Roger Miller (rock musician)

Last updated
Roger Clark Miller
Roger Clark Miller 2007.jpg
Background information
Born (1952-02-24) February 24, 1952 (age 72)
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Genres
Years active1967–present
Labels
Website rogerclarkmiller.com

Roger Clark Miller (born February 24, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist best known for co-founding Mission of Burma and performing in Alloy Orchestra/The Anvil Orchestra.

Contents

His main instruments are guitar and piano. Guitar Player magazine describes Miller's guitar playing as balancing rock energy with cerebral experimentation. [1] He also plays cornet, bass guitar and percussion.

Biography

Early life

Miller was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on February 24, 1952. His father was a professor of ichthyology, which prompted frequent travel to the Western United States during summers—in search of fish in isolated springs in the desert for comparison with the fossil record—in which he brought his son along. These expeditions informed his later artistic outlook, which incorporates themes of nature, harsh environments, the passage of time, and self-reliance. [2]

Miller began piano lessons at the age of 6. In middle school, he studied the french horn in band class, and at age 13, he picked up the guitar. [2]

Sproton Layer (1960s)

Inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Detroit-area bands like the Stooges, the SRC, and the MC5, Miller formed several garage bands in his teens, starting with the Sky High Purple Band in 1967. With brothers Benjamin (Ben) Miller and Laurence B. (Larry) Miller, he formed Sproton Layer in the fall of 1969; Miller played bass guitar and was the primary singer and songwriter. They recorded a demo for an album in 1970; these recordings were collected and released in 1992 and again in 2011 as With Magnetic Fields Disrupted. [3] The Miller brothers have an occasional ongoing collaboration called M3.

Attending CalArts in 1976, majoring in composition, Miller also studied piano and French Horn, and studied music by 20th-century experimental composers like John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen. He dropped out of college in favor of punk rock.

First Mission of Burma line-up and break-up (1979–1983)

Relocating to Boston, Massachusetts, Miller was a member of the short-lived Moving Parts before co-founding Mission of Burma in 1979.

Mission of Burma disbanded in 1983 due in large part to Miller's worsening tinnitus, attributed in large part to their notoriously loud live performances. In subsequent years, Mission of Burma's small body of recordings grew to be regarded as important and influential. [4]

During the Burma years, Miller worked as a freelance piano tuner. [5]

Other bands and solo efforts (1983–present)

After Burma broke up, Miller turned his attention to playing piano with the more experimental, instrumental group Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, [6] which he left in 1987.

Afterward, Miller had several collaborations, solo efforts, and film scores; many of these post-Burma albums were released by SST Records:

Reformation of Mission of Burma (2002–2020)

Mission of Burma reunited in 2002 [8] with Bob Weston replacing Swope. On stage, Miller had his Marshall amplifier at the edge of the stage on his right, with the speakers facing away from him (as seen in the reunion footage in the M0B documentary Not a Photograph ). The band released four albums since reforming; the latest is Unsound, July 2012, on Fire Records.

Many bands have cited Burma as an inspiration, including Nirvana, [9] Pearl Jam, [10] Foo Fighters, [11] Superchunk, Jawbox, The Grifters, R.E.M., Miracle Legion (the last two have even covered "Academy Fight Song": the former on their Green tour and the latter on their debut [12] ), Sonic Youth, [13] Drive Like Jehu, Throwing Muses, Yo La Tengo, [14] Fugazi, [15] Pixies, Sugar, Guided by Voices, Shellac, Catherine Wheel, Graham Coxon, Pegboy, Moby and Down by Law - the last five of which have covered Conley's "That's When I Reach for My Revolver". [16] In 2009 the city of Boston declared October 4 to be "Mission of Burma Day" in honor of the band's work in a ceremony held at the MIT East Campus Courtyard. [17]

Soundtrack work

Miller has created soundtrack scores for animation, documentaries ( Big Ideas for a Small Planet , 2007), and commercials. Four of the films he has scored have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, which included 500 Years (2016) and Granito: How to Nail a Dictator (2011).

