Shambles Miller
Its time for the fast talking folk tastic singer-songwriter from Glasgow the one and only Shambles Miller.
1. Who are you?
Hello, I'm Shambles Miller; your friendly neighbourhood folky-man.
2. How shambolic are you in real life?
At the launch party the other night for my new EP, I spruced myself up a
wee bit: shirt and tie, waistcoat, pocketwatch, trimmed my beard, had a
wee haircut. I thought I was looking pretty sharp. A girl who didn't know
me personally, asked which one Shambles was. She was told I was the one
who looks a bit of a shambles.
"Oh, that guy then?" said the young lady, pointing at me. I still can't
tell if I should feel flattered or insulted.
Also, I'm quite forgetful and I bump into things a lot.
3. What work goes into writing your stuff?
I always find this hard to answer. It goes a bit like this:
[pick up guitar]
"♪ ♫ ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ - ooh, nice tune. I need words now"
"..."
"Agghhhhhh!!!"
"Oh, wait, how about..."
[write]
"Oh, there it is. Where did that come from?"
[play song]
[go make celebratory sandwich]
The silence-then-arrgghhh part can last anywhere from an hour to three
months. The three months thing only happened once though, with a song
called "AAARRGGHHH!" I hope this answers your question.
4. So you've just released a new EP i hear?
I certainly have, it's called "Shambles Sails the Clockwork Sea". It's the
second in a trilogy of EPs, the first one being "Shambles Vs. The
Dragonwizard", both of which feature some pretty nifty EP art from Neil
Slorance as well as (obviously) songs by me. Both available from all
good...websites that sell my EP. Namely bandcamp and big cartel.
5. How would one sail a clockwork sea?
On a clockwork boat, of course.
6. Which bands/artists do you really like right now around Glasgow?
Well first off I'd have to say my brilliant support acts from the other
night: Andrew Lindsay and the Coat Hooks, Reverie, and Florynce and
Lauryn. I'm also a big fan of the Second Hand Marching Band, Julia and the
Doogans and Kitty the Lion. Oh and I also played a gig recently with Sean
McCann's new project "The Ballad of Alex K", they're definitely one to
keep an eye on. It's a good time for music in this city just now.
7. Favourite moment so far playing live?
The EP launch the other night was really very special. So many of my
friends were there, the venue was the busiest I've seen it and I was
playing alongside some of my best friends, including my band for the
night, currently dubbed the Ramshackle Rascals. Playing the closing track
"Alice's Song", with my friends, to my friends and family was, well, it
was braw. Just braw.
8. Worst moment so far playing live?
Hmmm, there's been a few here and there. I'd say probably the gig in
Failford. (Yes, that is a real place)
There were a lot of children running about at the gig, so I had to cut
half of my songs (apparently singing the word 'fuck' at children is
frowned upon) and tone down the rest of my material. On top of that,
nobody was really listening, I was more there for background noise, which
is fair enough, but not something I was prepared for. Plus, right before I
played my last song, the compere interrupted to tell everyone if they
wanted to get the last bus back to the city they had to leave immediately.
On the video, I think you can hear my friends laugh. And my soul crumble.
9. Whats next?
Lots more gigs, hopefully. I'm also planning to record and release a
single sometime in the near future, and the third EP in the trilogy is set
to be recorded next summer. Apart from that, I'll keep doing what I'm
doing and take this as far as I can. I hope to get to share stages with
some more great acts and perhaps play a little further afield. And there's
the time machine I'm working on, but nobody really wants to hear about
that.
10. Do they definitely not deserve 6 figure salaries?
When they get paid to run services into the ground and take money from
their lowest-paid workers? When they justify cutting the hours of the
core, bottom-line staff, in order to save exactly the amount of money that
the boss at the top of the tree makes in a year? And when millionaires get
paid to make decisions which take money from the poorest in society whilst
the only difference they'll see themselves is longer dole queues? You tell me.
Hello, I'm Shambles Miller; your friendly neighbourhood folky-man.
