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“If you like Kurt Vile, or Father John Misty, or The Phoenix Foundation, you might quite like this.” - Charlotte Ryan, RNZ Music 101

Singer-songwriter Miles Calder released his debut solo album Autopilot Life in 2021, a self-reflective delve into waking up from an unexamined life, dressed in a psychedelic folk-rock palette that evoked late-era Beatles as much as contemporaries like Kevin Morby and Father John Misty. The album won over new fans and critics alike & led to a nomination for a prestigious Aotearoa Music Award (Te Kaipuoro Taketake Toa | Best Folk Artist 2022).

"When you spend time with the album, it's clear how realised his sound actually is. He's not afraid to stretch out run times or get a bit psychedelic. Mostly these songs are vehicles for him to patiently philosophise about life over unhurried, pristine arrangements. They're dreamy for sure, but he's wide awake." - Tony Stamp, RNZ Music 101

His full band sound moves from understated folk-rock to swirling psychedelia. His five-piece band presents a dynamic live show with a psych-tinged palette of cascading synths, atmospheric noise, and searing guitar solos to complement the frontman’s superb vocals.

Miles is now moving into an exciting new period of creativity, working with Samuel Flynn Scott (Phoenix Foundation) as a producer, recording with his band at The Surgery studio with Tui-award winning engineer Lee Prebble (The Phoenix Foundation, L.A.B, The Black Seeds). The new recordings build on the psychedelic and layered sound that defined Autopilot Life, but using a more open approach of live full-band jamming, and experimenting with unexpected instrumentation to bring a deeper atmosphere and unique artistic voice to Miles’ superb songwriting.

The first of the new songs ‘Pushing & Pulling’ was released in May 2022, and offered a summery guitar pop jangle with catchy chorus melodies punctuated by searing electric guitar as the lyrics tangle over a new love. Miles explains: “'Pushing & Pulling' was written within the rollercoaster of burgeoning love, and for me, it marks the point of accepting what you don’t control and deciding to go along for the ride… whether that's up or down, or both.  The single made the SRN Radio Hit Picks and saw Calder play an 11-date tour across New Zealand.