
It’s somewhere on the spectrum between ironic and apt too, that it was the reason that Miles gave up music in 2018 that ultimately led to him writing the songs that landed him the record deal.
The tracks on his new EP, All the Right Things, deal with the turmoil associated with heartbreak and the freedom that comes with getting over it. The Dublin-born, Sligo-based singer-songwriter says the EP is made up of both light and dark.
Going through a difficult breakup, Miles was having a tough time. In the midst of this, he got the coveted call to ask would he perform on the
Late Late Show.
“I had worked really hard to get those kind of opportunities. But when I got the call, I was in no fit state to do it, to be honest,” recalls Miles. “My family and my manager said: ‘You’ve got to do it’. So I pulled myself together and knocked out a performance.
“I sang a song called Let it Shine. I was just holding myself together to get through it, because of what was happening in my own circumstance. After the show I was like: ‘I don’t think I can do this’. I had a lot of stuff going on and it came to a boiling point.”
What many often regard as a high point, actually turned out to be a breaking point (although a temporary one) for Miles, and he decided to give up music.
However, being a creative person and with a lifetime of song-writing behind him, after nine months Miles started writing songs again. It wasn’t long until full tracks began to form.
Signing the deal
A friend of Miles’ sent these songs to some record labels and hence we have All The Right Things. Signing the record deal during lockdown was strange, Miles reflects. He thought it would be in a boardroom with platinum records hanging on the wall, but in the end he was happy that the dotted line was signed while he was at home with his kids.
Thinking back, Miles says a breakup is in its own way a bereavement and writing songs was the way he knew to process it.
“The songs on the EP are like that transition of getting over a breakup. Even the song Give it Up Now, it’s not necessarily how I feel now, it’s how I felt at the time. Creating music has been a therapy to get me through that transition.
“It’s always been a therapy for me, to be honest. Any difficulty or hurdles I’ve had in my life, it’s been a huge benefit to have music. I teach my kids music and hopefully they’ll benefit from it as well.”
Just as he is teaching music to his own kids, Miles’s own journey started at a young age. The singer was very young when he started to become captivated by melodies, listening to the old classic soul records his brothers had.
“I’ve a very vivid memory, so I remember walking to school and creating melodies in my head. I was quite a dreamer, I suppose. Maybe in my teens I was a bit of a recluse, I used to listen to records and vinyl. But I didn’t quite know what to do with it then. I was in a couple of bands in my late teens, early 20s, but I was more into creating music than playing covers.”
Miles initially went working in IT, before he had a lightbulb moment and decided to pursue a career in music instead.
Dublin to Sligo
Although he grew up in Neilstown in west Dublin, Miles is now based in Co Sligo, and loves living in the countryside.
He admits there were challenging times growing up, but says the people around him were great.
I’m not going to lie to you, it wasn’t an easy place to grow up
“I think living in the countryside, it suits my personality. I like going to Dublin, I love my people in Dublin. Where I grew up in Neilstown, I’ve lots of fond memories. I’m not going to lie to you, it wasn’t an easy place to grow up. But in the community there were so many lovely people and families, who are just gorgeous people and helped everybody through those tough times,” says Miles.
Miles feels there’s great community spirit in Sligo too. He’s gotten very involved in the community, including coaching soccer
Bar a few Dublin jokes, which he took in good spirit, Miles says country people were very welcoming. Just before Irish Country Living sat down with Miles, he was asked to take part in a very important country ritual.
“Someone was asking me there to go up and cut a bit of turf, I didn’t know what they were on about at all,” he laughs. We declined to enlighten him any further.
Read more
Living Life: the Longford lads
Living Life: the hot press studio
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: