Coffee House Sessions: Miles Goodall

It’s not every day you meet a fresh-faced lad who could be both your halls neighbour (not at Warwick, because they don’t teach music here) or your friend who’s semi-famous on social media. This is Miles Goodall, a 22-year-old part-time student and singer-songwriter originally from Liverpool (well, Southport actually, but “no one knows where that is”). Starting out with gigs in the city, Goodall spent his first nineteen years in the area before moving to Brighton’s BIMM to pursue a degree in music, but went as far as submitting UCAS applications to study mechanical engineering. It was his parents who were the driving force behind his career – “we had a room full of musical instruments – an old guitar, a piano, a ukulele, some African instruments my parents picked up on travel.”

His course is “not just sitting around talking about feelings. I’d call it an English degree based around music and how it affects culture, with philosophy and politics.” It’s now his third year and, importantly, it’s dissertation time. Yet unlike other finalists, Goodall has the added pressure of two tours this side of his deadline – during Easter, he’ll also be touring Bristol, Birmingham, Brighton, Worthing and London. It doesn’t end there, as he too performs with his band Down South for a “much bigger sound”, and is currently in five different projects band-wise because he finds it “difficult to say no to people”.

‘People have no clue who I am, and quite rightly don’t give a damn. I’ve got to prove a point, and if I’m lucky I’ll get people turning heads’

Goodall refers to the butterfly effect when detailing his experiences – “promoters letting me down, gigs getting cancelled, band members leaving and contacts not getting back to me. You just start questioning yourself. Everybody’s talking about mental health in the music industry which I think is brilliant…music is the most personal part of you being openly judged by people.” On criticism: “Any publicity is good publicity. And if you live in an echo chamber…you’re never going to improve.” Generally, though, Goodall is wise beyond his years. He says he goes into shows “knowing that people have no clue who I am, and quite rightly don’t give a damn. I’ve got to prove a point, and if I’m lucky I’ll get people turning heads.” He’s been somewhat successful in this respect – at least in turning the head of Royal Blood’s Mike (unbeknownst to him at the time) at Brighton Rocks. “I also played Brighton Pride last year and that, as a gay man, is incredible…that people are invested enough to pay money on the door to see you play makes it all worth it. That, and being in the studio and seeing an image that you had in your head come to life.”

His worst experience as a musician is comical. “I was 17, and in a Wetherspoons-type pub. They’d set a stage up in a booth, and a family decided they would eat their roast dinner around me! The two kids kept punching me in the leg and eventually pulled out the jack lead. I had to stop.” Since then his sound has evolved, particularly in the last year, into “jazz-blues-pop.” Goodall cites Miles Davis, but in the same breath puts any questions to rest about their shared given name: “My mum’s called Lesley and my dad’s called Mike, so they put their names together to make Miles.” His favourite band is Steely Dan, but has a music taste that “changes with the wind” and is “a sucker for lyrics”. Like Adele, Beyoncé, John Mayer, Coldplay and Keane, Andy Shauf, Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Rage Against the Machine are equally important influences.

Goodall manages the octave above his range with ease, and introduces some falsetto as a musical measure of despair

But for now, the artist is his own tour manager, driving himself up and down the country to play at different student-filled cafes. The first song of the set is ‘As the Lights Go Down”. Contemplative and particularly apologetic in its lyrics (“I’m sorry that I’m not ideal//You won’t understand how I feel//It’s not convenient//And I’m not lenient”) it is a defining opener. ‘Relapse’ is an old track from his first term of university, when he “walked out of a lecture and wrote this on the beach”. Quite rightly, he refers to it as the “traditional songwriter ballad”, and it’s clear to see how far he has in the last two years. Upbeat jazz chords and anguished words – “I’m tired of letting you in/Just to be let down” – launch us into the ultimate heartbreak song, ‘Let Down’, followed by one of heartache in ‘Without You’. Much less passive-aggressive, Goodall also manages the octave above his range with ease, and introduces some falsetto as a musical measure of despair. ‘Breathe’ is a newer, faster-paced contrast to the previous track, which follows a simple yet rhythmic chord progression in a titular mirroring. ‘Just Enjoy the Ride’ is the penultimate song of the set and maintains an andantino tempo. Its repetitive nature is balanced by a key change towards the end, and precedes the final track, ‘Better for Me’. It’s his newest work and this shows, but the loud chatter of Curiositea’s audience paired with an acoustic rendition does him no favours; the studio version brings out a voice clearly in command of the song’s instrumentation.

Goodall’s career appears to be on an upward trajectory. Along with fellow BIMM musicians Napsugár Bardócz and Amelia Caesar, he has supported Hungary’s Margaret Island in Budapest, and while he has never visited New York himself, he holds it in esteem. The long-term goal, though, is to make a sustainable career out of music: “Be that playing to thousands of people, be that playing to 500 people that pays my rent…that’s success for me. My success is making money out of the music industry.”

Miles Goodall concludes this year’s Coffee House Sessions, and on a positive note. Check out his new single, ‘Better for Me’, and ‘Let Down’ in June.