First of all, tell us about yourself, who are you and what do you do?

Hello! I’m Jordan Miller, a musician and producer from Sunderland. I make up 1/4 of Vandebilt and run Pamplemousse Recording Studio.

Why did you choose to become a musician/songwriter?

I’ve always been surrounded by music from a young age. My uncle would show me how to play chords on an old Yamaha keyboard and his stratocaster. It amazed me that you could use 3 or 4 notes to make something sound happy or sad. I loved drawing and painting as a kid and this was another way to explore my creativity. 

As a young musician/songwriter, who were some of your biggest inspirations?

My first obsession was Queen. They had everything, great chord progressions, harmonies and guitar solos. I wanted to play piano like Freddie, guitar like Brian May and bass John Deacon. Queen were the first band that opened my eyes to music production and what could be achieved in a recording studio.

I then moved on to The Beach Boys. My uncle would take me to Pet Sounds, the old record shop in Newcastle and get bootleg copies of SMiLE. I would listen to recording outtakes of Brian Wilson producing this unfinished masterpiece. It blew my mind that you could create great pop music with such complex arrangements and harmony.

I can go on forever, Jeff Lynne, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles (obviously), Nile Rogers…there’s too many!

What do you feel is your biggest achievement in music so far?

That’s a tricky one! Playing Shepherds Bush Empire was pretty cool but I’d probably have to say being able to make a living by doing what I love is my biggest achievement so far.

What are your biggest aspirations within the music industry?

For Vandebilt to sign with Universal, do a world tour, a sell out show at Knebworth, get dropped, become a sober vegan and reform 30 years. Tough question!

If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice as a young musician/songwriter, what would it be and why?

Don’t sell your first Strat! Also, don’t be too hard on yourself when writing music. Don’t stress if you’ve got a bit of a block! Enjoy yourself and the ideas will come to you.

Why is music education so important?

As I mentioned earlier, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by music from a young age. This helped with education a lot. Not necessarily with theory but to have an awareness of the versatility in music. Musical education helps you to engage with other topics such as Art, History, Maths and English, sometimes without realising. It also helped me explore different cultures. I definitely wouldn’t be where I was now without music education.