This
Charming
Man

Miles Kane

The Wirral, by Liverpool.

I sing, play guitar and perform and write tunes.

Always in check.

It would be Oasis, probably. I’d always be listening to music at school on a mini-disc. I’d make compilations, I was a big fan of the mini-disc! So, Oasis, The Verve, and I also liked Badly Drawn Boy when he first came out. I’d always be listening to music and going off in a daydream.

I’m listening to a lot of punk and post-punk, and I’ve been really obsessed with that first Damned album. There’s a song on there called ‘Neat Neat Neat’ that I’ve just been hammering. I’ve been listening to a lot of post punk; like the Cramps, the Misfits...

I’m trying not to just say Oasis! I’ll go with the Beatles. They definitely had an impact on me, from their music and their style. I guess that goes for Oasis and Paul Weller too.

I do like Cabbage.

One of the first ever gigs I went to when I was about 15, was the Super Furry Animals in Liverpool. It was one of the first gigs I ever went to and I really looked forward to it. We were down at the front and really loving it, in the mosh pit. That gig, and Oasis comes to mind.

That was the start of the Coral, and I sort of grew up around that time. Seeing them on stage for the first time made me go, “wow… I want to do that! If they can do it, then I’m gonna give it a go.” It was definitely inspiring being around that and seeing it for the first time, it was a good vibe. Every Saturday I used to go to this club called La Bateau - downstairs was Indie and upstairs was Soul and Motown - I think that changed my life! I remember getting matey with the DJ upstairs, Paul. He put me onto so many cool obscure Northern Soul records and then he’d always give me a lift home. A lot of getting into all of that and delving deeper is down to Paul!

“Playing live is everything. It does so much for me. It’s the best form of release. It’s my favourite thing in all of this, making music, writing music. It’s where I get the biggest kick.”

Oasis, probably.

Diana Ross. I love Motown and when I was young, I got a bit obsessed with the Supremes. Baby Love, and all those classics, they remind me of dancing with my mum.

I’m not really into them slow, depressing songs. I guess it would just be something to keep going! Let’s do a Bee Gee’s song – ‘Nights on Broadway’.

There’s a million. The one that sticks in my mind, probably not the first, but there is a song called ‘Psychotic Reaction’ by The Count Five that comes into my head. At the time, it was an obscure tune that had a great guitar and the beat changes half way through. I remember hearing that when I was a kid, I’d never heard anything that sounded like that. You know, I grew up listening to T-Rex and Bowie, Motown and Soul but that tune, when I first heard that, it kind of changed things. It opened the doors for me to get into all of that 60s psych stuff.

It’s a classic, but I’ve always loved Paul Weller – ‘Changing Man’ just because I love the lyrics. I love any song when it’s written personally about a change in yourself or a change in life. You know when you go through life, and you think, “I’ve got this, it’s all mapped out and I’m comfortable in who I am…this is me” and then the shit hits the fan. It turns it upside down and then it’s like a fucking roller-coaster again and you can spiral. I love any song that touches on that; a sort of sense of self and that continuing journey that everyone is on to be a better person or to be a better version of yourself.

It was this song by Baxter Dury, ‘Miami’. A friend put me on to him. I’ve had it on repeat and I love the lyrics. I’m really into songs like that at the minute, like a poetic rant. That tune, I can’t stop playing it, it’s got me...

‘Young Hearts Run Free’ by Candi Staton.

I do love ‘Real Love’ by John Lennon.

Fred Perry x Miles Kane is now available to shop here and in select Fred Perry shops.