Conceptal art

Miller's work, “Transmuting the Prosaic”, was shown at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Brattleboro, VT, March 15 – October 15, 2020. Five of Miller’s Modified Vinyl works (with turn-tables and listening stations) and his film, “The Davis Square Symphony”. The first edition of “Transmuting the Prosaic” was sold to the New England Art Museum in Burlington, VT.

"Transmuting the Prosiac" was shown again at 3S Artspace, Portsmouth, NH, from December 2, 2022 - January 22, 2023, featuring Modified Vinyl and The Davis Square Symphony. During opening night, Miller also performed excerpts from his new LP, Eight Dream Interpretations for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble.

Chamber music

Miller's compositions have been performed by:

Non-musical activities

Miller has blogged for Slate [18] and HuffPost , [19] and written a review about Mike Goldsmith's book Discord for The Wall Street Journal . [20] His short story "Insect Futures" was published in Penny Ante III. [21] His drawings have appeared in numerous shows since 2003.

Miller also has conducted "A Night of Surrealist Games" at Arts at the Armory (Somerville, MA), [22] Mass MoCA (North Adams, MA), [23] the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston, MA), [24] Real Art Ways (Hartford, CT), 3S Artspace (Portsmouth, NH), [25] Portsmouth Book & Bar (Portsmouth, NH), [26] Brattleboro Museum and Art Center (Brattleboro, VT), [27] 118 Elliot Gallery (Brattleboro, VT), [23] and Epsilon Spires (Brattleboro, VT). [28] He has shown his Surrealist drawings in solo and group exhibitions. [29]

Discography

Solo albums

Mission of Burma

The Fourth World Quartet

Anvil Orchestra

Alloy Orchestra

Binary System

With Roger Miller and Larry Dersch:

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic

Dredd Foole and the Din

With Dredd Foole, Roger Miller, Clint Conley, Pete Prescott, Martin Swope:

M2

With Roger Miller, Benjamin Miller:

M3

With Roger Miller, Ben Miller, Larry Miller:

Roger Miller 45s

No Man

Out Trios Volume One

With William Hooker, Roger Miller, Lee Ranaldo:

Roger Miller's Exquisite Corpse

Sproton Layer

With Roger Miller, Ben Miller, and Larry Miller:

Trinary System

With Roger Miller, Larry Dersch, and P. Andrew Willis:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prepared piano</span> Musical instrument

A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. Its invention is usually traced to John Cage's dance music for Bacchanale (1940), created for a performance in a Seattle venue that lacked sufficient space for a percussion ensemble. Cage has cited Henry Cowell as an inspiration for developing piano extended techniques, involving strings within a piano being manipulated instead of the keyboard. Typical of Cage's practice as summed up in the Sonatas and Interludes (1946–48) is that each key of the piano has its own characteristic timbre, and that the original pitch of the string will not necessarily be recognizable. Further variety is available with use of the una corda pedal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mission of Burma</span> American post-punk band

Mission of Burma was an American post-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. The group formed in 1979 with Roger Miller on guitar, Clint Conley on bass, Peter Prescott on drums, and Martin Swope contributing audiotape manipulation and acting as the band’s sound engineer. In this initial lineup, Miller, Conley, and Prescott all shared singing and songwriting duties.

<i>Vs.</i> (Mission of Burma album) 1982 studio album by Mission of Burma

Vs. is the debut studio album by American post-punk band Mission of Burma, following their 1981 EP, Signals, Calls, and Marches. It was released in October 1982 by record label Ace of Hearts. It is the only full-length studio album the band released during the 1980s – and until 2004, as soon afterward they disbanded due to guitarist Roger Miller's worsening tinnitus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evan Ziporyn</span> American composer

Evan Ziporyn is an American composer of post-minimalist music with a cross-cultural orientation, drawing equally from classical music, avant-garde, various world music traditions, and jazz. Ziporyn has composed for a wide range of ensembles, including symphony orchestras, wind ensembles, many types of chamber groups, and solo works, sometimes involving electronics. Balinese gamelan, for which he has composed numerous works, has compositions. He is known for his solo performances on clarinet and bass clarinet; additionally, Ziporyn plays gender wayang and other Balinese instruments, saxophones, piano & keyboards, EWI, and Shona mbira.

