I spoke to Miles Grindey, an Indie Rocker from Southampton, about his latest single – Make Up Your Mind. Read our conversation here…

For those who haven’t heard of Miles Grindey before, how would you describe yourself?

I’d say Modern sounds with retro familiarity. Drawing on what I like from times gone by to bring it to today’s standards.

If I was to use the phrase “for fans of”, who would you best compare yourself to?

I would say Van Halen, Def Leppard and a touch of Aerosmith. Though I have many influences also including Robert Palmer, Ry Cooder, Elmore James, Robert Johnson but to name an additional few.  

Who helped with the music in your single – Make Up Your Mind – and how did you meet?

The first person to help me was Wayne Viar, he laid down the drums for it. I met him at Cafe 290 in Sandy Springs while I was out in Atlanta back in November 2018 . He’s a great guy, fantastic sense of humour! The second person was Enrico Galetta, he laid down the bass for it. It’s amazing this world we live in today, I’ve never met him in person (though I would love to!) but we always spoke over the phone or voice chat on Facebook etc and he is truly one of the greats and such a pleasure to work with. Ian Michael Bruh, who did the vocals for the track, was superb! I remember before we got to work with this track, he came over where I was staying at the time and we worked on the details of the lyrics and melody (how I had imagined it etc). When we actually got round to recording it, he was epic. So easy to work with and nailed it. I met Ian after his band Bumpin’ The Mango’s show (also in Cafe 290), hit it off there and then! I thought he was the perfect blend of David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar.  Trammell Starks, who engineered it, was awesome. I gave him a point of reference to how I’d like it to sound and voila! He got it in one. I met Trammell after a show at The Velvet Note, a great down-to-earth guy. Bill Hart did the keyboards on it. Bill was a family friend, knowing both my parents since the 1980s while my dad was at GIT (Guitar Institute of Technology) in Hollywood.

Who produced Make Up Your Mind? Have you worked with them before? How was it working with them?

Myself and Bill Hart produced it. I had previously worked on Bill’s track “Good Times” as a producer, he decided to use that title after I kept saying it during my time out there. It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride on a personal level, but a positive result in the end. It took two trips to Atlanta to complete both Bill’s track “Good Times” and my track “Make Up Your Mind”. 

Where did the lyric inspiration for your latest single come from, and what is your song writing method?

Well, this is the interesting part. The chorus came about months before I had written the full set of lyrics. It’s absurdly cliché I know, but the inspiration stemmed from a relationship that ended a little over 5 years ago. When it comes to writing songs, I tend to prefer to get into a headspace of any event that I feel is interesting and let the music do the talking so-to-speak. If I don’t do that then plan B is just to write the music and sit there for a little while to see what the music says to me. Sounds crazy! But it’s the personal investment in my music that I feel gives it a distinctive style.

Who made the album art for Make Up Your Mind?

I did! I used a photo that was part of a photoshoot I had done in Atlanta and Vicki Mosley Gregory was the mastermind behind the camera. I used some equivalent to Photoshop or something to mess with it a little and add in the important details. I’m pretty happy with it!

Is there any music videos on the way?

Not at the moment, there may very well be in the future. Who knows!

When are you next on tour, and where can we catch you?

No tour plans at the moment – got to finish off the rest of the next album! I know many people I speak to are borderline sick of hearing me say that, but it really does take a while! At the moment though you can catch me around Southampton at various jams and open mics. I have made it my new year’s resolution to try and head up to London to go to some jams round there, just to spice it up a little.

And finally, where can we find out more about you?

You can find out everything you would ever dream of knowing about me by:

Visiting my official website – https://milesgrindey.com
Liking my Facebook Page – https://facebook.com/GoGreenGoGrindey
Following me on Twitter – https://twitter.com/MilesGrindey
Following me on Instagram – https://instagram.com/MilesGrindey

Anything else you would like to tell us?

Yes! For fans of the genre of movies that are considered “so bad, it’s good” there’s a little ‘easter egg’ in the lyrics of Make Up Your Mind. In the second verse it goes “Love is blind, said Tommy”. That is a reference to Tommy Wiseau’s character in The Room. Also, I packed a guitar pedal in my suitcase to get the tone I really wanted for the guitar track. 

I’d like to thank Miles for taking the time to answer my questions and wish him all the best success with his single and the rest of the album when it is released.