Episode 140 - thelastmiller

[00:00:01] Speaker A: He was born on a Saturday in 73 he loves hard cry music. Beside him. [00:00:09] Speaker B: Right now on the beast. [00:00:10] Speaker A: Guitar with a short whip radio back his motherfucking Andy scolding look at motherfucker cause here he comes Andy scrolling, wearing. [00:00:25] Speaker B: His own hat so welcome to unsigned 518. I am here with the boys in the last Miller. How's it going? [00:00:33] Speaker C: Doing well. Doing well. How are you? [00:00:35] Speaker B: I'm fantastic. And I think what we'll do is we'll just start here to my left and just, you know, say your name and what you do in the band. [00:00:44] Speaker C: Cool. [00:00:44] Speaker D: Yeah, I'm Bob. I play guitar in the last Miller. [00:00:47] Speaker E: My name's Tony and I play drums. [00:00:50] Speaker F: How's it going? I'm Craig. I play bass. [00:00:52] Speaker G: Hello. My name is Dylan, and I play the keyboards. [00:00:56] Speaker C: Hey, my name is Kyle, and I sing and I play a little bit of guitar in the last Miller. And people call me the last Miller. I'm the last Miller. [00:01:06] Speaker B: And I guess what we want to do to start with is just kind of go back and tell the story of the band, kind of how it came together. And if you wanted to. [00:01:18] Speaker C: Originally, Tony and I, well, first, Craig and I have just known each other since fourth grade, and just. We've been making music and playing music our whole lives and listening to music together our whole lives. And Tony and I skateboard. So. And so does Craig and so does Bob and so does Dylan. We all skateboard, but Tony and I were at the park one day, and we just started chopping it up. And Tony was playing in a band that I knew about, and I was just trying to, like, venture into another version of music, another genre of music to make. And I knew Tony, and Tony was a really good friend of mine, so I was just chopping it up, and I was like, hey, we should get together. We should jam. Blase, blase. And then I hit up Craig, and Craig wanted to play bass. So craig and me and tone, we just started jamming at Tony in Tony's garage for a good, like, couple weeks to, like, a month. We started jamming with our friend or buddy, Jordan Green, too. Happy birthday, Jordan. We love you so much. It's Jordan's birthday today. And so, yeah, we just started playing in Tony's garage as, like, a three piece, like a four piece. And Tony was also in another band, Bob and Dylan's band called Habeas Porpoise, which is a jam psychedelic rock type of band. And Tony was already playing with them. So they came by to Tony's one day, and we were all just hanging, shooting the shit, and we were just. We just started jamming and it sounded good, and we started jamming my songs and jamming some of their songs, and we just kind of clicked. [00:02:57] Speaker G: Kyle also plays the bass in habeas porpoise. [00:03:00] Speaker C: Yes. So, yeah, and then it just kind of stemmed from there. We all got together, we started practicing, and then we got our first show within, like a week, maybe a week or two. [00:03:12] Speaker B: And when you say your songs was, did you already have some songs? [00:03:16] Speaker C: So I wrote an album last year and released it last year, like, December of last year and pretty much by myself with the help of a couple other people. Jordan Demarist. Shout out. Jordan Demaris. Shout out Craig. Craig helped me through the whole thing and, yeah, kind of like a solo ish album. It was before the band had started, but ten song album. It's called my own state of fiction. It's everywhere. It's, like, pretty much the only piece of music we have out right now. And, yeah, we just started jamming those songs, and it was fun. We just kept it going. [00:03:57] Speaker B: And so, you know, and I've heard of other bands certainly, that have done that, like, you know, the songs were, like, already there and recorded, and then, you know, the band comes in. Did you find that they changed, like, a bunch? [00:04:09] Speaker C: Oh, completely. [00:04:10] Speaker E: Oh, yeah, yeah, big time. [00:04:12] Speaker C: Completely changed. You want to. Anybody else want to chime in on that? [00:04:16] Speaker E: Yeah, I think really. Oh, sorry. Go ahead, dill. All right. Well, once Bob and Dill got into the picture, it