Entertainment
Making Magic with Milo
For the last
five years, the Los Angeles quintet, Milo Greene, has dedicated itself to
establishing the band as one of the hardest working acts in the indie rock
world. When not diligently writing
For the last
five years, the Los Angeles quintet, Milo Greene, has dedicated itself to
establishing the band as one of the hardest working acts in the indie rock
world. When not diligently writing new material, which tends to fall under
their own self-described brand of “cinematic pop,” Milo Greene spends a large
amount of time on the road, touring relentlessly, and spreading its unique
sound far and wide.
Most
recently, the band released its second album, Control,
a record that saw the band’s style grow from a more straightforward indie rock
and at times, almost folkish beginning, to an excellently polished,
electronically textured, groove-based sound. The evolution, while not a total
departure from the band’s previous efforts, shows off Milo Greene’s energy
capabilities, and adds a new layer of sonic variety to the group’s repertoire.
Most
recently, CULTURE was able to catch up with Milo
Greene songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Graham Fink, to hear all
about the band’s new record, current tour and of course, thoughts on the
cannabis legalization movement.
You all
have been out on the road a ton this year so far, is it exciting to be out with
a new record to show off?
Yeah!
Definitely! I mean, we toured on the first album for so long. When we finally
got to take a break and got some new songs together, it was really rejuvenating
for touring.
How
have your fans been receiving the new material?
Really well!
I definitely think our new record is more upbeat, which is fun for the live
experience. The thing I keep getting from people is that when they see our live
show, where we’re playing both our old songs and new songs, that it all flows
together in a cohesive way; that it makes the two albums make more sense in
their relationship to one another. It’s something that’s really cool to hear
from fans.
How do
you feel about the cannabis legalization going on right now, all over the
country?
Entirely
supportive. I actually lived above a collective in L.A. for a long time, so all
of my neighbors were very passionate about it. Then, they got shutdown, so they
definitely felt the effects of the opposition to that movement when there were
problems with California law. But yeah, I think that it’s absurd that it’s
taken this long and had to jump through so many hoops.
The
band released a new record at the start of the year called Control. What were the specific
goals for this album verses the band’s previous efforts?
I think
drums and grooves were definitely the foundation. That was something that,
after a lot of touring and playing festivals, we wanted so that people could
have a bit more movement to our music. So, we started there, and one of the other
things we wanted to do was to utilize our individual voices rather than doing
all harmonies all of the time. That way, there would be a little more contrast
there. Other than that, it was just a batch of songs that we all fleshed out
together in the year off that we had that we were all really excited about.
We
heard that Milo Greene was initially just the name for a fictitious booking
agent that you all used to help gain some credibility from the start. We’ve
even read a physical description of Mr. Greene. My question is, if Milo Greene
actually existed today, how do you think he would have grown or changed, if at
all, since he first started booking your band?
I haven’t
thought about his perspective in a very long time; that was just one of the
first things we started talking about when that question came up about who this
person was. I think in the old days, the idea was that he was a British albino
with a three piece suit and a monocle, but, given that it’s festival season,
maybe he’s evolved now to wearing a flower crown and a tie dyed toga. We were
just up at Sasquatch! and there were a lot of fashion directions that Milo
could go in if he was genuine summer festival goer.
www.milogreene.com
