A couple of days prior to the release of his third solo album “The Art Of Letting Go” Andrew Slaidins sat down with Myles Kennedy as they spoke about the album, his love of guitar playing and how this album really does show another side of Myles. It’s personal, therapeutic and so very honest. If you are a fan of Myles in any of his other projects you need to check this record out as it is an amazing listen. “The Art Of Letting Go” was released October 12 via Nuclear Blast Records.
Andrew ; Hey, hey, good morning, Myles. How are you?
Myles : How are you doing? I’m really, really well, my friend.
Andrew : Thanks for your time and thank you for joining us here at The Rockpit. I want to congratulate you on your new album. “The Art Of Letting Go”, my God, what an amazing record this is. Listening to the record for the first time I’ve gone, well, you know, this album doesn’t let go, it just pulls you in, but obviously there’s a deeper spiritual meaning, tell me a little bit about the origin of the title.
Myles : Yeah. It kind of, you know, covers where I’m at in this point of life where I’m trying to learn just to be a little less attached to outcomes and idealizing things, learning to roll with the punches a little better, you know, and that’s something that has been very beneficial. So, calling the record “The Art Of Letting Go” is good for me because it helps remind me to stay in that space, right. It’s been awesome because I’ve been doing all this talking about the record with press and various publications and it’s great because the more I talk about it, it reminds me to not take things so seriously and so personally, to be less reactive and it’s been beneficial.
Andrew : There is so much in this record, it’s full of groove and grit; beautiful moments and most of all, there’s a swagger to it that I absolutely love. The title track, I mean, God, what a way to open the album. Um, that’s just, you know, it was instant. It’s like, my God, what’s, what’s this got in store for me for the rest of the record. The first single ‘Say What You Will’ backs up the title track perfectly, and that riff is just a monster. As a writer and as a performer, how much has this album pushed you?
Myles : Well, I, that’s very kind of you. I appreciate that. It pushed me in the sense that it reminded me how much I still am drawn to the riff. What got me to want to play guitar was hearing riffs. You know, the, the afternoon that I heard ‘Whole Lotta Love’ as a kid or even when I heard ‘Smoke On The Water’ when I was even younger, I was like, what is that? So, I find it very compelling, you know? I enjoyed stretching out on the first two solo records, you know, doing more of an acoustic record on the first one. The second one was Americana and country at times with some rock here and there. But this is just a full-on riff based rock record. It reminded me that I still love this, you know, I love writing this kind of music.
Andrew : With your other projects Alter Bridge and Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, were the first two solo albums a reprieve from that or a break away from what you were doing in those projects? Was it important to do something different on those first two solo albums? What prompted the decision to go and do a full-on rock record this time?
Myles : Yeah, I think the first two records were necessary. I needed to explore those realms and kind of get that out of my system, and I may go back and explore that and some of those genres again in the future, depending on how I’m feeling. But, with this it just felt right. I think that’s the thing as a writer and especially when you have the opportunity to do something like this as a solo artist you get to explore different kinds of music. You definitely want to take advantage of that and follow your instincts and that was something that shows where I’m at in 2023 when I wrote the record, it was like, well, I just want to rock (laughs). It’s time to rock again. Yeah.
Andrew : You said before it’s all about the riff, when it comes to writing, are you prolific in the way that you write and store these riff ideas? How vast is the Myles Kennedy vault?
Myles : Pretty vast. I don’t have much of a life outside of music. I spend so much time with a guitar. The other thing that’s tricky is when I’m writing with Slash, the way those songs are born, he comes up with the riffs and the chord progressions, and then I put the melody and the lyric on top of them. With Alter Bridge, Mark and I are coming together and building the parts. Sometimes I’ll bring in a riff, sometimes he’ll bring in a riff, sometimes I’ll bring in a melody, sometimes he’ll bring in a melody. So, there’s a finite amount of places to put all these ideas. My problem is, I’ve got so many ideas that will probably never see the light of day and this has become a perfect outlet to let me touch on some of those and document them and record them.
Andrew : When it comes to writing and storing these ideas, are a lot of these generated on the road, or is it something that you do at home? Do you get an itch when you’re away from the road?
Myles : I write whenever I can. I’m on the road so much and I had to learn to write on the road. I used to be the guy that’s like, Oh, I can’t write on the road. I just got to stay focused on the performance. I don’t have that luxury anymore (laughs), most of this record was written on the road, in dressing rooms and hotels. I’ve learned to adapt. I prefer to be in my home, I would love to be at home and write everything but I’m touring too much.
Andrew : The track ‘Eternal Lullaby’ really caught me and I found something really special in it. I came away with a little bit of a Jeff Buckley meets Guns ‘N Roses inspiration on it. There are two very different worlds but you make it work so well. Was there a style that you had in mind when you were writing that song? It really just takes off.
Myles : I appreciate hearing that and that was a song that I really needed to write that song to convey kind of how I felt about some of these artists who’d come before me and us, artists who we kind of stand on the shoulders of. For me it’s a number of different artists. You mentioned Buckley, without a doubt Jeff is on that list; Chris Cornell would be on that list. You know, people who were so responsible for so much incredible music, they were trailblazers and they were incredible talents that so many of us still look at their legacy and find inspiration in.
Andrew : ‘Miss You When You’re Gone’ is probably my favourite track on the album for now as I only got to live with the record for a couple of listens yesterday in preparation for this, but that was one of the more instant tracks for me. It has a real pop sensibility to it. It connected on every level from melody to the riff to they lyrics, the feel of the song just grabbed me. Is there a particular track on this album that personally connects with you or, or that you’re proudest of?