was, like, definitely, like, having keyboards and a lead guitar just, like, really liven the whole thing up. And then the new stuff is, like, really good. [00:04:34] Speaker C: Definitely. Most of it was, like, a lot slower on the recorded versions on the album. It's, like, slower. And the drums are very hip hop inspired. And a lot of beat butcher drums, if anybody. All the producers out there, you know who beat Butcher is? Beat butcher. A lot of beat butcher drums on the album, so. And. And then Tony just kind of took that and rolled with it. And Tony has his own style, and I love Tony style. [00:05:00] Speaker G: So, yeah, it's fun to put, like, you know, keyboard stuff on songs that not all of them had, like, keyboards on, you know, so it was, like, cool to reimagine them. [00:05:11] Speaker B: I'm a firm believer in that a keyboard can be used in any song. Like, there's no song that can't have some keyboard. Yeah, that's just a testament, more, like, to the versatility of, you know, a keyboard. [00:05:26] Speaker G: Yeah, a lot of the covers we do too. Like, don't really have many keyboards. So then it's like, okay, cool. Now we're another reimagine of, like, another song, you know? [00:05:34] Speaker C: Totally. [00:05:35] Speaker G: Hell, yeah. I love. [00:05:36] Speaker B: I mean, there's. I got. There's probably three. Three or four keyboards hidden in this room. See if you. See if you can spot them. [00:05:43] Speaker C: Dylan's got his whole jam station. [00:05:45] Speaker G: Start from the water. [00:05:48] Speaker C: Got, like, three keyboards set up. That's pretty sick. [00:05:53] Speaker G: I got a little two tier. You know, I got a synth, a Yamaha Cs, one x, and then I got this Casio PX 161 or something. It's just an 88 grand keyboard. And then I have, like, a little midi setup that goes into garageband. And I just have, like, a bunch of garageband plugins. I. And that's kind of like playing in last Miller. Like, I started playing the keyboard in habeas porpoise. Like, before. Like, when the song. When the band started, I kind of started playing the keyboard. And I had been playing the guitar strictly for, like, five years. And then. So playing in the last Miller, I really focused on playing the keyboard. And so I'm, like, also kind of learning the keyboard while, like, you know, playing his songs that we. That we never played. So it's a cool, like, you know, feels like we're all growing together. [00:06:46] Speaker C: Very true. [00:06:46] Speaker B: And having a setup like that, you know, with the keys, like, you know, you have the midi. Do you do, like, separate, you know, like, having one. [00:06:56] Speaker E: Oh, he's chopping. [00:06:57] Speaker G: Oh, yeah, I play. I play. I dance around and we're doing a lot of twisting while playing over here. And then, you know, a lot of. I got a sustained pedal where I can, you know, sometimes I just let stuff fall fly out in the window. And then I got my other hands over here making, you know, spaghetti. [00:07:12] Speaker B: I always wanted, like, when I was younger, I always wanted to play the keyboards and, like, you know, I dabble. [00:07:19] Speaker G: Yeah. [00:07:20] Speaker B: But I just don't have the fucking coordination to, like, dude, to do, like, two separate. I play bass guitar and I'm like, all right, four strings. I got this holder down. So respect to the. To the keys. Yeah. [00:07:35] Speaker G: Yeah, man. I think it's my ad where I'm, like, need multiple things happening to focus on at once, you know? [00:07:43] Speaker B: Right. Yeah. Not me. I'd rather focus on one. One. One thing and then just pretend nothing else exists. That's how I roll. So, you know, we're talking about, like, the formation. When did you say that? That album? [00:07:57] Speaker C: So it came out December of last year. [00:08:00] Speaker B: Okay. [00:08:00] Speaker C: And then the band formed shortly after that, maybe March or April. [00:08:06] Speaker G: We're not even hitting a year yet, I don't think. [00:08:08] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, you're right. [00:08:09] Speaker G: Habeas porpoise. Porpoise was a band for, like, almost a year. And then Kyle joined, and then we start. And then we all formed into the last Miller. Yeah, well, he was already the last Miller, but we all