Featured Artist of September 17, 2024
with the song: "Black Hole"


Artist's Biography

Miles and The Chain Gang release a new band single on September 6th. ‘Black Hole’ is the first cover song the band have released. ‘I loved Griff’s song,’ says Miles, ‘and thought we could do something with it. I’m really pleased with how it came out. It’s not the same as hers, we’ve given it a fresh twist, but it’s retained the flavour of the original. It’s a song about grief and heartbreak and I think it captures that feeling incredibly well, when you feel broken by something that’s come to an end. It resonated with me so much.’ We gave the music a different twist. It has a 70s vibe, sounds a bit Pink Floyd at times.’

Miles has been listening to female singer-songwriters and going to their gigs with his daughter, Ruby. ‘We’ve been to gigs by Olivia Dean, Mimi Webb, Freya Ridings, Olivia Rodrigo in the last couple of years. It’s cool when you share music with your kids and they turn you onto stuff. Some of the best pop songs in the last couple of years have come from female singer-songwriters.’

Joining Miles on the song are a talented bunch of York musicians: ace guitarist Rob Wilson (Rob plays with The Mothers and other bands in York), singer Ava Hegarty, bass player Mat Watt and keyboard player Charlie Daykin. Also appearing is trumpet player Anthony Thompson. Jonny Hooker plays drums on the track and produced the songs at Young Thugs studio in York. ‘Mat and Charlie were in the band for a year or so but left earlier this year. The band line-up has become something of a movable feast. It was never intentional, it’s just how it worked out.’ The current live line up is: Miles Salter (guitar, voice), Steve Collington (bass), Steve Purton (drums) and Paul Lewis (keys). The song is distributed by Kycker. ‘Jonny introduced me to Frank at Kycker,’ says Miles, ‘It’s so nice to work with a Sheffield-based company and to have a human to talk to.’

Miles and The Chain Gang have released eight songs in total. Via indie and internet radio they have reached listeners in USA, Canada, Australia, Europe and the UK. ‘The internet is good and bad for music,’ says Miles. ‘Everybody knows the issues surrounding Spotify and streaming. But on the other hand, it’s cool to know that people are listening to us in Canada, or Turkey, or Sweden.’ The band have racked up over 24,000 listens on Spotify and over 50,000 views on YouTube.

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