INTERVIEW
Currently supporting Mayday Parade on tour, UK’s Milestones is working their way into the playlists of American pop punk lovers. With influences rooting from a mix of older emo music and bands like Mayday Parade, All Time Low and You Me at Six, the band’s nostalgic sound came naturally because it is what they grew up listening to. From signing with Fearless Records last summer to touring with Knuckle Puck and Mayday Parade, Milestones is a band you want to keep your eye on. Concert Updater caught up with the band to learn more about the group and see how their first U.S. tour is going.
Milestones is made up of Matt Clarke (vocals), Drew Procter (guitar), Mark Threlfall (bass), Andy Makin (drums), and Eden Leviston (guitar). All coming from different areas around Manchester (England) each member was a part of the local music scene in their own separate bands. Clarke describes each member as being the leaders within groups where the others didn’t want to invest their blood, sweat, and tears into their music. Thus, Milestones began as the merge of those leaders. The group had a mindset of setting specific goals in which they included set budgets and planning – this is what lead to the specific name of Milestones. For example, the band worked to become signed within their first six months. The band ended up be signed to Fearless Records within five months. “We want to do this for our lives, not just a year or two, so we had that in mind from the start,” elaborates Clarke.
Milestones is working with steadfast dedication to appealing to new fans. With this being their first U.S. tour, the band seems to be making good progress so far. Leviston states, “the reception we’ve gotten over here has been insane. American kids are a lot different than English kids as well. They are a bit more willing to interact with you more. English kids are a little bit afraid to get into live music and show that they’re enjoying the show.” Procter also adds, “a lot more people are willing to check out the band.” Turns out Salt Lake City and Houston turned out to be Clarke’s favorite shows so far. “You wouldn’t think they’d be a good market for music, but the kids reacted so great. When you walk on stage and people cheer, you know it’s going to be a good show. That’s how those shows were; they were there to have a good time. Then there are others when people just stare at you,” he adds. That’s when they feel like they will have to win people over.
Since signing with Fearless last summer, the band has released their EP Equal Measures. “Musically, we just wanted to create a record that varied a lot,” explains Proctor, “even though people say the first album is most important, we felt this EP should be a big statement. We wanted each song to have its own character.” We asked the band which track each of them is most proud of. Both Clarke and Proctor chose the track “Shot In The Dark.” Proctor goes on to elaborate, “it’s the song I see the most people singing along to each night. That’s the one I’m most proud of because I think it’s connected with people the most.” Leviston adds on that the track by itself is great, but it takes on a whole new dynamic live. Clarke also remembers it being the first song their producer was impressed with. “It was the first one where we learned to formulate an actual pop song and made it work,” he says, noting that they wrote the song when they were teenagers. Threlfall chose the track “Hindsight” because he felt that the track had been re-written over many times. And with its fast-paced melody, it’s a harder song to play, but one that gets to be the most satisfying.
We also wanted to get to know Milestones a little more as people so we asked what each member is known for in the group. Leviston laughs and starts it off, “Mark is the ‘scouts’ one, who’s always on Tinder.” Threlfall says Clarke is the one that’s really good business wise. “I’m the bossy one,” adds Clarke. “Yeah, the bossy one… who adds ketchup to everything possible. The bossy one who loves ketchup,” replies Threlfall. “I think Drew is one of the smartest and dumbest people I’ve met,” laughs Clarke. Proctor answers back, “Well, some of that was a compliment,” and then says, “I’ll say Eden’s the carefree one. He’s also pretty well known now for his hair. It reminds me of some type of greek god.”
We also wanted to know what the members were up to before they got together as Milestones. Leviston and Proctor were both in university and left once they got signed to Fearless. Leviston worked in a Tesco supermarket where he’d always get his friends discounts. Threlfall was a gardener where he did ground maintenance work for three years and dropped it once Milestones went on their first tour. Clarke was also in university where he also worked as a lifeguard and at a bar. The dedication and hard work put on by this group is something that is paying off well so far, and they showed that they are grateful to follow their dreams as musicians.
By the looks of it, it seems that we’ll be seeing a lot of Milestones for a while to come. The band will be on tour in Europe following this current tour with Mayday Parade. And with a new album already recorded, we see its release at the end of the year or early next year. If you’re heading out to any of the remaining dates of the “A Lesson in Romantics” 10-year anniversary tour, make sure to get there early to catch Milestones – they definitely won’t disappoint!
