We had a chat with The Miltones‘  guitarist Liam Pratt and front woman Milly Tabak about their plans for the next little while, which will include releasing their debut album, recorded far away from home… On May 21 they will be performing at Auckland’s  Own which is presented by NZ Musician as part of our Boosted crowdfunding campaign for a new website.

What’s your elevator pitch for the Miltones?

Hey, nice sweater, do you know where that would look awesome? At our gigs! You should definitely rock it out man. Yea, we’re in a band called The Miltones, we’re a seventies rock, come americana band! You should definitely bring your parents too.

It’s a big step for a young band to get an album recorded professionally, especially financially. You’re currently preparing your first album, right? Who are you working with and why?

We’re working with a guy called Ben Edwards from The Sitting Room in Lyttelton. He recorded Marlon Williams, Tami Neilson and their albums sound absolutely amazing. We recently recorded our NZ On Air-funded, soon-to-be single Pursed Lips with him and the experience was incredible, there was energy, there was magic. It was a truly organic experience. So we decided to head back down to record an album with him. He’s worth the expense.

What steps are in place to release the album from the business side of things? Who is on your music industry support team and what do they do for you?

We aren’t backed by anyone ‘officially’ but we’re extremely lucky to have received a lot of amazing advice and offers of help from all sorts of talented driven industry folk. A lot of incredible opportunities have been given to us, it’s a pretty warming experience. We’re extremely lucky here in NZ, there’s a lot of support if you’re willing to pull your finger out for it.

Videos are a big part of promoting your music – what have you been planning  on that front?

Haha well this is the part we’re finding difficult. Translating the song into a visual medium is proving a challenge but I think we’ve come pretty close to the final idea and the production involved will luckily be a pretty efficient process. We have a great director Corey Fleming lined up to shoot our NZOA funded video, he filmed our first music video on a very low budget and it was phenomenal!

It’s Music Month – what’s your all time favourite Kiwi tune?

Liam: DD Smash Whaling

Milly – The Herbs What’s the time Mr Wolf ! Hands down, this song calls me at every single party haha, I don’t know why, it’s just damn good!

You’ll be playing Auckland’s Own on May 21 – who are you looking forward to most on the night and why?

Liam: I personally always love seeing [Sal Valentine &] The Babyshakes, but I’ve never had the privilege of seeing the means so I will be looking forward to that.

Milly: Choosing one act is too damn hard! But my top two would be Esther Stephens & The Means and Sal Valentine & The Babyshakes! They’re incredibly tight musicians and they work extremely hard!

Its going to be one hell of A night though, we’re looking forward to the whole deal xxxxxx