We talked to Merrill Miller about his recent release, “22”, which you can listen to through any of the links here:
“YOU’RE NEVER ALONE…“
Miller’s debut release starts with an echoing of words that we often hear at a time when the people around you have nothing left to say. ‘22’ defies this precedent by start with the phrase as a soft vocal intro that is backed up by a set of lyrics filled with words that show just how much Miller understands the “burden” spoken of throughout the track.
Let’s start with your recent release – ‘22.’ What’s it about? What lead you to write it?
22 is a song about the mental health crisis military veterans face. Every day, 22 military members and former members take their own lives. I spent 4 years in the Army National Guard as a Combat Engineer, and one of the sergeants and I carpooled one weekend. During the 3 hour drive home, he began talking and pretty much went on the entirety of the trip. He went on about how war changed him, and detailed some of the experiences he had, and how some of them messed him up, and how he never cared to talk about it because no one would really understand. At the end of the trip, he paused, asked me to never repeat what I had heard to anyone, and thanked me for listening; it helped him to talk about it.
Who are some of your influences musically?
I absolutely love music of all kinds, from classic country to hip-hop to metal to blues. When I began writing original music, I was really into rock and heavier Americana type stuff; bands like Kaleo, Nothing but Thieves, Highly Suspect, Goodbye June, and the like. However, as I began to work with my producer and actually start recording the tracks, I noticed a lot of my hardcore/punk influences started surfacing. The band I most often find myself coming back to over the years has been Thrice, and while I wrote my songs from a totally different starting point, it’s interesting to see how it came back around to include very different genres.
When did you start making music professionally? How long have you been writing?
My musical journey began when I was 14 and began plunking around on my dad’s 1949 Gibson J-45 (a really expensive guitar). My dad bought me my own acoustic guitar to learn on and I began teaching myself how to play. From there, I began playing in church, at school, for community events, all through college, and onwards. However, it wasn’t until 2021 that I began writing my own music. My job was incredibly stressful and borderline abusive, so I walked out in January of 2021, and my engine threw a rod on my way home. I was stuck at home for 3 months with no job and no car, so I began pondering what it is I truly wanted to do, and I landed on writing music. I began 2021 with the goal to write 5 songs, and ended the year at 32.
What do you think is next for you as an artist?
As far as what’s next for me as an artist, I am currently in the process of recording a 5 song EP! Initially, my goal was to record and release the EP by March, but that proved to be a very difficult task, both in finding time to coordinate my schedule and my producer’s, as well as funding the recording. In the meantime, I’ve been trying to drum up funds through pre-purchases, live shows, and working overtime at work.
Have you done any live shows or do you have any plans to do any in the future? I know it’s different with covid and everything, but what are your hopes as everything starts to open back up?
I currently have some live shows coming up this summer! There is a concert cruise series on Lake Michigan that I may be featured at in June, I will be playing the Riverwest Flea Market, and I will be playing at the All Nations Indigenous Market in August. My last show was in January, and it went well and I really enjoyed it. I would love to do more shows, but finding places to play, and networking, and contacting, and scheduling is a job in itself, and I find myself with barely enough time to take care of myself as is. So unfortunately, gigging has taken a bit of a back seat in this period of time.
Did you collaborate with anyone on this track?
This track was written just by myself. However, my producer, Brady Lee, helped flesh out some ideas for the track that I really liked. You can hear his guitar work in the 2nd half of the song doing bends and adding that extra layer. As soon as he started down that path, I latched on, as it gave the track some of those post-hardcore/emo/punk vibes I mentioned earlier.
Who are you listening to right now?
I just discovered Monica Heldal today and I really like a lot of her stuff off her album Boy From The North. My mind populates a cinematic setting when I listen to certain songs, and her music paints a really detailed scene for me. While I enjoy the melodic aspect of music, I also really geek out when a song has a nice texture to the sound itself. The title track from the album does an excellent job at adding small splashes of detail, like the distant crash of a tube amp’s reverb tank, the faint shimmer of a Telecaster, the wail of a slide guitar, eventually picking up enough momentum and speed to break into a solid gallop.
What do you like to do when you’re NOT working on music?
My main hobby and passion is music, but my full-time job is running a warehouse and managing operations for an AV tech company. Though it’s a brand new field to me, and I’ve only been there for a month or so, I really enjoy it. When I’m not at work, I try to workout, walk my dog, go on hikes, go backpacking, build guitars, or go to shows.
Is there anything else you’d like to talk about before we wrap up?
I love the idea of artists interviewing artists! Music and art is a subjective craft, and I believe that it isn’t really possible or beneficial to declare a piece of art as better or worse than another piece of art. If someone doesn’t like a particular song, that simply means that the song wasn’t written for them, and that’s ok. With that in mind, I try my best to pick people’s brains and discover why they like particular songs or styles that I might not necessarily be into. I believe it’s more telling than people realize.
Interview questions and review written by Devon Alexis
ATHENA Music Blog 