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is an American musical group founded in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blondie Chaplin</span> South African musician; member of the Beach Boys (born 1951)

Terrence William "Blondie" Chaplin is a South African singer and guitarist from Durban, where he played in the band the Flames in the mid to late 1960s. From 1972 to 1973, he was a member of the Beach Boys and contributed to their albums Carl and the Passions – "So Tough" (1972) and Holland (1973). During his stint with the Beach Boys, he sang the lead on the popular song, "Sail On Sailor". Chaplin was a long-term backing vocalist, percussionist, and acoustic rhythm guitarist for the Rolling Stones on their recordings and tours over a 15-year period, starting in 1997. Chaplin has released two solo albums, Blondie Chaplin (1977) and Between Us (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clint Conley</span> Musical artist

Clinton J. Conley is an American post-punk musician and journalist from Boston, Massachusetts, best known as a co-founder, bassist, and vocalist of Mission of Burma.

<i>Signals, Calls, and Marches</i> 1981 EP by Mission of Burma

Signals, Calls, and Marches is an EP and the debut release by American post-punk band Mission of Burma. It was released in 1981 by record label Ace of Hearts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcano Suns</span> American alternative rock band

Volcano Suns was an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts formed by Mission of Burma drummer Peter Prescott in 1984.

Sproton Layer was an American rock and roll group formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the late 1960s. Their music was mostly hard rock with psychedelic touches.

Laurence Bond "Larry" Miller is an American rock and Avant-garde musician based in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Miller is a former member of Empool, Destroy All Monsters, Sproton Layer, M3, Nonfiction, The Empty Set, Larynx Zillion's Novelty Shop, The Mister Laurence Experience, and Laurence Miller and the Love Maniacs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Miller (musician)</span> Musical artist

Ben Miller is an American rock and avant garde guitarist born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and now based in the NYC-metro area. He has formerly been a member of such Detroit/Ann Arbor bands as Sproton Layer, Destroy All Monsters, and non-fiction. Destroy All Monsters, in particular, still a cult favorite, was a big part of the proto-punk, punk, and post-punk Detroit rock scene, featuring such bands as the MC5, the Stooges, Sonic's Rendezvous Band, and The Up.

Ace of Hearts Records is a Boston-based independent label founded in 1978 by Rick Harte, who also produced all its releases. It recorded and released Boston area post-punk and garage rock bands in the early 1980s, including Mission of Burma, Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, Roger Miller, Neats, Lyres, The Real Kids, John Felice, Nervous Eaters, Del Fuegos, The Neighborhoods, Martin Paul, Wild Stares, Infliktors, Classic Ruins, Crab Daddy, Chaotic Past, Tomato Monkey, and Heat from a DeadStar.

Moving Parts was a late 1970s Boston-based rock music band. Though short-lived and little noticed during their career, the band's members went on to form parts of the more influential bands Birdsongs of the Mesozoic and Mission of Burma.

Martin Swope is an American musician and composer.

<i>Snapshot</i> (Mission of Burma album) 2004 live album by Mission of Burma

Snapshot is a live album by the American band Mission of Burma. It was recorded in front of a small audience at Boston's Q Division Studios for broadcast on WFNX. It was initially released exclusively through the iTunes Store, but has since been made available through other online channels, most notably in lossless FLAC format through Matador Records' online store.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alloy Orchestra</span> American musical ensemble

The Alloy Orchestra was a musical ensemble based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It performed its own accompaniments to silent films of the classic movie era on an unusual collection of found objects, homemade instruments, accordion, clarinet, musical saw, and a sampling synthesizer, the group scored and performed with 40 feature-length silent films or collections of shorts. The group is often credited with having helped revitalize the art of silent film accompaniment.

<i>The Horrible Truth About Burma</i> 1985 live album by Mission of Burma

The Horrible Truth About Burma is a collection of live recordings by Boston-based post-punk band Mission of Burma, recorded during their 1983 farewell tour. The band had decided to retire because leader Roger Miller's chronic tinnitus had reached a dangerous level.

