April 2012
“It’s wanting love and not being in love. The line in that song goes something like ‘my feelings have turned from black to blue’. It’s quite James Bond-y. I can imagine it in a James Bond film.”
H E is a musician’s musician. Which is why Noel Gallagher guests on his debut solo album, as does Gruff Rhys. It’s why he’s supported the likes of Beady Eye, Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian. It’s also the reason Arctic Monkey Alex Turner teamed up with him for The Last Shadow Puppets, the project that earned Miles Kane his first No. 1 album.
“Doors open up, you get offered things, you meet people and if you get on you become mates... there’s no more to it than that really,” he says, from his North London flat, fresh from a morning run and ahead of a bowl of Alpen.
Kane is resolutely down-to-earth. When asked about selling out Rock City, he simply says: “It’s all right, isn’t it?”
He adds: “This whole tour is the biggest I’ve done on my own. And that feels amazing. I can’t wait to get out there and get the crowd going.”
Not that it’s his biggest show in Nottingham, not by a long way.
Despite working his way up the ladder and playing our smallest venues with his first two bands The Little Flames and The Rascals, more recently Kane has been in front of a sold-out arena crowd, opening two shows for Kasabian in December.
“They were really good, those two shows,” says the 25-year-old.
“And they’re great lads. They’re a good laugh. When you see a band as good as that it makes you want it.”
Did he see much of the city during the day of the second show?
“I think the first night was a big one so I was just chilling.”
With a hangover?
“Yeah, I think it was one of them. We didn’t go out much on that tour. We were just hanging out in dressing rooms, playing tunes and having a beer.”
Headlining under his own name on this tour he describes as “the next little step”.
It follows the Top 20 success of his album, The Colour Of The Trap, which features Noel Gallagher’s backing vocals on My Fantasy, as well as Harry Potter actress Clemence Poesy on Happenstance.
So what is The Colour Of The Trap?
“It’s wanting love and not being in love. The line in that song goes something like ‘my feelings have turned from black to blue’. It’s quite James Bond-y. I can imagine it in a James Bond film.”Kane grew up on Merseyside listening to the likes of The Beatles and Oasis.
“(What’s The Story) Morning Glory? was the first Oasis album I got. I was a bit young for Definitely Maybe. And they released the video There And Then of their gig at Maine Road. I got that video for Christmas. And it blew my mind.
“In fact, I think the poster I put up of Oasis is still up in my old bedroom at my mum’s.
“I went back the other weekend to see my family and my room hasn’t changed at all.”
She must be hoping you’re going to move back in.
“Well, there you go. Good on her.”
He adds: “So from there that fed back to The Beatles and all that. Around that time I was also into The Verve.
“The first concert I went to with my mate from school was the Super Furry Animals. It was when they were doing the Rings Around The World. It was the first time I’d been in a mosh pit and had that experience. The crowd were so having it. I remember going home sweating and covered in beer... and I was never the same after that.”
Mum is a butcher in Liverpool’s market and was nervous about her son’s decision not to go to college in order to join a band, The Little Flames.
“She was worried because it was the unknown. Which any parent would be, I suppose. But I had the belief that I was going to get to where I wanted to get and do the music I wanted to do. I’m only at the start of it but I’ve got a vision.”
He adds: “I want to make her proud. As long as she is proud and happy, that’s all that really matters to me.”
As a child he worked on the meat stall with her, during school holidays. Was he any good?
“It wasn’t really my bag, to be honest.”