fucking. [00:08:22] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:08:22] Speaker D: Kyle didn't. [00:08:23] Speaker G: Together. [00:08:24] Speaker D: Didn't the album come out? And then. [00:08:26] Speaker C: And then we. [00:08:27] Speaker D: And then you, like, you got a show, basically, and we're like, hey, can you play? [00:08:31] Speaker C: Yes. [00:08:32] Speaker D: Like, that's how. That's right. That's how it formed. [00:08:34] Speaker G: Right. [00:08:35] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:08:36] Speaker D: So they had. He had the gig first, and then we kind of formed after that, too. [00:08:41] Speaker G: I do remember that, like, in the first couple times playing, like, I was like, oh, we join this band. We already, like, we're already doing this gig, you know? And it felt, like, big. It was, like, pressure immediately. Not like real pressure, but just like, good pressure. [00:08:53] Speaker F: Yes. [00:08:54] Speaker G: Yeah. [00:08:54] Speaker D: Good pressure. Good momentum. You know, already off the bat, a goal. [00:08:57] Speaker B: Like, a solid goal. [00:08:59] Speaker G: Cause we were just, like, hanging out in a garage. We probably played with kyle and Craig, like, me and Bob, like, four times. Like, three or so times before. We were like. And I think one time it was me, you, and tony playing, like, one of your songs, which was my own state of fiction. And then, like, a couple more times happened. [00:09:21] Speaker C: I remember that. Yeah, yeah, no, it was good. We had that gig, and then we just started rehearsing for the gig, and then. Yeah. Shout out nailed shut. Shout out fulano nYc. [00:09:31] Speaker G: Oh, yeah. [00:09:32] Speaker F: Rippers shut out Noah. [00:09:34] Speaker G: That was fun. [00:09:35] Speaker C: Oh, humans tweet and gate week. [00:09:39] Speaker B: So, as of right now. You know, you were saying that that album that you did, is that the only recorded stuff? [00:09:47] Speaker C: Exactly. As of right now, that's pretty much all we have out on apple music right now, and Spotify and everything. [00:09:53] Speaker B: What do we want to hear one of those songs? [00:09:55] Speaker C: Absolutely. Yeah. [00:09:55] Speaker B: Which one do you want to play? [00:09:57] Speaker C: You should play the song called coughing off of that album. [00:10:00] Speaker B: Coughing? [00:10:00] Speaker G: Yes. [00:10:01] Speaker B: All right, cool. Well, let's listen to coughing the last miller, and we'll be right back. [00:10:37] Speaker A: Coughing up alarm still smoke outside of the shop you always tried to run and still told me you needed someone that makes more and buys you stuff becomes friends with all your shitty peers. You say it's like once a month that you shrink away all of your fear make pretend everything's okay and I'll pace around, think about you all damn day. And truth be told, it was never worth the hate we can find better things to say we can find better things to say I'll just sit and. [00:12:11] Speaker C: Write it down for you and I'll. [00:12:17] Speaker A: Spell it out neatly this was not going as planned and as from now on you probably won't need me make pretend everything's okay and I'll pace around think about you all damn day. [00:12:47] Speaker G: Truth. [00:12:48] Speaker A: Be told it was never worth the hate we can find better things to say to each other and hard to find better things to say. [00:13:25] Speaker B: Alright, that was koffing the last miller. And so we were saying that one is one that was all just you, one of the earlier ones. And then, you know, you've become a band and certainly the songs have changed. And you were saying that that one in particular, I guess, has changed quite a bit since that recording, for sure. [00:13:45] Speaker C: Completely. When we originally recorded that, I was just recording it at my house and then I did all the music, the musical stuff, and then I brought it over to Nick Cavan Studio in Albany and had Jordan DeMaris come with me and Jordan put some drums on it. And then that's when ended up being the record. Craig put some bass on it too, in my crib, and we shipped it off to my engineer, James Cronier. Shout out, James Cronier, Grey cat audio. If you're in the city, you need to engineer, hit up James great cat audio. Anyway, that's what the record ended up being. And when we started playing it, it was obvious