<i>Dancing on AA</i> 1995 studio album by Birdsongs of the Mesozoic

Dancing on A'A is the fourth album by Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, released in 1995 through Cuneiform Records.

Trinary System are an American rock band featuring Roger Miller of Mission of Burma.

References

  1. ↑ Guitar Player, January 1997
  2. 1 2 "Transmuting the Prosaic: December 2 – January 22". Portsmouth, New Hampshire: 3S Artspace. June 9, 2022. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022.
  3. ↑ Breznikar, Klemen (November 4, 2011). "Sproton Layer & Mission of Burma interview". It's Psychedelic Baby! Magazine . Archived from the original on September 14, 2017.
  4. ↑ Sullivan, Jim (June 19, 2020). "Bidding A Quiet Adieu To Cacophonous Post-Punk Band Mission Of Burma". WBUR-FM . Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  5. ↑ Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991 . Little Brown and Company, 2001. ISBN   0-316-78753-1
  6. ↑ Feigenbaum, Steve. "BIRDSONGS OF THE MESOZOIC". Cuneiform Records. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  7. ↑ Pareles, Jon (June 5, 1987). "Music: Roger Miller". New York Times. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  8. ↑ Kielty, Tom (January 11, 2002). "Mission of Burma Fight Again". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  9. ↑ Nugent, Benjamin (July 31, 2001). "The Bands That Made Nirvana". Time . New York City: Meredith Corporation . Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  10. ↑ Fantano, Anthony (October 2, 2009). "Mission Of Burma: The Story Begins Again". NPR . Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  11. ↑ Gottlieb, Jed (July 17, 2015). "Foo on Boston". Boston Herald . Boston, Massachusetts: GateHouse Media . Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Cover versions of Academy Fight Song by Mission of Burma - SecondHandSongs". Secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  13. ↑ Drozdowski, Ted (January 10–17, 2002). "Burmese days". Boston Phoenix . Boston, Massachusetts: The Portland News Club. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  14. ↑ Joyce, Colin (August 26, 2015). "A Revisionist History: Yo La Tengo Pick Their All-Time Favorite Covers". Spin . San Francisco, California: SpinMedia . Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  15. ↑ "Mission of Burma : Vs". Treble. 6 September 2006. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  16. ↑ "Cover versions of That's When I Reach for My Revolver by Clint Conley". Second Hand Songs. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  17. ↑ Peters, Bill (October 5, 2009). "Sunday was officially declared Mission of Burma Day in Boston". The Republican . Springfield, Massachusetts: Advance Publications . Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  18. ↑ Miller, Roger (May 10, 2004). "Entry 1". Slate . Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  19. ↑ Miller, Roger (October 25, 2005). "Mission of Burma". HuffPost . Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  20. ↑ Miller, Roger (February 16, 2013). "When the Noise Becomes Too Much". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  21. ↑ Lorenz, Jon (July 21, 2009). "Thurston Moore, Robert Pollard, Jad Fair, Roger Miller Contribute to Third Penny-Ante Book, Three; Phil Elverum, Growing, Lucky Dragons on Complimentary CD". Tiny Mix Tapes . Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  22. ↑ Anderman, Joan (January 22, 2010). "Songs for Surrealists". The Boston Globe . Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  23. 1 2 Levy, Wendy M. (October 31, 2018). "We're all mad here". The Commons. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  24. ↑ "ICA First Fridays: Play". The Boston Calendar. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  25. ↑ "1.26.16: Dangerous Fashion, Surrealist Games, & Song Exploder". New Hampshire Public Radio . January 26, 2016. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  26. ↑ Hislop, Christopher (May 15, 2014). "Roger Miller brings Surrealistic game night to Book & Bar". The Portsmouth Herald . Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  27. ↑ Levy, Wendy M. (July 13, 2016). "Stop making sense" . Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  28. ↑ Staff, Reporting (January 18, 2023). "Epsilon Spires hosts Surrealist Games in the spirit of co-creation". The Commons. No. 698. Vermont Independent Media. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Surrealist Frottage/Drawing". Roger Miller. September 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.