Aged just six years old, Miles Bonham has been making quite the name for himself on Instagram as a - deep breath - producer, guitarist, drummer, pianist, bassist, saxophonist, violinist and ukulele player.
A few weeks ago, the social media sensation got the chance to take a tour of New York’s legendary Electric Lady Studios, where everyone from Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and Kendrick Lamar have recorded. Apparently, this was intended to be a social visit where Miles would simply take a look around, but once he got inside those hallowed walls, he couldn’t resist laying down a few tracks himself.
The result was a cover of Mac Ayres’ Easy, recorded in classic Miles style.
First up, he happened on Questlove’s drum kit, which inspired him to lay down a Dilla-style beat. After offering some guidance to his engineer, he jumped on the Rhodes electric piano that Stevie Wonder gifted to the studio, before spending a bit of time working on the arrangement.
Next, it was time for some acoustic piano, guitar and bass, with Miles also taking time to work on the specifics of his mix. And, of course, it turns out that the scarily talented young scamp can sing as well, so he jumped on the mic and recorded a vocal.
It’s worth bearing in mind that this was Miles’ first experience in a recording studio, making his levels of competence and focus even more impressive. “I could stay here for two weeks and not get bored,” he says, and we can quite believe it.
Miles’ exploits have earned him more than 1.5 million Instagram followers, and his celebrity is such that he’s appeared on The Drew Barrymore show, too.