that it needed to be a lot faster. Not a lot faster, but just a little bit faster and have a little bit more of a tempo and a pace to it. And I think Tony really shined with that on the drums. When Tony came into play, when Tony started playing the drums on that record, just given, like, super, super, like, seventies, like, funk vibes. Even with his roles and everything that he does on that record, I just love. And Bob. Bob came up with this like, icy, icy, icy lead for the whole thing. And Dylan made his part and just like, kind of like sets the tone in the background for everything. And then, like, it gets huge when. When we all get huge, you know, that's something that's really missing from the record that's like, on Apple music right now. I feel like is like a big. Like the. The riff itself isn't like that large, I guess, on. On that record. On Apple Music. [00:15:41] Speaker D: Yeah, I feel like I drive these guys crazy because I. I don't necessarily play anything the same way every time, so it's a little different. It's kind of just how I've been playing, but it seems like it works, so. [00:15:56] Speaker F: Yeah, it definitely works. And I feel like this one has got. Has, like, by far the most takes out of, like, any of your group of songs. Like, this one's been being practiced way before we started jamming with. With these guys. Like, this was probably the first one we were practicing, like, in my basement on the electronic drum set, you know, so we kind of got comfortable with it a while ago. And then even when. When these guys came, it was very clear that this one was kind of, like. Like one of the. Yeah, like, we. Oh, it definitely. Like. I think this is one of our, like, better performances. Like, we all seem to just kind of, like, gel with this one pretty naturally, and it shows a lot and shows when we practice. [00:16:37] Speaker B: So, you know, at this point, now that you've got the five of you, you've obviously kind of not recrafted, but, like, kind of honed in some of, like, the earlier songs. Is there plans to release more music? Are you recording more music? [00:16:52] Speaker C: Absolutely, yes. Actually, right now, we're in the process of mixing a couple songs that we're about to release. We're doing a three song single type of thing, and koffing is actually one of the songs on that single. And we're doing almost like, a remastered version of it, almost just reimagined version of it. And it's like a. It's gonna be, like a live single thing, too. So, like, all of the songs that are gonna be released, we played live and hoping for that to shine through when somebody listens to it. And there's two other new songs on that project, and one of them is called my truck, and then the other one's called denial. And those are two that we're pretty stoked on. That we've been pretty stoked on for the past couple months. Just, like, chipping. Chipping away at and playing it. Playing at shows. Playing those songs at a lot of shows. [00:17:57] Speaker G: Yeah, those are ones that, like, kyle came up with while we were a band, you know, so it's like, it's cool to. For it to be, like, super fresh and forever. [00:18:08] Speaker E: We were way more involved in the process here because. [00:18:11] Speaker G: Yeah, like, immediately, I feel like the next day, after he came up with it or something, we all were practicing it or doing it, you know? [00:18:17] Speaker E: Sure. Figuring it out, you know? [00:18:19] Speaker G: Yeah, for sure. [00:18:20] Speaker E: It works. Works really well. [00:18:23] Speaker C: I couldn't agree more. I wrote one of the songs at, like, 03:00 in the morning and then brought it to them, like, the next day because we had practice and then we all just reviving on it and it just clicked. [00:18:35] Speaker G: Yeah. And that. Those are ones that got, like, figured out in the band. Like, probably were played a little different when they started and then, like, you know, got sections got, like, chunk, you know, put together and, like, little transitions in there and just, like, everything more set in stone because we were kind of jamming on them at first. Yeah. And then everything. [00:18:59] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:59] Speaker G: Really, really stuck into place. [00:19:03] Speaker C: I agree. And then. So we brought those three songs