Getting to Know… Miles & The Chain Gang | Interview 🎤

[Photo Credits: Miles Salter [Photo Credit: Kippa Matthews, Jim Poyner Photography, Brent Faulkner]

For Interview #59 on The Musical Hype, we get the scoop from Miles Salter, front man of UK rock n roll band, Miles & The Chain Gang.

“I’m not sure we are hugely original. It’s the same formula …But the songs are good, and the sound is a mash up of ‘80s pop, Americana, soul and New Wave bands.” Fair enough!  That sounds like a reasonable, well-executed response by Miles Salter (vocals/guitar) regarding good old-fashioned, UK rock n roll collective, Miles & The Chain Gang, the main attraction of the 59^th interview on The Musical Hype. In addition to Miles – obviously the ‘Miles’ portion of the group’s name – Miles & The Chain Gang is comprised of bassist Tim Bruce, drummer Billy Hickling, and guitarist Alan Dawson.  Salter provides some great background regarding the band, formed in 2018, which I will not spoil here in the intro paragraph – you’ll have to read the interview for yourself.  So, without further ado, The Musical Hype proudly presents, Getting to Know… Miles & The Chain Gang: Interview #59.

Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype (Faulkner): Let’s get this started off right. For those who may not be familiar with Miles and the Chain Gang, what would you say makes your band distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off? 

Miles Salter, Miles & The Chain Gang (Salter): I’m not sure we are hugely original. It’s the same formula – two guitars, bass and drums. But the songs are good, and the sound is a mash up of ’80s pop, Americana, soul and New Wave bands like The Police and The Pretenders. It sounds a bit like Van Morrison jamming with The Police. Sort of. We can all play, and we have a laugh and want the audience to do the same.

Photo Credit: Kippa Matthews

Salter: I met Billy (Hickling, drums) at an open mic night in York and we played some things together. I’d seen him in other bands and thought he was brilliant. We played a music and poetry gig in York that I had organized. Tim Bruce (bass) was at the gig and we got talking in the pub. The three of us met to play and it was fantastic. Alan (Dawson) walked into an open mic night in York when I was there, and I thought he was brilliant. He lives in Scotland and was on his way to Brighton so that was strange. It was odd how it all came together. The vision I had was a band that played rock n roll with a bit of soul and new wave and had a great time. I wanted that to come across in the photos and videos we did.

Faulkner: Let’s talk more about goals. Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now? 

Salter: It is still early days, but we have managed to come a way since a year ago. 12 months ago, we didn’t have a logo, or photos, or a video, or a web presence. Now we have all of those things. I’d like us to record an album and get out there and play gigs. I’d also like us to be on the radio. I am quite goal-oriented, but everything takes time and the music world is intensely competitive. I think we could do really well; I think a lot of people will love the songs and the gigs, but we will see. We just got our first video online, that was a big step in the right direction.

Faulkner: Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential? 

Salter: There are lots of influences in the band. I love Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, The Pretenders, Del Amitri. Billy loves The Stone Roses and The Police. Tim likes Pink Floyd and soul and funk and disco. Alan likes Stevie Wonder and jazz. So, there is a bunch of different things going on. That makes it fun. I feel like this band could do anything. I’m very song-oriented but it’s great when the guys have scope to show what they can do, as instrumentals or whatever.

Miles and The Chain Gang, The Fulford Arms, The York Photographer, Jim Poyner Photography, York, UK

Faulkner: Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest gig story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

Salter: I’m not sure we have many zany stories yet, but everybody has their gig stories. My worst one ever was in Colchester, twenty years ago, when me and a friend were asked to stop playing. That was truly hideous. Like a bad dream. I once saw Bryan Adams get people out of the audience to jam with the band. That was a great touch. A friend told me a funny story when his band was playing a working man’s club. They were in the middle of their set, and a guy from the club walked on stage, went to the microphone and said, ‘Pie and peas supper is served at the back.’  I thought that was really funny.

Faulkner: Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special? 

Salter: I recorded a song years ago called “Mystery Girl”. It’s a fun, upbeat song with a good hook. We will probably re-record it at some point. It’s a great pop song. I wrote it when I lived in Hull years ago. It was about seeing attractive women in the city centre and thinking ‘hellooooo.’ It’s really not a deep song. Most of my songs aren’t. Rock n roll is very basic, in lots of ways. It’s earthy. It’s sexy. It loses its magic if you over complicate it. Keep things simple. That’s what I reckon, anyway.

Miles and the Chain Gang [Photo Credit: Miles and the Chain Gang]

Salter: I present a radio show at the moment (The Arts Show at Jorvik Radio). I’ve written poetry. Billy toured the world with the Stomp theatre show. Tim once auditioned for Simply Red. I’ve interviewed Joan Jett. There you go!

Faulkner: Closing this thing out, what are Miles and the Chain Gang currently working on or promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.  

Salter: Our first video just came out on YouTube (“When It Comes To You”). We’ll be recording some more songs soon, and we are working on more promo plans. There might be a mini tour later in 2020. Keep in touch! We’d be happy to talk to you.

Faulkner: Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.  

Photo Credits: Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype, Miles & The Chain Gang, Kippa Matthews, Jim Poyner Photography