2. How shambolic are you in real life?
At the launch party the other night for my new EP, I spruced myself up a
wee bit: shirt and tie, waistcoat, pocketwatch, trimmed my beard, had a
wee haircut. I thought I was looking pretty sharp. A girl who didn't know
me personally, asked which one Shambles was. She was told I was the one
who looks a bit of a shambles.
"Oh, that guy then?" said the young lady, pointing at me. I still can't
tell if I should feel flattered or insulted.
Also, I'm quite forgetful and I bump into things a lot.
3. What work goes into writing your stuff?
I always find this hard to answer. It goes a bit like this:
[pick up guitar]
"♪ ♫ ♫ ♪ ♪ ♫ - ooh, nice tune. I need words now"
"..."
"Agghhhhhh!!!"
"Oh, wait, how about..."
[write]
"Oh, there it is. Where did that come from?"
[play song]
[go make celebratory sandwich]
The silence-then-arrgghhh part can last anywhere from an hour to three
months. The three months thing only happened once though, with a song
called "AAARRGGHHH!" I hope this answers your question.
4. So you've just released a new EP i hear?
I certainly have, it's called "Shambles Sails the Clockwork Sea". It's the
second in a trilogy of EPs, the first one being "Shambles Vs. The
Dragonwizard", both of which feature some pretty nifty EP art from Neil
Slorance as well as (obviously) songs by me. Both available from all
good...websites that sell my EP. Namely bandcamp and big cartel.
5. How would one sail a clockwork sea?
On a clockwork boat, of course.
6. Which bands/artists do you really like right now around Glasgow?
Well first off I'd have to say my brilliant support acts from the other
night: Andrew Lindsay and the Coat Hooks, Reverie, and Florynce and
Lauryn. I'm also a big fan of the Second Hand Marching Band, Julia and the
Doogans and Kitty the Lion. Oh and I also played a gig recently with Sean
McCann's new project "The Ballad of Alex K", they're definitely one to
keep an eye on. It's a good time for music in this city just now.
7. Favourite moment so far playing live?
The EP launch the other night was really very special. So many of my
friends were there, the venue was the busiest I've seen it and I was
playing alongside some of my best friends, including my band for the
night, currently dubbed the Ramshackle Rascals. Playing the closing track
"Alice's Song", with my friends, to my friends and family was, well, it
was braw. Just braw.
8. Worst moment so far playing live?
Hmmm, there's been a few here and there. I'd say probably the gig in
Failford. (Yes, that is a real place)
There were a lot of children running about at the gig, so I had to cut
half of my songs (apparently singing the word 'fuck' at children is
frowned upon) and tone down the rest of my material. On top of that,
nobody was really listening, I was more there for background noise, which
is fair enough, but not something I was prepared for. Plus, right before I
played my last song, the compere interrupted to tell everyone if they
wanted to get the last bus back to the city they had to leave immediately.
On the video, I think you can hear my friends laugh. And my soul crumble.
9. Whats next?
Lots more gigs, hopefully. I'm also planning to record and release a
single sometime in the near future, and the third EP in the trilogy is set
to be recorded next summer. Apart from that, I'll keep doing what I'm
doing and take this as far as I can. I hope to get to share stages with
some more great acts and perhaps play a little further afield. And there's
the time machine I'm working on, but nobody really wants to hear about
that.
10. Do they definitely not deserve 6 figure salaries?
When they get paid to run services into the ground and take money from
their lowest-paid workers? When they justify cutting the hours of the
core, bottom-line staff, in order to save exactly the amount of money that
the boss at the top of the tree makes in a year? And when millionaires get
paid to make decisions which take money from the poorest in society whilst
the only difference they'll see themselves is longer dole queues? You tell me.
(We'll take that as a no?)
So if you fancy picking up a copy of his awesome EP you can go to Bandcamp or Big Cartel or if you fancy just listening to a few tracks head down to his Myspace. And he're a little video diary on Shambles trip to Failford
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