over to the college at Schenectady and recorded over there in their studio with our friend Jordan DeMaris again and with our friend James Cronier. Shout out. Both of those amazing humans. Couldn't thank them enough for everything they do for us. And so we got those songs over there. We got in the studio and then. Yeah, so now we're just kind of brimming on those ones for a little bit. [00:19:39] Speaker D: Yeah, absolutely brimming. [00:19:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:41] Speaker D: Yeah, that was a. That was a really cool experience. Cause I've never been. I've never recorded in a, like, a real, like, professional music studio. It was just, like, super cool experience. [00:19:55] Speaker G: They had a Fender Rhodes there. [00:19:57] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:19:57] Speaker G: That was like a huge grand piano. They had a harpsichord, like, facilities there are so cool. [00:20:04] Speaker D: And it was kind of overwhelming. [00:20:07] Speaker G: Yeah, it felt like we didn't belong there. Sort of. Sort of. [00:20:12] Speaker D: No, just. But it was cool. [00:20:13] Speaker G: It was so cool in a way. [00:20:19] Speaker C: What, the facilities, like the toilets. [00:20:21] Speaker G: I also went there for culinary school, so it was weird to be in a part of the school I'd never been in. And I'd seen kids walking around with guitars and stuff. And that was like, right before I started playing the guitar. And I was like, ah, there's, like, cool looking people walking around with instruments and I'm over here, like, with a chef hat on, you know. [00:20:40] Speaker C: That's right. I was one of those cool. I was one of those cool people. [00:20:42] Speaker G: Yeah. He walked by me and I went, pussy. [00:20:46] Speaker C: Just kidding. There was way more cool people than me that went to Schenectady. I met so many of my good friends that I still talk to every day. So I just went for a year over at Schenectady, too. But that's funny that Dylan and I both did that. And we didn't even know, like, until we went to the college. [00:21:05] Speaker G: Yeah, until we were there, I didn't know he had been there. And then he probably didn't know I spent any time there. And I actually met Kyle through Tony going to skateboard for the first time in, like, a long time. And I went to get a new skateboard at the town and country, and then Kyle was sitting in there playing the acoustic guitar. And then I'm like, I totally know you, like Kyle Miller. Like, and then he's like, yeah, I went to burnt Hills. We went to the same school. And then I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm Joel. What'd you say? [00:21:32] Speaker C: I'm like, oh, shit, I totally know you. [00:21:33] Speaker G: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he's playing a guitar, and I go, oh, hell yeah, dude. And then we just tried to bash the wheels off my skateboard for, like an hour because they were stuck. And I was like, this guy is. This guy's dedicated. He's like. He was like. He was helping me change my tire, you know? And, like, we knew we weren't gonna change it, but we're like, what can we bash this thing with to think we're, you know. [00:21:53] Speaker C: I stuck it in the vice. I was bashing it without anything. [00:21:55] Speaker G: And, yeah, we were going crazy. And then I go, I guess I'm breaking out my wallet. I'm buying some. [00:22:02] Speaker C: Yep, I made them. I charged him. [00:22:04] Speaker G: Yeah, he charged double. Yeah. For all the hard labor I put him through. [00:22:08] Speaker C: That's right. [00:22:09] Speaker G: Yep. And that was months before we. That might have even been before you guys were. Were you guys playing at that point? [00:22:17] Speaker E: I don't think so, cuz we. Me, you and Jordan and Craig talked about it, like, multiple occasions before we ever actually even, like, got you guys to come over. So that was probably, like, a good. [00:22:29] Speaker G: That was like. Or something. [00:22:31] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:22:32] Speaker B: So do we want to play one of the newer songs? [00:22:36] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:22:37] Speaker B: Which one are we going to do? [00:22:38] Speaker C: This one's called my truck. [00:22:40] Speaker B: I almost said your truck. So