Music is a definite essential in life. For me, commuting is dull and boring without my earphones on. If I get stuck on a dessert island, music and earphones is a must. I learned to play the guitar in school but those were just the basic chords. I fell in love with the guitar and practiced playing it using the classical guitar that my brother owns.

I'm always in search for the next best thing in the local scene. May it be a clothing brand, a new retail store, or a craft shop I feel like there's always something new in the local industry. When I discovered Miles Guitars, I thought it was an international brand because I've never seen a boutique guitar store that does customization here in the Philippines (well, at least that's from my perspective).

When I did a little research, a close friend of mine is friends with the owner of this new local brand so I decided to hit him up with a few questions to get to know this really cool up and coming brand.  

First of all, a little introduction from the owner would be great, can you introduce yourself?

  

My name is Tani Cariño. I play guitar and/or sing for Small Hands, Lindenwood, The Mind is a Terrible Thing, The World I’ll Leave Behind, Neverdie, Memorial Field and I play drums in Molar. I’ve previously played bass for One to Pass, Goodmorning High Fives, AFK, Piñata and Western Haikus. I also own Miles Guitars.

What made you want to create a music shop? What inspired you to start your own brand when there are classic brands out there with huge followings like Fender, Gibson etc. ? 

Our family business has a bunch of CNC Machines. While I was checking out videos on how to make guitars, I suddenly dawned on me that we can do the same as well. I just wanted to make something I actually enjoy and to promote Philippine made boutique guitars. Our guitars are Fender influenced actually but we’re focusing on the boutique side rather than mass production.

Why did you name it Miles Guitars?

  

Miles (or Micey) is my younger brother who has autism. Long term direction for this business is to start donating to autism related charities.

Are all of the materials you use locally crafted in the Philippines? 

No. We get them from various places but we do the cutting, shaping, assembly here.

What was it like to see the first ever Miles Guitar? 

  

It’s definitely a trip. Whenever I bust out the first Interloper, it still freaks me out (in a good way of course).

Can you explain a little bit about the process of creating the guitars?

We do the rough cuts in the CNC machines then everything else is made by hand. 

What’s next for Miles Guitars? 

Lately we’ve been recycling wood and turning them into picks and drumsticks. I’m also looking up on how to build speaker cabinets and drum snares. We’re also planning to build basses soon. A physical shop based in Sucat is in the works as well.

How does one get a Miles Guitar?

Send us a PM on FB or send us a text. We can do meetups in Sucat, Parañaque as of now but we’ll be putting up a physical shop soon.


As a musician, what do you look for in your equipments/instruments?

I like my gear simple and tough as nails especially for touring. It needs to have great feel and of course, it has to sound good. My personal builds only has one knob which is the volume control. I’m not a big fan of tone knobs so might as well just take that out of the equation. The less things on my guitar, the less chances of it going wrong.

Do you think specific instruments influence the way a musician plays his music? Does it really matter? (Because like in cameras, its not always about how expensive your camera is. It’s always in how the photographer knows his settings well to take a great shot) 

  

Yes. You make different adjustments for different guitars. The output will always be different for any guitar you use and I think that’s the beauty of it. It’s not hard to be inspired by a great sounding and comfortable guitar. Price has nothing to do with that.

There are cheap and expensive guitars that can be inspiring to use. It’s all up to the user on how they’ll use the instrument. There are players that aren’t comfortable with using expensive guitars because you can’t beat the crap out of it without feeling guilty. There are also players that prefer higher end guitars because of the specs. It all depends on the player.

I’ve personally used cheap guitars that sounded way better than expensive ones. Higher end ones just widen the chances of you getting a fantastic instrument.

Aside from being a musician, what do you do on the side? Do you have a day job?

Yes, I work in a family business that manufactures pistols and rifles. Check us out at www.udmc-weapons.com

Any other hobbies or interest?

I love skateboarding and bmx. I’ve been trying to find ways to build a skateboard actually.
Aside from that, I love video games. Particularly first person shooter ones. I’m a big fan of WW2 FPS games.

What’s next for Tani Carino? 

I want to push Miles further by making other products that musicians need like cabs, snares, pickups, etc. For my bands, I want to keep playing shows everywhere and release as many records as I physically can.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Probably tired but happy.

Check out their FB for more details about the brand. To get to know