Eight Miles High

In the distant past of 1992, a couple of friends, Darren Briggs and Graham Lawson, met in their local pub for a few drinks. Before the night was through, the two would decide to put to good use the synthesizer standing in Darren’s bedroom and collaborate on a quirky little song that was running around the head of Gray. It was only supposed a temporary venture, possibly leading to the scoring of amateur films the pair were involved in.

But that was the beginning of the almost famous, semi-legendary pop group called Eight Miles High. Within a couple of months, a third member, guitarist Richard Gowland, had joined and so started an amazing song writing campaign that produced almost a dozen fresh and totally original tunes in a year. Gray recalls these early days… “When Rich came to join the band we only had one song ‘Colours’ for him to hear. But anyway he became a member, so either he was knocked out by the track or was at a loose end on Thursdays when we practiced.”

The band set about collating a body of work which would be good enough to allow them to perform in York’s most prestigious music competitions ‘Battle of the Bands’, at the cities best venue, Fibbers. Only a couple of covers would make the final set, an achievement the band is still proud of today. It was Eight Miles High’s richest vein of form, if not maybe critical terms then certainly in quantity.

In these early days, the band sometimes faced a negative response to some of their work, the main criticism being its style. “We were accused of being too 80’s” relates Gray, although Darren’s responds, “I don’t know what ’80’s’ means. A song is a song and we should always write music for ourselves. If people want to listen, great, but we can’t comply with the current trends too much or we will lose our individuality.”

This early period still holds as Richard’s favourite period. “The battle of the Bands gig was great. We were basically debuting with more experienced bands (Tribe and Glassfish) but still finished second in our heat. It was an exciting time.” This period also saw the band open York Awareness week.

Eight Miles High, like most groups, have experienced ups and downs throughout their existence. Richard left through political wrangling within the group for a short time, but did return. A drummer, guitarist and extra keyboards have also been tried as the group attempted to swell their number. However, the most notable additions to the ranks were backing singers Claire Cahill and Dahlia Gilmovich. Both added their own personalities and talents to the group’s history and can be heard on many of the band’s recordings.

At the moment of writing the group are again three in number, a figure Darren would like to see increased. “Both Dal and Claire added another dimension to the band. It is important that we look to grow and be as good as we possibly can be.”

This mission statement is echoed by the other members, as too is the belief that Eight Miles High are a dying breed… A group of musicians who write and perform their own material as well as stamping their own brand of uniqueness on already familiar songs.

In more recent times Eight Miles High have continued in a quest to open new doors musically. Most of the doors were locked, but even if this has resulted in a re-evaluation of their previous artistic forms, the band have not only met this challenge but embraced, slept with and reared a child with it. That child is called Evolution.

Although not wanting to shed the skin that enveloped them for so long, it is however apparent that 1999’s ‘To Be With You’ became a musical watershed.

Intrinsically a 2-beat road movie anthem, the song paved the way to a more basic approach to arrangement. Just drums, bass, guitar and electric piano dominate EMH’s fayre from the ‘To Be With You’ point onwards resulting in a cleaner, fresher feel to their later songs.

Tackling new digital recording technology in the production of current tracks has further enhanced this sharper EMH sound. “We’ve always been told we write catchy tunes but people have really started sitting up and listening to our latest efforts”, says vocalist Gray Lawson. The song ‘Web of Lies’ has won the trio new fans, which has encouraged the band forward while they concentrate on their music in the studio.

Keyboardist Darren Briggs and guitarist Rich Gowland also insist the studio work of late helps brings life to the music giving further dimension and depth to the compositions. With many hours spent on the feel and texture of each song it appears that this aspect of ‘band-life’ gives the members the most pleasure.

With five, splendid, new tunes written in the last few months alone the band are as productive as ever. The long awaited anthology album is now complete, confirming that the band are as productive as ever and show no sign of energy abatement as they approach their 10th year anniversary.