let's listen to my truck, the last miller, and then we'll be right back to wrap it up. [00:23:12] Speaker A: Wanted to be your one that gets you out of that rut baby, I'm falling hard to the pavement fresh cuts stuck from your touch you left cold still one from your love wanted to be your one that gets you out of that ride but, baby, I'm falling hard to the black top fresh cars stuck from your teeth you left cold still warm from your love kept all my memories inside shortening all of my strides for you I helped you up when you fell bye. And you gave me enough love and left it in my truck. [00:24:42] Speaker C: Let go. Don't revolve around the fact you can't. [00:24:46] Speaker A: Lose what you did not have to begin with how you thought you could choose the ways it ended not a message had to interpret it I don't know if I'm dead yet when I find out with and all my clothes Fitzhe or will they throw out my shit kept all my memories inside shortening all of my strides for you I helped you up when you fell. Bye. You gave me enough love and left it in my soul. [00:27:08] Speaker B: Alright, that was my truck, the last miller. And guys, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to come up here and talk to me. I know you are even going on to more stuff after here you got stuff happening. So I appreciate you taking the time to do this. And before we go, like I do with all my guests, I just want to give you all the chance to say what I refer to as your gratitude. So we'll start here with you, Bob. [00:27:32] Speaker D: Yeah. Thank you for hosting this. This is cool. I guess I'd like to thank my family and all my friends. Everybody knows who they are, so I'm not going to shout anybody specifically, but. [00:27:49] Speaker E: Yeah, shout out Chad Michael Murray. That's my boy. I want to thank my friends, family, you for having us. All these guys. I love these guys so much. All my homies. Down to DIY, my homie Courtney and town and country skate shop. [00:28:06] Speaker F: Thank you again for hosting us. Thank Calvin for having us in your space. It's a beautiful space. Shout out to my family. Shout out to my sister. Kind of like stemmed my interest in music when I was in fourth grade with Kyle. Shout out to my homie Jordan Green. It's his birthday today. Again, happy birthday, Slater. Shout out to social propaganda. Shout out to Ableton Live. It came a long way from the, from making loops, for making hip hop loops. Came a long way. [00:28:33] Speaker C: Came from the dirt. Came from the dirt. No, for real. Thank you for having us. Thank you, Calvin. You two are great. Such humble hosts. Such great hosts. And yeah, just thank you to anybody that's ever came to a show and listened to our music in any way, shape or form. Thank you to all of my beautiful bandmates who I love so dearly much. And thank you to my parents, thank you to my sister. Um, yeah. Shout out Ableton Live. Shout out Joe Snotty bombs. Take steps. Habeas porpoise. Social propaganda. It's coming, it's on the way. And just know we love you. We're here. We'll be here. Thanks again. [00:29:30] Speaker G: All right, first, just want to thank Andy for having us. This has been fun and Calvin, but thanks to my parents, I guess you know my family love these dudes. Making music with them has been very, you know, a lot of fun. Habeas Porbus was the first band I was in, and then last mil. I never thought I'd be in one band, and here I am in two bands. You know, people out there ain't in no bands, so it's like. Like, you know, I'm spoiled over here. And I guess thanks to my girlfriend Maddie, who gives me a lot of good critiques about music and keeps me humble. Love you, Maddie. Hell, yeah. [00:30:13] Speaker B: All right. So they are the last miller. I am Andy Scullen. This is unsigned 518. We'll see you on the road. Unsigned 518 is produced and hosted by me, Andy Scullen. New episodes are available every week wherever you stream podcasts. If you'd like to help support the show, please like and subscribe wherever you are listening. Or you could buy me a [email protected]. unsigned 518 if you would like to advertise on the show, send me an email at unsigned 508 mail.com. and to be a guest on the show, reach out to me through Instagram. Unsigned 518, take care of one another, and I'll see you next week. [00:30:59] Speaker A: Andy Sculler.