Walk Miles is only 20 years old. He’s a prolific creator of beats and words, which he records and releases as The Walkman. He’s also a bit of an imp. Arriving for an interview at Nebula Coworking, Miles excuses himself for a moment to change shirts after a day of work “washing dishes at an eggroll factory.” The comment’s delivered with both sincerity and a wry grin that doesn’t seem to leave his face in our 15 minutes together. Does he really work at a South City eggroll factory? Does he really have a life’s goal of acting in a movie alongside Tom Hanks? Does he really find inspiration in pop culture and smoke puffs?
On that last one, we think so. On the others, a qualified “Maybe.”
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The Walkman’s latest work is a seven-song EP called The Tape, which has been released digitally, though in a dream world you’d be listening to it on tape, on a Sony Walkman. Lyrically, the tracks cover a lot of ground, full of clever wordplay and occasional swagger.
“My writing process isn’t consistent at all,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll sit down at the computer, make outlines of a beat, come up with an angle, and expand on it later. It depends on what kind of music I’m making.”
The Tape follows an all-instrumental album called The Sanctum, a 2014 effort that he’s becoming a bit distant from since its release. “I just had a bunch of beats, and I didn’t have any words to put to them,” he says. “The beats told the story. I grouped all of them together and got them off of my computer.”
A lyricist, beat-maker, and recording engineer, Miles is mostly self-taught. “I’ve definitely had some slightly more experienced producers give me pointers,” he says, “but I developed talents that were there initially. I didn’t get into school musicals or anything.”
A new album, Year, is due out in January. At press time, the dense, intriguing cut “Dash” was being previewed on SoundCloud. He’s planning a second album, with a Pakistani rapper named Onanimous, whom he “met by chance online.” There’s also the hope for more live shows.
Asked about the future, Miles says he might do standup—though, to date, “every time I’ve told jokes, I’ve bombed,” he says. There might be musical projects that have nothing to do with hip-hop, because his influences include the likes of folk star Joanna Newsom. “I want to make music in every genre,” he says. With his headphones on at all times, Miles is always writing in his head, plotting his next steps.
FYI The Year is available January 3. For details, visit facebook.com/darkaidwalkman.