Myles : Well, it’s some of it’s just because I’m a nerdy guitar player and it was an excuse to really stretch out on the guitar. The track ‘Behind The veil’ allowed me to do just that. That song is all about the guitar and the riff and the solo section. I’m really looking forward to playing that one live.
Andrew : As a three piece band are the guys who played on the record also in your touring band?
Myles : Yeah. They’ve played on all, all three now, my rhythm section is Zio Udine on drums and Tim Turnier on bass. Z and I go way back, we started playing in bands together when we were kids. So, this is nearly a 40-year musical relationship, you know, and then Tim came into my life a decade ago and he manages Alter Bridge and my solo stuff and he’s also a great musician, and it’s a great hang. Making these solo records has become kind of an excuse just to get together with my mates and tour (laughs).
Andrew : When it comes to writing lyrics how autobiographical are they? How personal are those lyrics in expressing stages and times in your life?
Myles : It’s really important, especially with the solo stuff and to a degree Altar Bridge. The stuff I do a Slash it tends to be more like telling stories in a way, even if it’s in the first person, but with this it’s the chance to really dive in. Sometimes I need to deal with things and get things off my chest and work through stuff, other times it’s just an expression of some sentiment that I need to be reminded of to help me evolve as a person. I feel very fortunate that I get to have an outlet for that.
Andrew : “The Art Of Letting Go” was recorded last year. How long did that whole process take and did everything gel quickly when it came to studio time?
Myles : Yeah, it came together pretty quickly. And it took us I think about a month to make the record. We wanted to keep it sparse in the sense that it wasn’t going to be overproduced we didn’t want that. We wanted it to be easily recreated as a three piece. The one luxury we did allow was doubling the guitars. So that we had a nice stereo spread of the guitars. But other than that we tried not to put too many layers on and all that stuff that couldn’t be recreated live. There’s a little bit of it here and there, but overall it should be a pretty easy record to tour.
Andrew : Talking and touching on touring, what are the plans for Myles Kennedy for the rest of the year and into 2025. There is the rumour that is kicking around that Guns N Roses have a new album coming are for focusing on that which will obviously see a tour behind that next year which will tie Slash up.
Myles : The immediate goal is to do this tour. Then I need to figure out a window to record, Slash and Todd and Brent have been chipping away at some of the stuff we started when we were touring earlier this year. I have to figure out when I can get in the studio and knock out my vocal parts with that. Then I’ve got Alter Bridge in the future as well, once again I need to figure out a window of time, but you know, what’s really cool right now is there’s a clear lane, more so than there’s ever been with my solo stuff. I feel like there’s plenty of time in the next six months to a year to really go out and take this to different parts of the world that I haven’t had the opportunity to take it to and continue to build on it.
Andrew : You have a great love affair with Australia and we love what you do out here. Will we be lucky enough to see the Myles Kennedy solo shows out here?
Myles : I would love that. I was just talking with someone about that and they said, “you know, if I talked to the promoters, you know, put a bug in their ear”, I’m like, absolutely, I would love that because we just, we haven’t had the opportunity to yet.
Andrew : As a three piece band, and you said earlier that everything was sort of stripped back so that it could be played live, how integral is that rhythm section to you in the way that you write, do you understand them on a musical level and have them specifically in mind when you write?
Myles : Yeah, very much so. You know what’s interesting about this rhythm section and Z in particular is because we grew up together, like the way we feel music, it’s almost like we’re twins, you know, he has this feel about him, like he lays back on where he puts two and four. I think because we played bars together forever as kids, it was just burned into my head that that’s where two and four should be. So anytime I get to jam with Z or write, knowing that Z is playing drums I know it’s gonna be like putting on a well-worn pair of shoes. It’s a very familiar, comforting feeling so it feels very natural which I’m really grateful for. I mean it’s incredible to have a musical relationship with someone for nearly four decades, it’s crazy.
Andrew : I think that is really evident on this record. Obviously the studio is one environment, but this record also has a really live feel to it, and I think that’s crucial in the members that you have playing and the fact that you take those same core players and you tour with them gives the project a real authenticity to it. It has that what was created is what will be replicated and what is understood.
Myles : That is so great to hear.
Andrew : The record as a whole given I have only had a couple of listens so far. Today it will be getting played again. In each listen I found something different and that was really cool it was like, well, hey hang on, I overlooked this or I overlooked that. The first listen was about the songs, melodies and the album as a whole and how it all pieced together. On the second listen, I paid closer attention to your guitar playing and damn what a great player you are. I was more familiar with you as that Americana type of player, whereas with this album, you really just seemed to have dropped all of the shackles and are just being you for the first time to my ears.
Myles : Thank you. That means a lot. You know, I just, I love the guitar and this record reminded me how much I still love it. If you could be a fly on the wall and see how much time I spend just noodling, whether I’m in front of a TV with a guitar in my hand and I’m going to work on this little lick here. I still get the same feeling I got when I was 14 years old, 15 years old. I can’t imagine life without it. I really can’t.
Andrew : Unfortunately, we’re running out of time. I could talk to you for ages and I’ve tried to keep it as close to the new album as I can. Congratulations on the album and thank you again so much for your generosity in time. Hopefully we’ll see you out here in Australia to showcase this record for us all.
Myles : I would love that. Thank you so much for your time. I’ve really enjoyed this.
Andrew : No worries at all, Miles. It’s been an absolute pleasure.
Myles : All right, Andrew. You take care. Bye.
