Interview: Milestones

Milestones are a pop-punk band from Manchester, United Kingdom. On the eve of the release of their new EP, Equal Measures, the band are gearing up for a pretty jam-packed year, and I was recently able to speak with them about the release, their summer plans and what they hope to accomplish through their music.
How would you describe Milestones to those who have never listened to the band before?
Milestones isn’t like many pop-punk bands out there today. People compare our sound to very different bands from different genres and movements, and each song reflects the diversity we’re trying to push. There are elements of a maturing Hold Me Down You Me At Six, whilst there are characteristics of Young Guns and more rock [type] bands. There seems to be a song everyone likes, so you really won’t hear the same song twice. But still, it will sound like the same band as opposed to a compilation of different genre’d artists.
You guys came together fairly recently. What made you want to pursue music for a living?
I think for myself, it was the idea of sitting at a desk for the rest of my life and thinking, “What if?”. I’ve always wanted to go out and do this kind of thing, [to] travel and work with like-minded people and give back what music did for me to kids as they grow up and find themselves. The whole concept of Milestones is to achieve greater things and to set your sights higher and higher each step (or stone, haha) of the way. So the motivation to do those things and be on stage, like we have watched our heroes do since [we were] young, played a massive factor in me wanting to do this seriously.
You’ll be releasing your debut EP, Equal Measures, on April 6th. What can fans expect?
We just really hope everyone likes it. We’ve pushed the EP around a little and different press/magazines dig different songs, so we really don’t know what to expect. We’ve found it tends to be the unexpected tracks that people like most. I’m proud of the whole EP from start to finish. Each song has a different dynamic and we hope people like it enough to come to a show, buy some merch or whatever - even a tweet or something saying “hi” is nice enough for us! We’re doing it for free, so we hope people like it all! Free stuff always tastes better!
You worked with Phil Gornell during the recording process. How do you feel he helped in the EP’s development?
Phil really helped the sound come along. [I’ve] personally grown ridiculously as a musician and it’s down to Phil sitting down with me and really making me understand why I’m doing something and thus changing/adapting/playing on that aspect of my melodies or singing.
Musically, he highlighted certain parts - some we kept, some we left. But in the end, we were all happy with what we decided and he definitely played a part in the sound we’ve created!
You released your lead single, “Nothing Left”, earlier this year. How has the reaction been to the track thus far?
“Nothing Left” has had a good impact for different reasons than “More To Me”. Whiles “More To Me” was the introductory track, we wanted “Nothing Left” to be the “we’re still here and it’s getting better” track. It’s definitely achieved that. I think most people, including the band and Phil, prefer “Nothing Left”, yet magazines have expressed their fondness for the other two electric tracks on the EP!
What message do you hope to spread through your music?
We really want to do something good out of this. We don’t want to be that classic band that tells kids to rebel and fuck off school or any of that [stuff]. Our later work will be focused massively on grafting and putting the idea into kids’ heads that they have to work hard to get something. Too many people nowadays, especially in the music industry, think they can just role up and expect something and many people are just clueless to the levels of work it requires to achieve their dreams. We want to motivate and set a bar for kids to aim for in our next lot of work, exactly what the name means to us.
Milestones are set to play quite a few festivals this year. What are you most excited about, in regards to them?
I think just being able to share a stage with so many massive bands will be incredible for us. It really adds to the fuel of this whole thing, so it’s a step up that we’re seriously craving and that whole opportunity of playing to so many people will be amazing. We love playing live, so the more people we get to share that with, the better.
Any last words?
Go tweet us or Facebook like us, and come and interact! We don’t bite (mainly because you can’t do that over the internet). [Also], download our music for free!
